Just east of the Rocky Mountains and one mile high is a section of the country which presents garden problems.
We often have cold, snow, and frost until May 15, and then comes summer.
Keep The Seed Beds Moist For Germination
One of the greatest garden problems is to keep seedbeds moist until the seeds germinate and the plants appear.
Drying winds play the villain in our altitude. We can successfully raise plants from seed by maintaining an even degree of moisture in the seedbed.
My best results have been obtained by using peat moss.
Here are the following steps I do:
- I prepare the seedbed in the usual way, making drills 2” inches wide and 2” inches deep. ¾ of this trench is filled with fine peat moss.
- I water using a teakettle or sprinkler without a nozzle.
- The peat moss is then pressed down before the seeds are put in.
- The seeds are covered lightly with sifted peat, and it is again pressed down firmly.
- I keep this moist by frequently sprinkling it with a fine spray. Fine sand or vermiculite may be used instead of peat.
- The seedbed may be covered with burlap. This will help retain the moisture.
- The burlap needs to be pegged down or nailed to wooden slats to hold it in place in this windy country.
- Sprinkle the seedbed through the burlap, which must be removed at the first sign of a seedling coming through the soil, or the plants will become entangled in the mesh.
I plant costly and very fine seeds in hills using peat the same manner as I do in the seed rows.
The hills are then covered with a gallon glass bottle from which the bottom has been removed.
If the hills must be watered to maintain an even amount of moisture which is so very important, the bottle is removed while the area is watered with a fine spray, then the bottle is replaced.
Rag Doll Burlap
I have also used the “rag doll” to sprout large, hard seeds such as blue morning glory, lupine, etc.
The ragdoll is a piece of burlap soaked in a quart of water to which four drops of camphor have been added.
Here are the following steps I do when using a ragdoll:
- I wring the burlap until it is quite dry and turn in the edges.
- The seeds are then placed on the burlap, and it is rolled tightly and wrapped in 5 layers of damp newspaper.
- This roll is placed where it is quite warm (about 70° degrees Fahrenheit) for one week.
- I open the roll and examine it for any sprouting seeds at the end of that time.
- If no seeds have sprouted, it is rerolled and kept warm.
- As soon as signs of life occur, the seeds are planted at once in a well-prepared seedbed.
- The earth is pressed down firmly and kept damp.
- Seedlings should push through the earth in a day or two. This method saves from 7 to 14 days of keeping an even degree of moisture in the seedbed, which is difficult in this high, dry country, especially if the wind blows.
Once the seedlings are up, the rest is easy for me.
Biennials And Perennial Germination
These same methods may be used in July to start biennials and perennials.
Seeds of the perennials which germinate better after being frozen may be put in the ice cube tray in water.
When frozen, the whole cube is planted. Take care to place it so the seed will not be too deep in the ground.
Aside from seed sowing, we have great difficulty with our perennials and biennials.
They are often heaved out of the ground in January and February due to our bright warm winter weather and later freezing.
Tulips begin to show buds, and then winter conies again. Even the bulbs are lost.
This can be avoided by planting the bulbs north of a building or in any unprotected place where the snow stays longest, and the sun cannot warm the earth before winter is over.
Hybrid tea roses should be mounded with earth after the ground freezes to keep the frost in and protect the leaf buds from the sun.
If it is dry, the ground should be watered well into the fall before freezing weather.
Heaving Inspection
After a few days of warm weather in January, the garden should be inspected for heaving.
This is especially important if any plants were set out in the fall.
If any of them are out of the ground with roots exposed, I press them firmly hack into the soil.
I sometimes find that the warm sun and winds have dried the ground making it necessary to get out the hose and water.
It is not uncommon to water the garden here in January. Our winter losses are caused by dryness rather than freezing.
Snow And Thawing
Then comes March, with much snow and thawing. At that time, the evergreen biennials such as foxgloves and especially canterbury bells have too much moisture at the crown, causing the fatal crown rot.
Shading them from the sun helps somewhat, but at the same time, they must have a good circulation of air about them to allow dry the ground around the crown before rot sets in.
Yes, we in Colorado have an extraordinary group of garden problems!