Okay, so spring hasn’t quite sprung, but mailboxes all over the Falcon area are blooming with seed catalogs. Many people moved to Falcon for the extra space, and now they’re trying to figure out what to do with it.Because of Falcon’s location on the high, windy plains, growing anything but prairie grass and wildflowers can be a challenge. However, before anyone gives up and puts the whole yard in rock, consider some advice from an expert.Laura Wehrwein, a resident of Paintbrush Hills, has been a Colorado State University extension office master gardener since October 2003. Her advice for this area’s most frustrating garden problems will help one blossom into a successful gardener.Short growing seasonColorado Springs has an average of 150 frost-free days per year. Wehrwein said chop about a week off both ends of the time frame for the Falcon area. Because of the high altitude, Falcon’s growing season extends from about mid or late May to early October. Gardeners can extend the growing season by starting some plants indoors, such as tomatoes and peppers. Start small plants in biodegradable pots, then when all danger of frost has passed, score the sides and break out the bottom before transplanting. Plant tomatoes outside in “walls of water” and use crop covers over rows. Both can be purchased from most seed or gardening catalogs. They’re also good for protection against insects, birds and hail.Container gardening is also an excellent way to extend the growing season. Plant smaller varieties of vegetables in large plastic or terra cotta pots placed on wheeled trays. The containers can be wheeled into a garage or enclosed on a patio at night when there is danger of frost. Plants in containers dry out faster, so they need to be watered at least once a day and twice on hot days.WindFalcon gets lots of wind, particularly in the spring. Wehrwein recommends placing bales of hay at the north end of the garden. One layer high is good, two is better. The bales provide a sturdy windbreak.Don’t forget that small trees, particularly pine trees, are vulnerable to the wind. Bundles of shingles are available from the forest service or make your own and drive them into the ground on the north, west, and south sides of tiny saplings. Don’t forget to water your trees at least once a month in a dry winter, too, especially those that have been transplanted within the last three years.Drip systems are good for watering here, since there is less evaporation from the wind. Mulch the ground around trees and bushes to hold in the water.Pocket gophersThey’re cute little critters, but pocket gophers wreak havoc on Falcon gardens. The best and most humane protection, though still not perfect, Wehrwein said, is to isolate your garden from them. Dig a trench two feet deep around your garden and bury small-hole chicken wire vertically in it. The chicken wire should rise one foot above the ground. Pocket gophers won’t usually dig deeper than two feet. For larger plants that are spread farther apart, one can purchase a gopher basket, also made of chicken wire and shaped to protect one’s plant’s roots.Poor soil qualityAugment the soil with manure. Wehrwein recommends using manure that has been aged at least one year to give the harmful bacterium time to die.More advice from Laura WehrweinAbove all Wehrwein advises using native plants. “They know how to live here and they support the local wildlife,” she said. “A lot of times people come from back east and want to grow what they had there. With enough work, you can, but it will be a foot shorter.”When shopping catalogs for plants for this area, look for those that are rated for zone five or lesser and ones that indicate low water need.When transplanting trees, dig a hole at least three times the root ball diameter of the tree and about as deep as the root ball. Cut the burlap off; don’t count on it disintegrating, it takes much too long in our dry soil. Don’t water right against the trunk; instead, water beyond where the roots are. This encourages the roots to stretch and grow outward, making the tree stronger.Remember not all bugs are bad. Plant shrubs that encourage lots of birds, and the birds will take care of the bugs.Following are plants that Laura Wehrwein recommends for the Falcon area:Ground covers
- Sedum
- Ice plants
- Blue star creeper
- Thymus
- Vinca
- Soapwort
- Rock cress
- Snow-in-summer
- Rock roses
- Hens and chicks
- Karl Foerster feather red grass
- Festuca
- Prairie dropseed
- Agastache
- Salvia
- Artemisia
- Russian Sage
- Gaillardia
- Forsythia
- Cotoneaster
- Junipers
- Sandcherry pawnee buttes
- Serviceberry
- Potentilla
- Lilacs
- Shrub roses
- Rosa ragosa