Hot Topics
Due to budget cuts, the Colorado Master Gardener Program in El Paso County is on hiatus as of October 1, 2009. If the program becomes funded and active, updates will be posted here.
Visit our archives
of "What's Blooming This Week?" and "Question of
the Week" for past growing seasons:
In 2009, "Question of the Week" and "What's Blooming This Week" were published in our blog at peakgardening.wordpress.com.
2008 archive
2007 archive
Frequently Asked Questions
These are some of the most frequently asked questions the Master
Gardeners receive when answering the garden hotline. Click on any
question or scroll down the screen for our answers.
Q: My grass has bare/brown spots
even though I water every day. What can I do?
A: A lawn that is always completely lush and green usually
requires high maintenance. A few brown or bare areas, especially
during times of drought, are certainly nothing to be ashamed
of and should even be tolerated. Good lawn care practices
that can help reduce these spots include proper watering (every
day is too frequent for watering unless you are establishing
new sod), good mowing and fertilization practices, and annual
core aeration. Some Colorado State Cooperative Extension fact
sheets with valuable information on this topic:
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Q: I have rings on my grass.
What do I treat them with?
A: Take a closer look at those rings. Do they start as light
green to yellow rings? If so, is the lawn less than 10 years
old or so? If yes, it's possible that your lawn is suffering
from Necrotic Ring Spot, a fungal disease. Annual core aeration
and proper mowing and watering practices can help fight this
disease. See the following Colorado State Cooperative Extension
Fact Sheet with information on this topic:
If your lawn's symptoms don't indicate Necrotic Ring Spot,
did the rings start as full or partical rings of darker green
grass that then later died? Do you see any mushrooms coming
up in the ring? If so, your turf may have Fairy Ring, which
is caused by certain mushroom fungi in the soil. Close core
aeration in the affected area can help fight this disease.
Read the following Colorado State Cooperative Extension Fact
Sheet for more information on this topic:
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Q: When do I mulch, and what
do I use?
A: What is it that you would like the mulch to do? If you're
wanting to keep down weeds and help the soil retain moisture
during the growing season, consider a layer of organic mulch
(shredded bark, for example) after the soil has warmed up
in the late spring.
If you want to use mulch to protect fall transplants, mulch
immediately after planting. And if you want the mulch to protect
established plantings from being heaved out of the ground
by frost and to stop the plants from greening up too early
in the spring, apply the mulch after the ground has frozen
in fall. More information on choosing mulches can be found
in the following Colorado State Cooperative Extentension Fact
Sheet:
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| Q: How do I get a soil test,
and what amendments do I use?
A: If you want to find out the nutrient levels in your soil,
give us a call at 636-8921 and ask to have a soil test kit
sent to you. You'll be sent a collection bag and instructions
for how to mail the sample in to the lab at Colorado State
University. Once you receive your results, you may want to
choose an amendment that is going to add organic matter to
your soil. Sphagnum peat (NOT mountain peat) and compost are
good choices. See the following Colorado State Cooperative
Extension Fact Sheet for more information on soil amendments:
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| Q: Something is making mounds
and holes in my yard. What is it, and how do I get rid of
it?
A: Are you seeing fairly sizable mounds of loose dirt near
the holes? If so, you may be dealing with pocket gophers.
If no mounds of dirts are present, but you see “runways”
in the grass or plants, then voles are probably the culprits.
See the following Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
Fact Sheets for information on identifying and controlling
gophers and voles:
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| Q: My aspen trees have spots
on the leaves. What is wrong?
A: Aspen trees seem to have difficulty thriving out of their
natural growing environment. Aspens natural environment is
the foothills and mountains, yet many people try to grown
them in the arid prairie environment (like in Colorado Springs).
There are many causes of leaf spots on aspen trees. One of
the most important actions you can take to prevent spread
of any disease is to thoroughly clean up the leaves that fall
from the trees in fall. The following Colorado State University
Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet had more information on the
causes of these spots:
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| Q: When and how should I prune
my trees, shrubs, and junipers?
A: Not surprisingly, when and how you prune depends on the
plant you are pruning. Deciduous trees (those that lose their
leaves in the fall) can generally be pruned anytime, but late
winter or early spring is the ideal time for most. Exceptions
to this would be early spring flowering trees if you don't
want want to remove any of the possible blooms. If you are
pruning out dead branches and/or water sprouts from these
flowering trees, then you can still prune in late winter or
early spring.
Evergreens are most easily pruned when their new growth (sometimes
this looks like candles on the end of a branch) is visible
and can easily be pinched or trimmed off the end of the branch.
Be careful not to prune back to the part of the branch that
has no needles. The branches will remain bare, and you will
not be happy with the results!
With shrubs, you need to take into account whether it's a
flowering shrub and if so, what time of year does it flower.
Lilacs, for example, bloom on the previous year's growth,
so if you prune in early spring, you will remove the buds
for the flowers. Instead, prune after it has flowered (but
not too late! July 4th is a good rule of thumb for how late
it's safe to prune a lilac without removing next spring's
flower buds). Other shrubs that flower later can usually be
pruned in spring.
For more information on when to prune and pruning techniques
for these plants, see the following Colorado State University
Cooperative Extension fact sheets:
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| Q: What can I plant that the
deer won't eat?
A: We can never guarantee that deer won't eat a certain plant.
They seem to change their eating habits from year to year.
Some plants do seem to be lower on their “favorites”
list though. Read about them and get other ideas for dealing
with deer in the following Colorado State University Cooperative
Extension fact sheet:
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| Q: What bulbs do well here,
and when do I plant them?
A: The following Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
fact sheets contain many suggestions for bulbs that go beyond
the usual daffodils and tulips (though they do quite well
here too!):
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