We’ve all felt “spring fever” – that unbearable urge to hit the nurseries and start digging in our garden after being indoors for months on end.  With all the excitement in Spring, it’s easy to forget that Fall is a terrific time to do planting, as well as other maintenance tasks to not just get a jump on Spring, but also save time and money next season.  Remember, a healthy lawn and garden means less pest and disease problems – and that means less maintenance (e.g., time and money). 

Chipper-shredders are heavy-duty pieces of power equipment that will turn leaves, garden refuse and tree trimmings into raw material for the compost pile or mulch for the your garden beds. Prices range from $200 for small electric models to $2,000 for the large deluxe gas-powered varieties. If you have a big yard, a deluxe model may be worth the money; it will accept a variety of materials, including tree limbs up to six inches in diameter. Chipper vacuums are ideal for small yards and cost around $400, the machine vacuums and shred leaves, and they can chip small tree limbs and branches too.

Kentucky bluegrass is often maligned as a water hog in the landscape. True, it requires more water than native buffalograss or blue grama. In return it provides a turf that holds up to wear from foot traffic and sports play for more months of the year. It also doesn't need the amount of irrigation water that many people give it. It needs only 26 inches of irrigation during the growing season assuming 10 inches of rain instead of the 35 to 40 inches of irrigation often applied. 

Practicing the following guidelines can decrease water use by up to 30% over the watering season.

Wait to activate your sprinkler system as late into the season as possible depending on the weather.  May is usually a good time to start up your system.  Starting later encourages grass roots to seek water and grow deeper.  When hot, dry summer days arrive, the deeper root system means the grass can go longer between waterings 

Landscape fabric seems to be an item that many assume is required for landscaping... Wrong! It has limited use. When I drive by a new landscape installation in progress and see the fabric, I just want to scream! I learned the hard way to not use landscape fabric with my garden bed. You need to mulch directly over dead sod or amended soil in your plant bed/landscape; the sod and mulch will eventually breakdown into wonderful organic growing medium. The fabric prevents the great compost created from the decomposing mulch (on top) from working back into the soil.

As early as January 2002, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo began to discuss water conservation options as Colorado's drought -- the worst in 40 years -- loomed larger. More than two years later, water conservation has become a fact of life in our community and CMZ has redoubled its commitment to being a botanical resource to Pikes Peak area residents. One concept introduced by CMZ that has taken on a life of its own is the "no water" garden.

The Xeriscape Council of New Mexico sponsored the 9th Xeriscape Conference on October 17-18, 2003. Dr. Peter Gleick was the keynote speaker on Friday October 17.

Dr. Gleick, is the Co-founder and President of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security. Dr. Gleick is an internationally recognized expert on global freshwater resources, including the hydrologic impacts of climate change, sustainable water use, privatization and globalization and international conflicts over water resources.