TALL YELLOW TORCHES + PURPLE SALVIA

SALVIA (PURPLE + WHITE) WITH PINK ROSES AND TALL GRASS

“TIGER EYES” STAGHORN SUMAC

Staghorn Sumac “Tiger Eyes” is an option for the back porch planters. It grows at this altitude, has a palm-like appearance, and also turns red in fall.

However, it needs FULL SUN and a LARGE POT to thrive, otherwise in partial shade it may appear less robust or have less coloration in fall.

CHECKLIST FOR POTTED SUMAC

VARIETY: While most sumac varieties are too large for containers, 'Tiger Eyes' staghorn sumac is a good fit due to its moderate size (6-8 feet tall and wide).

• Pot Size: Select a pot that holds at least 7 gallons and has ample drainage holes.

• Potting Mix: Use a well-drained, all-purpose potting mix.

• Sunlight: Sumac prefers full to partial sun, so position the pot accordingly.

• Watering: Container plants dry out faster, so water when the top couple of inches of soil are dry.

• Winter Protection: Potted sumac may need protection from harsh winter conditions, such as moving it to a sheltered location or partially burying the pot,

EXISTING

POTENTIAL

How’s Your Soil?

THE HEALTH OF YOUR PLANTS IS FIRST AND FOREMOST ABOUT THE HEALTH OF YOUR SOIL

COLORADO SOIL STRUCTURE + AMENDMENTS

WELCOME TO COLORADO: A HIGH ALPINE DESERT

The “high alpine desert” (high and dry) zone of our Colorado front range means that the soil here is typically a rocky compacted clay, deficient in nitrogen or other nutrients. The soil here has a high “alkaline” pH of 7.0 - 8.3, due to the high amount of calcium carbonate (free lime), a reflection of limited rainfall and rock weathering.

To adjust for this, here are the elements we can easily add to this soil to make it more hospitable and to support your garden’s beauty and bounty.

While many native plants prefer less amendment, in most garden situations your soil will greatly benefit by the right help to support the ecosystem you’re planning.

START HERE + BRING YOUR SOIL TO LIFE

In perennial beds, after spring clean up, and before adding seeds or starts, it is highly recommend to:

1) OPTIONALLY Aerate or till the existing soil. By adequately loosening up and amending the soil, you are helping to create a more suitable environment for the plants that live there. Water and Air can move more easily through the substrate for better drainage, encouraging microorganisms to cultivate healthy root systems, which are able to transport available nutrients where needed.

In wild or more native gardens, nature’s symbiotic balance is best left as undisturbed as possible, or when growing vegetables or crops it can be difficult to apply a no-till practice such as this, so amending is a suitable alternative. 

BALANCE YOUR SOIL STRUCTURE WITH THESE ELEMENTS

2) Add a moisture-retaining element such as rice hulls, pearlite, or vermiculite (expanded shale). If you want to support a local reseller, these are available at McGuckins. The volume needed will depend on your square footage as well as any unique microclimate influences of note.

The gardener’s goal here is to create a loamy soil strucure (an equal balance of sand/silt/clay). We’re going for the “goldilock’s zone” of not too heavy, not too light, but just right, with good moisture retention. Here’s how to identify what general soil type you may be working with and how to balance it:

→ DENSE DIRT OR CLAY Most of the Front Range of CO has dense or clay dirt masquerading as soil. So, if you soil is overly dense, compacted, or has a high clay content, you’ll want to lighten it up. For this, you can use rice hulls, pearlite, and/or vermiculite. These elements act to retain moisture by wicking and dispersing, making it available to the roots in a more even distribution over a longer period. Coconut coir and spanghum moss also provide a lighter weight to the surrounding soil media thus aerating and lifting the density.

→ SANDY SOIL If your soil is too sandy or dry dusty silt, water may run through it too fast, or it may not cultivate the density necessary to support the kind of microbial activity that will truly nourish your plant roots. So you’ll want to create more moisture retention and build up the structure slightly. In this situation, coconut coir acts as a fine moisture retention element, or you could use vermiculite for even more retention. Consider removing a % of the existing media and/or adding a denser raised bed soil to bring the structure into balance.

For moisture balance, remember this general rule of thumb: Use rice hulls, coconut coir or perlite when you want better drainage and aeration. Use vermiculite when you want more moisture retention.

What’s Your Starting Soil Type?

