Why would I make a claim like this? Year in, year out, for twenty years now, I have watched the Buckley oak I am writing about literally soar into the sky and blaze each autumn like a bonfire of red. It has not been watered once since it was planted almost a quarter century ago. What other tree can you name that is as sturdy as this oak, that has such a fabulous shape, will not get too big but grows quickly and thrives without supplemental irrigation in Denver? This native of West Texas is unfazed by summer heat or extended drought.

Pictures simply cannot capture the wonderful russet-scarlet-orange magnificence of the leaves throughout all of November. They cling on the tree for much of the winter, making a gorgeous presence until spring. Sadly, I do not know a single nursery in the Denver area that sells Buckley oak. One or two occasionally stock them, but they have discontinued: no demand.

There is something sad about this: the best tree in the world. And you can’t have it! Nya nya! Is that mean or what? Actually, you CAN have Buckley oak if you work at it. This is a very popular landscape plant throughout Texas. For years I drove to Texas for Thanksgiving with my late in-laws. Amarillo, Lubbock and Sweetwater would be filled with wonderful big Shumard and Buckley oaks that made driving through these towns a pleasure this time of year. And every garden center in these cities (and elsewhere in Texas too) sells Shumard and Buckley oaks very cheaply. So take a road trip to Texas with a truck some day and load up!

And you can occasionally find these in Colorado as well (pester your local nurseryman–they may order one for you if you make a nuisance of yourself). Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii) is closely related to Buckley oak, coming from a tad further east in Texas, it seems to need a bit more water and can grow to incredible heights (our state champion tree at the Gardens is nearly 100′ tall). I finish with a picture of my own Shumard,(all these pix, by the way, were just taken the last few days)…

Shumard oak seems to be a bit more purple red than Buckley in my experience, and grows every bit as quickly. Mine is easily over 20′ tall, and less than 15 years old. I got this specimen locally, so there is hope!

So Denver, please go out there and create a ruckus for Buckley and Shumard oaks! As little kids demonstrate every day, if we make enough racket they will have to give them to us!

Published originally on the Denver Botanic Gardens blog.

January:

Water deeply during the first warm spell over 50º F.

February:

Water if necessary. Apply pre-emergent herbicides like corn gluten to prevent the seed germination of dandelion and other early germinating weeds. Water it in thoroughly. This will prevent about 90% of weed control later.

March:

Check dry spots on the south sides of buildings, trees and bushes for clover mites and two-spotted spider mites. Spray area with mixture of soap and water or neem oil. Repeat in two weeks.

If lawn is looking thin, TOPDRESS with compost ¼ inch deep (rake out evenly), fertilize with organic lawn food (stimulates worm activity=natural aeration), then core aerate. Do this in THIS order for best results. Prior to topdressing with compost, trim dormant grass to 1” or so to facilitate spreading of material. Topdressing can only be done in the cooler months of March, April, September and October.

April:

Turn on sprinkler system when damaging temperatures have passed. Irrigate the lawn about once a week. If you didn’t topdress and fertilize in March, fertilize now. Over-seed lawn now or seed/sod new areas. Apply pre-emergent herbicide such as corn gluten in early April to prevent the seed germination of crabgrass, spotted spurge and purselane.

May:

Increase frequency of watering to twice a week (about 1” water per week for Kentucky Bluegrass). Cut grass to about 2 inches high.

If you follow these steps, you should be well on your way to having a healthy lawn in the summer months. Stay tuned for Parts II & III of the series where we’ll talk about lawn care in summer, autumn and fall. If you have more questions, leave them in the comments or send us an email via the contact form at the top of our website. Happy growing and mowing!

1. Alternatives to lawns, ie groundcovers, gardens (23 votes)

2. Ponds and waterfalls (14 votes)

3. Lawn care 101 (13th votes)

If you have a class idea, or just want to vote on ideas already suggested, head on over to vote.timberlinegardens.com to cast your votes today!

Thank you for taking part in our little experiment, we’re looking forward to offering more of the classes you want this season.

And remember, the 3 top-voted classes will be automatically placed on this season’s class schedule, so make sure to keep an eye on the class list so you know which classes are coming up and when.

You asked for it and we answered! For an entire day this month, Timberline Gardens will have a featured coupon on the popular group-coupon website www.Groupon.com.

We worked with Groupon to create an awesome deal for you, here’s how it works:

• If you buy a $20 coupon, we’ll double its value to $40!
• Once a certain number of people commit to purchasing the coupon, the deal is on.
• The deal is open for an entire day or until the limit is met.
• Your $40 Groupon is good at Timberline through August 4, 2011.
• That’s it.

Here’s another way to think about it: A $40 Groupon will get you 6 perennials, or a 5 gallon shrub, or 8 1-gallon heirloom tomatoes.

If you’re landscaping, you could get a cubic yard of Planter’s Mix with money to spare, or even 350 pounds of red flagstone.

You can even use it to buy something for Mother’s Day; the possibilities are endless! This kind of deal doesn’t come around very often, so make sure to take advantage of this great opportunity to help us help you save a little green this season.

