These tips, tricks and upcoming events will help you prep your garden this spring!
Holiday Closures
In observance of the winter holidays, the City of Boulder is adjusting its operations schedules.
Spring is here! Check out these 10 tips and tricks to prepare your garden for the upcoming season.
- To pick the right locations for your garden, check the amount of sun that your plants require to ensure they get enough sun.
- Resist the urge to do too much tidying! Cavity nesting insects make their home inside the hollow stems of plants and wait for consistent warm temperatures to emerge. Additionally, many ground-nesting insects need leaf litter and a bit of bare ground! So: wait to prune and try not to rake up all the leaves any time of year!
- Prep your soil by adding compost or use raised bed kits from garden centers to avoid any soil challenges.
- Wait to cut down dandelions. They are another great way to help out native pollinators as it is one of their earliest food sources.
- Plant your cool-season plants (such as sweet peas, lettuce, radishes, and parsley) from April 15 to May 15.
- Plant your warm-season plants (such as tomatoes, basil, peppers, and squash) from May 15 to June 15. Colorado rule of thumb, after Mother’s Day!
- Instead of grass lawns, improve the biodiversity of your space and save water by planting with native flowers which benefit the environment and pollinators.
- Water your plants at the stem with one inch of water each week.
- Include native flowers in your vegetable garden to draw in beneficial insects to pollinate them and to save on water.
- Visit the City’s webpage on Gardening with Native Plants and go plant shopping with the Colorado Native Plant Society’s list of recommended plants for horticulture.
Community Events
Harlequin's Gardens Class: Pollinators & the Plants They Love with Andrea Montoya
What: Colorado is home to at least 1000 native bees, scores of beetles, butterflies, dragon flies and more. But their numbers are declining, in large part because they have little or no access to the plants they love and need to survive. Learn what those plants are with insight into how and when to plant them so that the pollinating insects of Colorado have a chance to once again thrive. We will cover specific pollinating insects and flowering plants for both.
Details: Cost is $23.
When: Sunday, April 7, 2024; 9:30 - 11a.m..
Where: Harlequin’s Gardens, 4795 North 26th St Boulder, CO 80301
BeeChicas - Planting for Pollinators In-Person
Learn how to start native plants and herbs from seeds and cuttings! Let's fill our gardens with native Rocky Mountain Bee Plants and pollinator host plants this season! Think dill, fennel, and oregano! Ditch the plastic pots and make sustainable origami paper pots to take your cuties home. Imagine Boulder as a haven for biodiversity!
When: Wednesday, April 10, 2025, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Location: Boulder Creek Room, Main Library
Event Information: BeeChicas - Planting for Pollinators
Boulder Apple Tree Project: Apple Grafting Workshop
Preserve an apple tree with scion wood that you collect, or, you can use scion wood collected from historic trees by BATP researchers!
When: Saturday, April 13, 2024, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: CU Boulder Greenhouse (map)
Event Information: Boulder Apple Tree Project: Apple Grafting Workshop — Cool Boulder
Drylands Agroecology Research: Earth Week Community Tree Planting
Come together to jam, plant and participate in tending to this Earth with purpose & play!
When: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Location: Metacarbon Farm
Event Information: Drylands Agroecology Research: Earth Week Community Tree Planting — Cool Boulder
Tree Seedling Giveaway - Play Boulder Foundation
When: Saturday, April 27, 2024, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (while supplies last)
Location: McGuckin’s West Entrance
Check the the PLAY Boulder Foundation website for event details
BeeChicas Present - The Fantastical World of Everyday Nature In and Around Us with Susan J. Tweit
When: Wednesday, May 29 2024, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Location: Canyon Theater, Main Library