By Tudi Arneill Many gardeners grow vegetables and flowers, shrubs, and trees. When choosing what to add to your yard this spring, please consider selecting some native plants. There are many benefits to using Colorado native plants for home landscapes. They are naturally adapted to Colorado’s climates, soils, and environmental conditions. This means when choosing native plants, gardeners can work with nature, rather than against – toiling to grow plants not suited to our local
Read more →By Adrienne Jones Spring has sprung. It always seems to happen overnight. One day trees, grass, and plants are dormant, the next day they come alive with new buds and greenery. In a few more moments, it will be time to start our gardens. If you are anything like me, you have multiple garden areas. Some garden beds in the backyard, some in the front, and in my case a raised bed at FCG. This
Read more →
By Adrienne Jones We are getting our first hints of Spring. Those wonderful warm days tease the end of winter and our returning to our patches of soil. It’s at this point when garden planning, or overplanning, kicks in high gear. What to plant? When to plant? Cool-season crops? Warm-weather crops? Seeds or transplants? The options are somewhat endless, but we still have to work within our hardiness zone (5b) and short growing season. Below
Read more →
By Jennifer Bousselot Living roofs are just what they sound like – rooftops with vegetation. A more common name for living roofs is green roofs. No matter what you call them, most people instantly picture a high-tech, verdant city. Ironically, living roofs are not just futuristic but have a long history, even in Colorado. As we know from history books, sod houses used to dot the eastern plains and most of them had vegetation growing
Read more →
Our dry fall weather and impending winter weather means our trees and shrubs need some watering help from us. The following article from Denver Water provides some valuable tips to help us take care of our trees and shrubs to ensure a green spring. Winter in Denver includes snow and cold, but long dry stretches and warm temperatures are not unusual. especially since this fall has been one of the driest in Colorado history. “The
Read more →
By Tudi Arneill This picture looks like the beds at Foxridge Community Garden have gone dormant. Actually, all kinds of activities are happening. Did you know that there is more life below the surface of the soil than above it? In a single tablespoon of soil, there are 50 billion microbes alone. Although invisible to the naked eye, microorganisms are essential to healthy soils because they affect their structure and fertility. Even in winter, these
Read more →Foxridge Community Garden Update By Martha Riley and Kyle Arnold The community garden is winding down for the winter with fall cleanup having taken place on October 16th. Many thanks to all our renters and volunteers for an active and successful garden season. We were delighted to receive a Neighborhood Engagement Grant from the City of Centennial that supported our Volunteer Appreciation Event held in September. Many thanks to the City! Thanks also to Kyle
Read more →
Source: The Spruce Taking care of your garden bed before winter will save you a lot of work in Spring, allowing you to focus on planning your garden, choosing varieties, and planting – the fun stuff! Cutting Back: Do some research on the perennials you have to determine if they should be cut back in fall or spring. For instance, while irises should be trimmed down after blooming, all foliage should be removed after a
Read more →
Guest Article by Cheryl Masters I was born and raised in Denver where my parents were avid gardeners. Now retired, I thought I would follow in their footsteps and plant my own vegetable garden. The problem was I had nowhere to plant because I live in a townhouse community. This year I was presented with the opportunity to rent a raised garden bed at the Foxridge Community Garden. After hauling dirt to the newly-built raised garden
Read more →
Gardeners at FCG have just spotted the first Japanese beetles of the season. So far, just a few have been found, but diligence is the name of the pest control game. We’d like to share with you some information about Japanese beetles featured in the Denver Post on July 17th: We are at the height of adult Japanese beetle activity, lasting about 4-6 weeks. The adults are feeding and mating, preparing to lay eggs. The
Read more →