Landscaping Tips:

This winter great time to plan ’07 landscape projects

By Robert Waggener
Editor and writer
University of Wyoming 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 fireplace.

            Winter is also a great time to plan next year’s 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. It 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 bixbyd@uwyo.edu.

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

            Novice and experts alike can find many informational publications relating to landscaping and gardening on the UW CES horticulture Web site.

            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, extension horticulture specialist and state Master Gardener coordinator on the UW campus, discusses how to develop an attractive, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscape in B-1143, Landscaping: Water-Wise Wyoming Gardens (to access bulletin, please see Web site address listed above). 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. (No, it is not pronounced ‘zeroscape.’) Unfortunately, many people think this means using gravel and cactus, but nothing could be farther from the truth,” Panter stated.

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 Natrona County UW CES Educator Tom Heald 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.

For those not having access to the Internet or who cannot download publications, many of the articles and bulletins are available in hardcopy from local CES offices or from Bixby (see above telephone number). Fees vary.

Other good resources are available from local offices of conservation districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service and 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.

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