Spring 2009 Class Schedule

Tuesday sessions at Extension office (directions)

Thursday sessions at Col Spgs Utilities' Xeriscape Demonstration Garden (directions)

Increasing Your Veggie Harvest

Larry Stebbins, Colorado Master Gardener and Director of Pikes Peak Urban Gardens

Using the NO STRAIN planting method and season-extending techniques. NO STRAIN, developed by Pikes Peak Urban Gardens (PPUG), combines many tried and true techniques used successfully in the Pikes Peak region. You’ll learn to use the SPIN method, raised bed intensive, season extending techniques and succession planting, to increase and extend your harvest. Also, we’ll highlight PPUG's first year and discuss why local gardening is timely and important.

Spring Garden Wake-Up and Clean-Up

Cleta Polk, Colorado Master Gardener and Professional Landscaper

Spring cleanup starts in the Fall! This makes Spring cleanup of your garden much easier, and creates more opportunities to watch the fascinating process of your garden ‘waking up’! If you let nature take its course last Fall now is the time to begin planning what needs to be done. Join us for learning what you can and should do in the Fall to lessen your workload later, and what needs to be done in the Spring for a clean and healthy wake-up call for your garden beds.

Introduction to Colorado Lawn & Garden Care

Catherine Moravec, Extension Agent

If you're new to the area or having trouble figuring out how to get plants to grow here, this class if for you. It can be done. We'll cover the secrets to beautiful and resilient Colorado lawns and gardens, including how to work with our tricky climate. You CAN succeed despite the rapid weather changes, dry winds, hail, short growing seasons, and drought. Class level = beginner.

Perennials for Punch

Cathie Schroeder, Colorado Master Gardener

Perennials add color, texture, form and even year round interest to the landscape. From Plant Select ™ to old garden favorites, learn about some of the best easy care ornamentals for the Pikes Peak Region; as well as choosing the plants suited to your site and how to keep them looking their best.

Spring Surprises: Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes, Tubers, Tuberous Roots

Howard Matz, Colorado Master Gardener

Spring and Summer Garden Beauties! Learn about different types of bulbs, corms, tubers, when to plant, how to plant, perennial vs. annual, and how to store bulbs, corms and tubers for the winter. Also, as an added feature, find out how to hide spring foliage after bloom.

**The Mar 26 class has been cancelled due to weather. If you've prepaid, you will receive a refund.**

Garden Homicide: Weeds

John Powell and Tina Travis, El Paso County Environmental Services

Learn to identify and control several noxious and obnoxious weeds found in landscape settings. Identification skills can be easy with a good source of reference materials. Get these pesky plants under control with a well balanced weed management plan. Examine pressed and mounted weed specimens. We’ll have plenty of time for questions/answers. Who knows? There may be a test, with a prize!

Going Underground: Critters

Jan Roes, Wildlife Master and Colorado Master Gardener & Roger Brewer, Colorado Master Gardener

Learn how to control rodents and other critters that eat your plants! We will discuss the most common rodent problems in El Paso County gardens, learn how to identify the offending critter, learn about their characteristics and lifestyles, the kind of damage they do, and the best bets for how to control them. We’ll also include some information on rabbits and deer, even though they don't live underground.

Gardening is For the Birds

Leslie Holzmann, Colorado Master Gardener, Aiken Audobon Society

Would you like to put out a welcome mat for the birds? Not all birds are attracted to seed feeders, but all birds need food, water, and shelter. With proper garden design and plant selection, your yard can provide these essentials for many of the species who make this area their home.

Courting Fluttering Butterflies

Don Bunce, Colorado Master Gardener, Wildlife Master

Want to know how to grow butterflies? Come to our class and learn about those flowers that attract Colorado's colorful butterflies. Learn techniques for providing water and warmth to our winged wonders. We’ll help you develop a garden recipe that attracts flying color.

Herbs for All the Senses

Sandy Fledderjohann, Colorado Master Gardener

While taste is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of herbs; sight, smell, and touch are as equally important for herbs as for any other plant for your garden. So, besides taste, come prepared to see herbs in your garden as adding pleasure to your eyes, nose, and sense of touch. We will also cover popular ornamental herb varieties.

A Cut Above: Propagation from Cuttings

Catherine Moravec, Extension Agent

Growing plants from cuttings is not quite as tricky as you might think. In this class, we'll cover which plants grow best from cuttings, how to root them, and how to care for them. We will also cover where to find the best information to propagate your plant of interest.

ALL SESSIONS Held at Woodmoor Community Center, "The Barn,"
1691 Woodmoor Dr., Monument, Colorado 80132 (directions)

High Altitude Gardening Basics

Kim Jones, Colorado Master Gardener and Professional Landscaper

Killed a few plants? More than a few? Given up gardening altogether? This class covers the fundamentals you need to know to garden and landscape successfully in northern El Paso and Teller County. This is great information for area newcomers and long time residents weary of committing plant homicide.

Beyond the Basics at Altitude

Kim Jones, Colorado Master Gardener and Professional Landscaper

Already have a good understanding of high altitude garden basics? Then you're ready to move beyond the basics! This class covers soil identification and amendments, pruning basics, the best plants for our area, and lawn care basics.

The Shady Lady: Planting Under Conifers

Jan Schmidt, Colorado Master Gardener

Ever wonder what lurks beneath the pine tree in your yard? The underbelly of conifers can be a great place for shade-loving plants. Join Master Gardener Jan, the shady lady, and she’ll help you turn a previously over-looked part of your garden into a shaded oasis. She’ll start with coniferous root systems and soil amendment. She’ll introduce a variety of shadeloving plants—those requiring little water and even less love as well as higher maintenance heavy-feeders, and explain how best to garden with them at Colorado’s notoriously high altitude.

Veggie Gardening at Altitude

Leslie Holzmann, Colorado Master Gardener

Growing food at high elevation can be a challenge, but you can be successful. Precise timing, careful variety selection, and a few special tricks will have you enjoying the best produce possible— that you grow yourself.