December  17, 2007

This winter great time to plan ’08 landscape projects
By Robert Waggener, editor
UW Cooperative Extension Service

Many gardeners and landscapers across Wyoming have undoubtedly turned their thoughts to snowmobiling, skiing, basketball and cozy evenings in front of a warm fireplace.

This winter is also a great time to plan 2008 landscape and garden projects.

Plotting a proposed landscape idea on paper, for example, can help homeowners avoid common mistakes such as planting large trees and shrubs too close to homes, sidewalks, streets and power lines, according to University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES) publications.

A home landscaping kit is available from UW CES for $3. The kit, B-951, includes a planning guide, work sheets, stencils of trees and shrubs, drawing paper, ruler, triangle and curves. To order, contact Dee Bixby in the College of Agriculture Resource Center at (307) 766-2115 or cespubs@uwyo.edu.

“It’s a wonderful kit for $3,” Bixby said.

Many informational publications relating to landscaping and gardening are on the UW CES Publications Web site at http://ces.uwyo.edu/Pubs_Subject.asp. Click on the Horticulture link.

Extension specialists and faculty members in the College of Agriculture and CES have researched and written on everything from backyard composting and weed control to vegetable gardening and greenhouse structures.

Among the bulletins are the “Landscaping” series: Turf in Wyoming (B-1129), Recommended Trees for Wyoming (B-1090), Recommended Shrubs for Wyoming (B-1108), Water-Wise Wyoming Gardens (B-1143), Herbaceous Perennials for Wyoming (B-1152), Flowering Annuals for Wyoming (B-1170), and Fertilizing Trees and Shrubs (B-1172).

Karen Panter, UW CES extension horticulture specialist, discusses how to develop an attractive, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscape in B-1143, Landscaping: Water-Wise Wyoming Gardens. There are sections on developing a landscape plan, selecting and zoning plants appropriately, improving soils and using mulches.

“Years ago, Denver Water coined the term ‘xeriscape’ to denote landscaping with low-water-using plant material. Unfortunately, many people think this means using gravel and cactus, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Panter said.

She noted there are many wonderful plant types not requiring much water. The publication includes a list of water-wise trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, vines, ground covers, grasses and shade plants that will work well in Wyoming.

WyoScape: Landscaping for the Wyoming Climate (B-1139) is a comprehensive landscaping guide by Tom Heald, a UW CES area educator serving Converse, Natrona and Niobrara counties, and Judy Logue, a Natrona County Master Gardener.

It has sections on plant grouping, turf and ornamental grasses, mulch, irrigation, selecting plants, landscaping maintenance and information sources.

Many of the bulletins are available in hardcopy from Bixby, at the telephone number listed above, or at local CES offices around the state (contact information is at http://ces.uwyo.edu/Counties.asp or in the “Government Listings” section in the White Page under “County.”

Other good resources are available from conservation districts and local offices of the Natural Resources Conservation Service or Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

This is the final column in the landscaping series, which started last spring. The entire series can be found on the UW CES Web page at http://ces.uwyo.edu/. Click on Landscaping Tips under Today’s Highlights.

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor
Phone: (307) 766-3571
E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

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