Summer calls for planting, protecting

It’s beginning to feel more like summer. In Colorado that means anything from calm blue skies to stormy grey clouds dropping hail. We’ll garden shine or rain.

Scientists say that hail is a solid form of precipitation. No kidding. We know it as five-minute garden destruction — and you can expect it through summer in Colorado.

• After a storm, get down to business. Clean up leaf litter and debris. Remove severely destroyed annuals and vegetables and toss them in the compost pile. If it’s early in the growing season, replace them.

• Call a tree professional to remove damaged large limbs and to prune trees. Many trees and shrubs have the ability to releaf; give them time.

• Carefully cut back damaged or broken stems from perennials.

• Give bruised or bent foliage time to recover. Fertilize damaged plants (use half strength) when new growth begins and water it in well.

• A copper fungicide spray is helpful on wounded plants and trees with exposed tissue. Apply within 72 hours of damage. Always read the label for application timing and rates. Care should always be taken when sprays are used where pollinators and beneficial insects are present.

• If plant replacement is on your list consider native perennials and narrow-leafed plants and shrubs that are better able to withstand hail and heavy rain. Here is a good reference: bit.ly/2WUJJhL.

• Plants that have lost all their foliage probably won’t recover. They just don’t have reserves to produce new leaves for root growth.

• To prevent damage from heavy rain and hail, cover your plants with whatever is at hand — laundry baskets, garbage cans, boxes, crates, or tents built using lightweight sheets, row covers or shade cloth and sturdy sticks with clothespins or office clips to will hold material in place. Watch my video to learn how to assemble a plant shelter: youtube.com/ watch?v=B4YtOpXdgiQ.

Spring blooming perennials like salvia, catmint and herbs including chives, tarragon and mint can easily split open and flop after heavy rain. It’s OK to prune them almost to the base of the plant above a set of leaves. This will encourage the plant to grow and bloom again in a few weeks.

By mid-June fertilize cool-season lawn grass (Kentucky blue grass, tall fescue, ryegrass). You can fertilize warm season grasses (Buffalo, blue grama and Bermuda) through early August. Use a half to 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.

• Check the potato patch — it may need to be hilled, which means adding more soil on the