By Kerry Peetz
Colorado Master Gardener
The highly anticipated April awakening has arrived, and El Paso County gardeners have a high-altitude guide to consider to get off to a healthy start.
In Colorado Springs, gardening in April is less of a hobby and more of a high-stakes game of meteorological chicken. With an average last frost date of May 8 (though it has been known to freeze as late as mid-June), local green thumbs must balance itching trowels against the reality of a snow shovel.
CLEANUP AND PREPARATION
Before you start dreaming of beefsteak tomatoes, you must address the winter leftovers.
The big rake: Clear away debris, dead leaves and any “gifts” your neighbor’s dog left behind during the thaw.
Pruning protocol: Late winter and early April are ideal for pruning deciduous trees and summer-blooming shrubs like butterfly bushes and potentilla. However, hold off on your roses until you see active growth, typically mid-to-late April.
Soil check: If the ground is workable and feels like “crumbly cake,” it’s time to prep your beds with compost, a balanced fertilizer or a well-rotted and aged (at least a year) manure to improve fertility.
Plant trees and shrubs: April is a great time to plant bare-root or container-grown trees and shrubs. The cool, moist spring weather helps establish roots before the summer heat arrives.
MORE TO PLANT
While it is too early for peppers or zinnias, several “cool season” stars can handle a little Pikes Peak frost:
Vegetables: Get your lettuce, spinach, kale, and other leafy greens into the soil by mid-April. Peas (early April), radishes, carrots, onions (sets or transplants), broccoli and cabbage. These hardy crops actually prefer the crisp air.
Native showstoppers: For local color, look for Pasque Flowers – one of the earliest native bloomers – or Blue Flax, which often makes its debut in April.
Indoors only: If you just can’t get those peppers and beefsteaks out of your head, start them indoors now. They need six to eight weeks of warmth before they can safely face the Colorado elements.
ESSENTIAL GEAR
Precision is key when you’re racing against a cold snap. Many locals save personal gardening calendars from year to year. Others use the Old Farmer’s Almanac, but the overachievers always use the Colorado State University website for great research-based gardening information that is meant specifically for us.
The golden rule of April in the Springs? Keep your frost blankets handy, a pair of favorite shorts washed and ready, your Denver Broncos winter beanie hanging next to the portable neck fan mister on the coat rack. We just never know. In this city, the only thing more certain than a late-season freeze is the joy of seeing those first green shoots defy it!
Submit gardening questions to [email protected] or call 719-520-7684. The in-person help desk resumes Wednesday. It will remain open Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Visit our website at elpaso.extension.colostate.edu and register for upcoming classes at epcextension.eventbrite.com.
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