Use Amendments To Balance Soil Structure

Here’s What A Healthy Balance Might Look Like

NEXT FERTILIZE YOUR SOIL WITH

COMPOST + NUTRIENTS

There is a difference between soil and dirt. Dirt can be any media such as sand/silt/clay, but it lacks the living microbes or fungal networks that create the ‘soup’ of life within which plant roots symbiotically thrive. Soil, on the other hand, can have a base of the same media, yet it is ALIVE, providing a living soup for such organisms. Soil has a balanced structure, density, and most importantly: the biodiversity necessary to support a living eco-system thriving within. Here’s how to build biodiversity and healthy structure into your Colorado soil:

COMPOST

3) Add a volume of organic compost suitable for vegetable or medicinal garden use. Start by adding a layer to the top of the exposed soil and then mixing it in. Great composts to use can be anything from Alpaca or Chicken poop from your local farm (make sure it’s not too “hot”), to bagged compost. Here are our recommended bagged planting soil blends, available at local suppliers such as McGuckins:

• The Bomb — by Paonia Soil Co

• Sheep ‘n Peat — by Earth Essentials

• Ocean Forest — by Fox Farm

FERTILIZERS

4) Add nutrients that help plants grow. Your typical fertilizers will have a blend of Nitrogen—Phosphorus—Potassium (N-P-K). Together these provide a spectrum that meets plant needs. You can also add other natural elements such as worm castings, bat guano, fish or kelp emulsion, blood or bone meal. Keep in mind that each of these has their own ratio, so make sure it’s what your plant needs before applying. We recommend the following brands:

• Root | Grow | or Bloom — by Age Old Organics

• Hemp Dress — by Key To Life

BOOST SOIL BIO-DIVERSITY

5) Add mycorrhizae (a fungus that grows in association with the roots of a plant) for help with nutrient uptake to help plants and ecosystem grow. Establishing this root-based systemic network is essential in that it helps plants attract and absorb nutrients from the surrounding soil that its roots alone would not be able to draw up. It’s like ‘nature’s wifi’— helping connect the neighborhood bio-chemically through the soil. Nature takes time to build this, and we can help speed it up by introducing the mycorrhizae.

• Mycorrrhizae — by Big Foot

ADD WATER SLOWLY AS YOU MIX YOUR SOILS

6) Slow water. Let the amendments soak down with slow watering (to avoid fast runoff) before planting. Soaking, rather than spraying, will give your soil time to sink in and begin to come to life. Make sure the water soaks deeply down and doesn’t just sit in the top few inches of your soil.

PLANT YOUR SEEDS + STARTS

7) Now your seed and starts are ready to be planted. By nurturing the soil before planting, you increase the success rate of your introduction, robustness, and longevity of your new plants, as well as contribute to a healthier ecosystem.

Additional Natural Products

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

for horticultural and vegetable gardens

You Plant. But Do You Grow?

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CULTIVATING ECOLOGY + SYMBIOSIS IN YOUR LANDSCAPE

DIY GARDEN CARE : Get Started with Rebecca’s Guidance

Schedule Your 3 Month Pack of Monthly Hands-On Garden Care with Rebecca. She’ll come garden with you once a month. You can learn conversationally while you pick up what to do with ‘muscle memory’. Ask your questions and get more than information…. discover a new perspective and enjoy your garden more! Be more efficient and learn what’s needed month by month throughout the season…

Book Your GARDEN CARE 2 mo Package or Monthly Subsription With Rebecca Now:

• 2 Packs can be used consecutively, or scheduled as needed (for travel or weather) anytime this season May-Oct.

• Join our seasonal “Garden Club” monthly subscription for regular monthly Garden Care DIY Meets (to get things done)!

Garden Care Is… Building your Garden step by step

√ Learning How To Care For + Relate To Your Garden

√ Once a Month On-Site Guidance

√ Gardening Side by Side

√ Gentle Maintenance and/or New Plantings or Transplants

Guilding Is For More Than Gold…

Create A ‘Plant Guild’ For Your Trees!

SEE SAMPLE GUILD FOR FRUIT TREES — DECIDUOUS TREES HAVE FAVORITE COMPANIONS AS WELL TBA

Take A Wildflower Identification Walk

JOIN REBECCA ON A MAGICAL SHORT MORNING WALK OR HIKE THROUGH WILDFLOWER TERRITORY

SMALL GROUP MEET UP STARTS RIGHT FROM ONE OF BOULDER’S POPULAR CREEK TRAILS

ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE…

• WHEN IS THE NEXT WILDFLOWER HIKE?

• CAN I DO A WALK INSTEAD OF A HIKE?

• WHAT TIME OF DAY? HOW LONG?

• WHERE IS THE TRAIL + WHERE TO MEET?

• WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE EXCURSION?

• SHOULD I BRING ANYTHING?

On Your Short Hike…

Discover Native Flowers You Can Also Use In Your Local Garden

• LEARN WILDFLOWER NAMES + BLOOM TIMES

• TAKE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES FOR INSPIRATION

• ENJOY NATURE’S BOUNTY ON AN EARLY MORNING ADVENTURE WALK

Local Nurseries + Vendors We Recommend

GET YOUR PLANTS OR PRODUCTS LOCALLY WHENEVER POSSIBLELocal Nurseries + Vendors We Recommend

A Fun Harvest Mid-season

Tasty healthy food