Remove tree wrap on Easter weekend or “Tax Day,” whichever is easier to remember. Tree wrap left on year-round can provide a home for insects and diseases. The wrap can also restrict the growth of your tree, resulting in a girdling injury.

Core aerate your lawn this spring to help relieve soil compaction and thatch build-up. Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to kill the seeds of crabgrass and other annual weeds. Do not apply a pre-emergent if you are planning on reseeding your lawn this spring. Corn gluten meal is an organic pre-emergent “herbicide.”

The “earthy” smell after a spring rain comes from soil-dwelling bacteria and other organic matter that are kicked into the air by falling raindrops.

Clean out your birdhouses and throw away the old nests. Disinfect with a bleach solution of four tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water. Mount birdhouses on a pole or tree, six to 20 feet off the ground.

North America is home to 4,000 native bee species and the honeybee is not one of them—it’s a European import. There are 45 species of native bumblebees and thousands of species of solitary bees, like mason bees, leafcutter bees and carpenter bees. These are all important pollinators. Increasing awareness of native bees and habitat for pollinators is one of the goals of the Pollinator Conservation Program of the Xerces Society. Visit www.xerces.org for more information.

The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.

Gardening and Insect Fact Sheets are available on-line by clicking HERE.

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This page updated:  April 13, 2007