We can’t tell you when the deal is on, but we can tell you it will happen around the middle of April. Make sure to sign up for email updates at www.Groupon.com and tell your friends and family! Also, make sure to keep an eye on your email inbox for a sneak peak from us the day before the offer opens. Don’t miss out on this incredible deal!

The searchable/sortable versions of all our 2011 plant lists will be added to the website Sunday, so keep an eye peeled for those. Enjoy!

I just have a couple of updates concerning the website and classes list:

• Shortly after the March E-Newsletter started to roll out 2 days ago, we had an issue with class times not showing up on the class schedule. Big time oops, but the issue was corrected in short order. Thank you to everyone who called and emailed to let us know.
• Mary Lilja’s Planting by the Moon class (original set for March 12) has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 2 at 1 pm due to a scheduling snafu. You can view the listing here.
• Many of you who subscribe to our email newsletter may not get our annually printed newsletter in via snail mail. All of our past newsletters–including the Spring 2011 one–are available for download via the Resource Center. There are many money-saving coupons and other great info from co-owner Kelly Grummons. Check it out.
• Mary finished polishing up the 2011 Perennials list today, so it will be added to the Resource Center very soon. I’ll update this post with the link soon. The 2011 Annuals list will be forthcoming.

Also, if you haven’t already, check out the Customer Choice classes suggestion board. We’ve already received great suggestions for more than 15 classes. The top-three voted classes will be chosen for this season’s schedule. And who’s to say we can’t use some of them next season too? Really, thank you to everyone who’s contributed there. If you haven’t yet, visit vote.timberlinegardens.com to cast your votes and suggest a class idea.

Until next time, keep those thumbs green.

There are just a couple of announcements we wanted to share with you before we started digging into all of the cool new stuff happening at Timberline this season.

First, we want to extend a big Congratulations! to Timberline’s own Kelly Grummons. Kelly was recently named 2011 Nursery Person of the Year by the Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association. Way to go Kelly!

Also, as we announced last fall, several of our greenhouses were in various states of transition. Well, warmer weather is almost upon us and the greenhouse projects are done. Next time you visit, make sure to stop by our shiny new “water wall” in “Lucy”, the greenhouse attached to our main office. The “water wall” will allow us to keep our veggies and annuals cooler throughout the hot summer months (cooler by 20º!).

We also built a new, larger version of the “Rose” house, which is located on the northernmost end of the property. We’ve already started using the extra space to cultivate more of the high quality plants you’ve come to expect from Timberline Gardens.

As always, thank you for being a part of the Timberline family, we hope to see your smiling faces soon!

Just in time for the Holiday Season, Timberline Gardens has available the COMPOST WIZARD brand of composters.

• The original Compost Wizard is a 12 cubic feet of composting heaven! The big, heavy barrel rolls easily on its base making it easy and convenient to use.
• The Compost Wizard Jr. is a 7 cubic foot unit made for smaller gardens. It’s ideal for gardens with limited space. A beautiful compost can be created in as little as 3 weeks!
• The Compost Wizard Tumbler Hybrid has a 7 cubic foot compost barrel mounted above a water retention tank that will capture the “tea” that drips from the compost barrel. The tank can also be used as a rain barrel to capture water from the gutters. This magical fertilizer called compost tea is highly revered among serious gardeners.
• The Rain Wizard 50 is a faux whiskey barrel that will capture and hold 50 gallons of rain from your gutters. The base is fitted with a faucet valve that makes it easy to distribute the water through a garden hose or soaker hose or just into a watering can. The rustic design fits in with most decors.
• The Rain Wizard Rock is an imitation rock that can be hidden in the landscape and captures a huge amount of rainwater from the gutter. This model also is fitted with distribution fittings.
• The Rain Wizard Urn is a faux terra cotta urn that captures rainwater and is also fitted with water distribution fittings.

Prices for composters range from $225 to $420. Rain Barrels range from $170 to $205.

Did you know that when you decorate with fresh greens during the holiday season you are carrying on traditions that began centuries ago?

In ancient times, evergreens were a symbol of rebirth. Greenery was brought into the home at the winter solstice to brighten up long, dark days and instill a hope of new life to come.

Its no known when the tradition of bringing a tree into the home and decorating it began. However, min the 16th Century, Germans decorated a Paradise Tree. It is believed that the decorating of a Christmas tree evolved from that practice. In 1700, German immigrants brought the tradition to the United States. It really caught on and became popular in the 1850′s.

The circular evergreen wreath represents eternity. Its green color symbolizes new life and hope. The American tradition of hanging a wreath on the door is a gesture of friendship and welcome.

Decorating with garlands was brought to the United States by European settlers. Greens were gathered, twined together and decorated with seeds, berries, pods and other gifts of nature.

At Timberline, we offer the freshest of greens including fresh cut trees, garlands, holly, wreaths and swags. We also have one-of-a-kind ornaments to decorate your greenery. So, whether you hang an already-decorated wreath or design your own in one of our classes, know that you are continuing the centuries-old custom of welcome friends and family into your home.

If you’re interested in making a swag of your own, check out my Holiday Swag class listing at this link. Happy Holidays!