One of the things that I’ve been busy with is my large garden area in my backyard. Now that it’s spring it’s time to start working on it again.

Two days ago Catherine Wissner, a Laramie County Master Gardener and horticulturalist, made a house call to my home. It’s really neat that Master Gardeners make house calls. Its an excellent service that they provide for free. Look for Master Gardeners in your area, according to Catherine there are Master Gardeners all over the U.S. , as well as in parts of Canada.

Catherine took a closer look at my weeping cottonwood tree. The tree has brown rings and a slimy area that weeps when it rains or snows.

I’m going to take one cup of bleach to one gallon of water and apply that with a sponge to my tree’s weeping spot.

While Catherine was in my front yard, she told me how to fix the trouble spots in our soil and grass. She suggested that Roundup would easily kill vine-like flowering weeds that are creeping into our grass from our neighbor’s yard.

We proceeded to my backyard where my large garden area is. Currently it’s full of weeds and pesky grass from last summer and fall because I had to take a hiatus from gardening when I was pregnant last year.

Catherine told me that household vinegar would kill those weeds and crab grass, without harming my other plants. You just have to take a large rolling paint brush and carefully apply the vinegar to the weeds and crab grass while making sure not to touch your plants that you want to live.

You can also cover those spots with large black trash bags, or yesterday’s newspaper and to keep them in place you can add landscaping stones on top.

My viburnum tree, which is in in the middle of my large garden area, has mossy green shoots on the tops of some of the branches. Catherine told me that I can cut those and place them in cups of water. That way I’ll have new trees to plant. The same goes for my cotoneaster tree, but she said once they’re planted, they would make a nice hedge. They would also take up some of my garden space.

Catherine is also coming up with a list of flowers and plants that are low maintenance and would be great for my backyard area.

If you’d like a house call for your garden, trees, or grass problems you can reach the Laramie County Master Gardeners here: www.lcmg.org

For Master Gardeners in the U.S. Or Canada go here: http://www.ahs.org/master_gardeners/

HAPPY GARDENING 🙂

Here are some upcoming workshops for residents of Laramie County, Wyoming.

“Gardening on the Cheap: Big Garden Dreams on a Small Garden Budget”

with Jodi Torpey

Date and time: Tomorrow, April 21 at 3 p.m.

Event location: Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave.

Who to contact: Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, 307-637- 6458, or Catherine Wissner, horticulturalist, phone number: 307-633-4383

Laramie County Cooperative Extension Service website: http://www.uwyo.edu/ces/county/laramie/

Event information: Jodi Torpey is the author of the book “The Colorado Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Centennial State.” Torpey is also an expert on growing great gardens and harvesting healthy crops while pinching pennies. She will explain tricks to cultivate a green thumb without going into the red. She’ll teach people about creative ideas to become a frugal gardener from finding inexpensive or free options for soil amendments, seeds, plants, planters and garden structures.

More information about Torpey: http://www.westerngardeners.com/about-jodi-torpey.html

This event is brought to you by the Laramie County Master Gardeners and the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens.

Another gardening event in Cheyenne, Wyoming :

Laramie County Master Gardener’s Annual Plant Sale and Garden Festival

Event time: Saturday, May 19, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Location: Cheyenne Depot Plaza in downtown Cheyenne. The Depot Plaza is in front of the Cheyenne Depot Museum, which is located at 121 W. 15^th St.

Brought to gardeners by: the Laramie County Master Gardeners, The Cheyenne Depot Museum and the City of Cheyenne