The question is always, when is it safe to plant. Many plants you can safely plant once the ground is thawed. New plants will require watering. So it is good to hold off planting until you can safely and regularly water the new plants. Plants do not like being coated in ice and the ice can cause cell damage, so watering should take place when the temperatures are safe from freezing and the water can be absorbed before the temperatures drop to freezing.

Some perennials are more sensitive when newly planted and should be held off until after the last frost. This also applies to many annuals and vegetable plants. State Extension offices will post average last frost dates for each area, just make sure that you are looking at your specific area. Many people in Utah go by Mother's Day as the average last frost, but in Sevier County and other parts of Central Utah, the average last frost isn't until Memorial Day. A good way to tell is when all the established plants are in full leaf, then it is typically safe to plant. This year, we are having a Memorial Day Cold Snap Surprise. This is why the recommendation for us is to wait until after Memorial Day to plant cold sensitive plants.

If you do have a cold sensitive plant and the temperatures become dangerously cold there are a few tips and tricks you can use to protect your plants. Covering the beds at night works great for smaller plants and gardens. Creating a hot cap, water wall, or other protective enclosure for individual plants can also work well. If you have a larger plant, like a tree, than you can wrap the trunk (though be cautious about leaving a wrap for too long as it can delay growth or encourage insect infestation) or you can string incandescent Christmas lights around the plant and leave them all night long. The heat the lights put off will keep the plant warm throughout the night. Many people will do this to keep Cacti alive in colder regions.

Spring and Fall are great times to install new plants. Be careful about planting in the fall, some plants, like perennials, can require time to get established before the cold hits and will not do well planted in fall. Once the summer temperatures get above 90 degrees, the plants are more likely to go into shock. Most will recover, but you will need to be mindful of the plants and apply extra water (at night) to keep them alive and healthy.

Last year it was fun to meet with several couples as they worked to redesign and improve their own yards. Because we are all working to avoid large groups and not get each other sick right now, we decided to do things a little bit different this year. We still want people to be able to have the yard of their dreams, and we know that many people can't afford to have someone design their yard for them, and rural Utah should get all of the benefits the larger cities do, so we are trying the Design Classes in a digital, virtual format. 

We will be starting the first class next week. You can register for it here.  

The first class will start at 7 pm, Thursday, May 14. We will be talking about measuring your yard, creating a wish list, and how to start seeing the advantages and disadvantages of your yard. The discussion time will last about 45 minutes. We will be doing it as a video conference, so you will be able to see the slideshow and ask questions. After the discussion we will have an hour or so that you can ask more questions, or we will divide the time up between participants and start looking at specific questions and issues with your individual yards. Because we are doing the video conference format, this gives you some great options. One - you get to stay home, not travel time, no babysitters, comfy couch if you like. Second - if you don't want to listen about everyone else's yards, you can skip out for a minute and do something else. Third - you can walk us around your yard. You wont need a functioning camera to watch the class, but should you choose, you can view the webinar on your cell phone (or switch to your cell phone after the first part) and ask specific questions about specific areas and be able to show the class all at the same time. Four - we dropped the price to $15 this year, so it is an even better deal and there is no question about inviting your whole family because you will control who gets to see your screen.

Once you register, we will email you the information needed for the first class. These are recommendations to help you get as much as possible out of the class. Within 24 hours of the class, we will email you a link to the conference. You will be able to use that link at the class time to join us and start redesigning your yard.  We are excited to be offering this opportunity to people and hope that you will join us. We will limit the number of people that can attend so that everyone will have a chance to ask their questions, so sign up today.