Planting advice-LOT's of questions (Denver, Aurora: house, university, live)

[Mrs. Mom]

I love to garden and am excited to get planting in Denver. I have always lived in the desert so I am going to have a HUGE learning curve!

Our new backyard lacks privacy and needs some well placed evergreens to start. Have we missed the planting season for tree's? If we plant early July, will they have enough time to establish before the snow comes? Can you suggest a fast growing evergreen? We will probably go with some variety of pine since the house opens on one side to several ponderosa.

Is there a nursery that you can recommend in SE Aurora? A place to take a gardening class in this area as well? When I was there I cruised Barnes and Noble for some regional gardening books but was too overwhelmed at the time to figure out which would be best. Any suggestions on books?

Thanks!!!

[BlueWillowPlate]

Denverarian, Katiana and others might be able to offer advice.
Denver is still somewhat the high desert so keep that in mind: you are still in an arid climate and going with native plants is a good idea, not to mention soil amendment and proper irrigation.
I wonder if Tagawa Garden Center would be convenient for you? It is a wonderful place. I know lots of people just go to Lowe's or Home Depot or SprawlMart, but a good garden center is helpful and trustworthy. There is City Floral, as well.
About planting trees in summer, well, others may differ, but our luck was not good. We once planted a linden in June and it did not make it. Too hot.
We planted another the following October and it is still there ten years later.

[2bindenver]

I agree go to a local garden Center like Tagawa on Parker, not the big box chains - I believe Austrian Pines grow the fastest.

[jkcoop]

"Fastest" is a relative word really when it comes to pines. At any rate, you won't get quick privacy - you'll have to be patient. We have an Austrian, and it's slow going. The neighbors behind us and put up Scotch pines and they planted them on berms to give the illusion they were bigger at first. It did sort of work.
Fall is the better time to plant your trees - a very ideal time in fact. I know the Tree Farm up here in Longmont is a ways up, but it is a great place to get trees (and lots of other plants too).
And yes, the climate here is arid. So you are not going to be too far off from what you are used to. I came from Texas years ago - now that was a learning curve. You really won't have one as much as you think you will.
There was some good discussion over here in the gardening section:
Colorado Plants/Shrubs
The biggest challenge here is the swings in temps/weather. My philosophy is, if a plant has to be babied to survive, it doesn't belong here.

[denverian]

Nick's in Aurora (just east of 225 and I believe north of Iliff- just google Nick's Garden Center Aurora for the address) is a great place.

I just planted 2 weeks ago a scotch pine, and it seems to be doing well. I'm not sure which evergrees grow the fastest though. It's been rather cool for June, so you're probably fine. If you go to Nick's, they have a great tree selection and have plenty of experts to help you out!

[wanttomoveeast]

Nick's is awesome!!! I love Paulino's too, but they aren't in Aurora, maybe Arvada? Just off I-25 and 58th. They have a very nice gardner there who will take you on a tour in her little jeep and teach you about trees and the like. It really helped us out in choosing a tree. Their plants are so much healthier than Lowes. Although we did find some very nice bushes at Lowe's. Thing is, each store will be different. We went to one store and everything was dead (Lowes). Another and everything was treated and cared for very well. Paulino's for flowers wins hands down.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Blue Willow Plate was exactly correct about soil amendment and irrigation. Most of the land in the area is clay, which is hard and doesn't hold water. You need to work in a lot of compost (we grow our own in our compost pile) before planting anything.

My recommendation is the Colorado State University Extension service. They have lots of good reading materials on-line that explain the soils in this area as well as the different types of plants and trees and when to plant.

Given our lack of water, you should consider xeriscape.

[Mrs. Mom]

Originally Posted by jkcoop

Fall is the better time to plant your trees - a very ideal time in fact.

REALLY? I would not have thought that. Here we plant in the spring so that everything establishes a good root system before the winter frosts (and light snow) hit. It can take some varieties of our plants three years of winters before they are considered pretty 'safe'. I would have thought that beating the snow clock was more important than the heat.

Thanks for all the recommendation. I can't wait to get reading.

[jkcoop]

Very early fall is when we have planted all of our trees that survived. Some books will say spring is best and I've got some Colorado books that say fall. Our luck has always been fall.
They seem to spend more time working on establishing their roots then on new growth. Frosts and snow will not matter.
The couple of trees we tried to plant in the spring bit it when we'd have a late freeze, leaves would get bit back, then they never seemed to be able to recover from that. That's been our experience - I'm sure others have had better success. Every tree we've planted in the fall has done beautifully.