What is missing in your Colorado garden in the wintertime? Winter Watering.

Winter watering is crucial in Colorado and all high dessert regions for year-round garden care.

Hello fellow gardeners! What a way to start the year. We have broken records with warmer temperatures in Colorado this winter. I have felt the change myself with being able to wear sandals in January! That is a first for me. January was the month where the snow is still coming down, that was my norm growing up in Colorado. But this year has been a drastically different winter, with barely 4 feet of snow total all season in the mountains and only a few mornings waking up to snow in the front range. Why does this matter? Colorado is such a dry place that snow fall is measured each season. This helps to know how much the lakes and rivers will be filled when the snow melts. So important to track, and I like to see how much melts directly down in the soil to feed the plants for the next hot summer season, especially the mature older trees. When the environment does not provide the water or long freezes, supplemental watering must happen, so we should winter water in Colorado.

The Forests and suburb landscapes of Colorado rely on the consistency of the natural rain fall, then snow, then shifts into spring rain again. All to get ready for the heat of the summer. I don't want to give the impression that plants are not survivors. Plants will do anything they can to find water and adapted to the changing environment around them. Especially in a high desert climate with harsh elements. But when we have landscapes full of plants that are not just native, they are plants that need more hands-on care, like winter watering in Colorado. These plants have a harder time thriving in high desert climates. That is when it is crucial to make sure you are properly watering year-round.

No matter where you are in Colorado or in any high desert climate, you have to remember that your plants and your landscapes are always going to need a little of your attention as they grow and change. I get a lot of clients surprised to hear when I asked them if they winter water in Colorado. I have learned over the course of my 20 + years diagnosing gardens that 90% of issues are water related. The soil/plant relationship is where is all begins. The soils job is to provide water and nutrients to the plants. The plants have to be able to move through the soil, fungi and microorganisms help them do this. However, if the roots have to move through compacted soil like clay, this makes it more challenging for the plant.

Watering your dormant trees, shrubs and perennials in a dry climate like Colorado helps them stay alive.

High desert cities are built on top of mountains that have been breaking down and creating what we call clay soil. Sandy soils and some silt soils are also found in the ground depending on where you live. (CSU is a wonderful facility to get your soil tested in Colorado.) Knowing the kind of soil you have will help you know how to amend your soil so it can do its job for the plant. (More on Soil in an article coming soon!) We are still very much a part of the Rocky Mountains with every step we take and every hole we create.

When you are in your first year with your new plants, I want to remind you that these little floras lived their entire life in a container. When you remove them from their container and the climate they grew up in, (most plants in Garden Centers in CO come from a different state) and place them in this unfamiliar ground, they're in a whole new world, that's why we call it plans shock. This is the reason for giving them so much room when it comes to digging a big hole. They need healthy loose soil to help the new root system get established. If you planted your plants in spring, by fall they should be more aware of their new environment. Which is why it is crucial for you to make sure that they have the moisture they need to get through a very dry, windy and apparently now warmer winters in Colorado.

THE PROCESS OF WINTER WATERING

Depending on the year the plants were planted, will depend on the amount of water you give them each winter. Making sure that they get watered twice a month at least, when the outside temp is above 40 degrees. Water is a protector for the root system when there are freezing temperatures and high winds.

How to winter water in Colorado:

1. Uncover outside faucets and attach your hoses - up to a 4-way hose connector for multiple plants being mindful of your PSI pressure

2. Trees-10 gallons per month, per caliper inch (CSU Extension guidelines)

   • 5-gallon bucket with a small hole drilled on one side close to the bottom. Fill the bucket and making sure to move the bucket around the tree.

   • great way to know the tree is getting the proper amount of water each month

3. All plants need 10min + of a slow water flow or until you see puddles form.

4. Move the hose around the plant but keep the hose at least 6inches away from the plant.

5. Once the ground around the plant is saturated move to next plant.

This is a simple care practice that can keep your plants alive year after year. But you do need to be consistent and if you know a temperature drop is coming, that is a great time to get out in your landscape before the freeze hits and get some moisture in the ground. Just know the more you pay attention to your garden the more the garden will flourish for you.

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle" - Barbera Winkler