April, 2011
Preparing for Spring

Rocky Mountain gardeners are optimists at heart. After we discover that our growing season is too short for many crops, we soon learn to be realists. If you are determined to grow vegetables, flowers and herbs in the Rockies, here are just a few suggestions to outwit a challenging climate:

Add warmth to the soil around plantings by mulching with black plastic, tar paper, dark carpeting or recycling old tires directly around individual plants. Lightly cultivating around plants will help to warm the soil too.

Make early plantings in that part of your garden that is facing south or southwest. The soil should be prepared in advance with compost to help capture radiant heat from the bright sunlight. Heat that is reflected from buildings and rock walls will help to moderate temperature.

Protect plants from frost with waxed hot-kaps, floating row covers, bottomless plastic gallon milk jugs or tunnels made from sheet plastic that is stretched over wire or bent willow stems.

Mid-to-late March is a good time to prestart plants for a head start to the growing season. Many warm season plants, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, need warmth for good germination so avoid direct sowing outdoors. Once the transplants are off to a good start, they can be acclimated to cooler conditions. Once soil conditions have warmed consistently and the danger of frost has past, they can planted outdoors.

Uncertain weather conditions often makes gardening tricky with bright sunshine for a week or more to be followed by cold, frosty conditions that can be devastating to plants that are not acclimatized. But what the heck, it’s fun to get an early start with some planning and being prepared for changing conditions.