Living in Colorado

The recent warm weather has tricked many of our plants into thinking it's spring, so what happens to them when it snows, like it is predicted to do this weekend?

We did a little bit of googling for you:

Denver 7news checked with the gardening pros at O'Toole's Garden Center, located at 5201 S Federal Blvd in Littleton, and they said the good news is our plants and lawns need this moisture, and the snow (if it's not too heavy) could actually insulate them against the cold weather.

Before the snow, customers were rushing in to buy fertilizer and weed preventer so it would be watered in by the storm.

For people seeing bulbs starting to sprout, O'Toole's store manager Chris Ibsen said they are strong and should be fine. For more delicate plants, or plants that have just been planted, you could cover them with a frost blanket.

"If you want to protect the blooms that are on the crocus or the hyacinths [genus], then you might want to put something like the frost blanket down. It could actually be a sheet — anything that breathes. Do not use the plastic because the plastic is going to do more damage than good," said Ibsen.

9news had these tips: 

Is just before a storm a good time to fertilize?

For your lawn, it’s an excellent time to it, especially because most of us have mowed the lawn now.

That’s when the plants really start growing, so if you can throw some lawn down before the moisture come in, you don’t have to use the hose or turn on the sprinkler system.

How short do I cut my grass?

The key is never to cut your grass too short, because what you want to do is not stretch the plant by any means, and the longer you can do it, it actually keeps the root cooler, and helps on water retention and so forth.

I wouldn’t adjust my settings – I normally cut it on the higher side and leave it that way.

Read the rest here.

And one more important reminder from Colorado Yard Care:

Knock snow off branches of trees and shrubs if it starts to really accumulate. You can read more about this here.

Think about having valuable trees structurally pruned. This isn’t something you can do before the storm, but it’s a good time of year to do something about it. Structurally pruned trees are much better at withstanding storm damage than unpruned trees. Learn more about structural pruning here.

Have a great snowy Colorado weekend!