Winter in my backyard

It's time to water your yard!

According to the National Weather Service, there has been no precipitation in the Grand Junction area since the first of the year.  That means your trees, shrubs and perennials are getting very thirsty and need to be watered.  I know you're thinking I'm crazy - winter watering?  You may have never done this before especially if you have moved here recently from another part of the country.  But its essential to keep your plants from drying out and developing scorch this summer.  This is especially important for the plants you added to your landscape last year because their roots are not developed enough to keep the plant adequately hydrated.

CSU Extension has a great fact sheet on this subject and I highly recommend downloading it.  The web address is www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07211.html  


You should water your yard every 4-6 weeks during the winter months if there is not enough rain or snow.  Your plants will thank you in July.

Winter reading essentials

Waiting for Spring to arrive, I love to catch up on my reading.  If you are anything like me, you have a good selection of garden books in your home library to give you inspiration and answer questions about gardening.

There are a few I would like to recommend that are especially good for our area.  Sunset's Western Garden Book is the reference book no one should be without.  This book covers everything from plant hardiness zones, extensive plant descriptions and solutions to common garden problems.  For Colorado and Intermountain gardeners, there are several authors I would like to mention.  Lauren Springer's book The Undaunted Garden is one of my first gardening books and I still refer to it often.  She has a garden designers' eye for plant combinations that take your breath away.  This book also has great pictures and descriptions of  plants that do well in our challenging climate.  Passionate Gardening by Lauren Springer and Rob Proctor is an entertaining and beautiful look at gardening through the seasons.  Cutting Edge Gardening in the Intermountain West by Marcia Tatroe is becoming another heavily used reference book for me because of the beautiful but hardy plants and great combinations.  My newest book is Hardy Succulents by Gwen Moore Kelaidis.  If you think Hens and Chicks are the only hardy succulents you can grow, think again!  I love using succulents in my garden and finding new varieties and ways to use them is just what this book offers.

Of course, we can't forget all of the seed and nursery catalogs that are filling our mailboxes.  High Country Gardens catalog, out of Santa Fe, is one that I have been ordering from for years.  Most of their plants do very well in Western Colorado and the catalog has great descriptions and ideas to inspire your own garden designs.

So, enjoy this time away from your garden and find inspiration and design ideas in a few of these books.  Before you know it, crocus and daffodils will be popping their little heads out of the ground!


 

Welcome to my Blog

Hi.  My name is Kathy Kimbrough and I own Garden Scentsations, a garden design company.  I specialize in designing water wise gardens and garden coaching.  Have you heard of Garden Coaching?  We help our clients become better gardeners through hands-on learning.  I show clients how to properly plant everything from trees to annuals,  how to buy the healthiest plants at the garden center and so much more.  Have a question on when to water or how to prune that forsythia bush?  Call me.  I can help.  


I want to share my enthusiasm for gardening with you through this blog.  I will be posting ideas, thoughts and pictures throughout the seasons to show you what I think are great design ideas, inspired plant combinations, new tools for the garden and the best plants for our region.


I'd love to hear from you so please let me know if there is anything you'd like me to talk about.