Set Your Garden Up for Success!

Posted on 20 Mar 2019

Now is the time to start strategizing your spring garden. Sometimes you don’t want to wait until May to start sowing seeds, so here are a few tips to help ensure your crops survive the variable — and volatile — conditions of a high elevation spring.

Pick Your Plants

Start thinking now about what kind of plants you want to grow this year. Are you looking for a flowerbed to brighten up your yard? Or do you want to harvest vegetables and herbs to supplement your meals? It helps to research which blooms and veggies grow best here in our Rocky Mountain environment.

Start Indoors

Most plants can be sown indoors 6 weeks before the final frost hits. In Colorado that usually means the second weekend in May, so work backwards from that date. Your local nursery should carry seed starting kits. For more detailed information on how you can start seeding indoors, we found this article to be very helpful.

Protect From Frost

If you don’t want to start your plants indoors, you can protect them from dropping temperatures with Wall O Water Season Extenders. Each wall is made of water-filled plastic tubes that act like a radiator as the water inside releases heat accumulated from sunlight during the day.

Check the Soil Temps

Use this soil thermometer to gauge when your soil temperatures are ideal for planting. Since each type of seed has a specific germination temperature, this device will save you from planting before the dirt is ready.

Raise the Bed

Starting your plants in raised beds can give you a good head start by allowing the soil to quickly warm up to planting temperatures. The beds can be covered with floating plastic to help trap the heat — just be sure to provide ventilation on sunny days.

We encourage our Reunion residents to use their yards for gardening and landscaping — but before you start digging, first check our governing policies to make sure you’re in compliance with all policies and procedures.