May is the month to plant annuals

Avoid planting prior to the last freeze of the season

DENVER, CO - May is the recommended month to plant annuals in the high plains of metro Denver, says Tony Nickerson, owner and operator of A Better Landscape and Sprinkler Company. Nickerson’s crews design and install flowers and landscaping for residences, multi-unit developments and commercial properties as well as providing landscaping and lawn maintenance and sprinkler system installation and repair.

Annuals can be planted as seed or as plants. “The important thing is to have clean top soil prepared with a good emulsion,” says Nickerson. Equally important, he adds, is whether the plants are to be planted in shade or in a sunny spot. “Most people don’t know which plants thrive in sun and which ones require shade,” says Nickerson. When selecting annuals at a garden center, be sure to read the information generally found on a plastic pick in the soil around the potted plant to determine where it will thrive: shade, partial sun, full sun, etc.

Annuals must be well watered and until they are established, a process that takes several weeks. Planting in May gives the plants time to adjust to live outside of a nursery well before the heat of mid-summer descends.

Planting prior to May, even as late as Memorial Day, can be risky given the Mile High City’s unpredictable spring weather, conditions that can turn to a freeze unexpectedly. Cautious gardeners often don’t plant annuals until Memorial Day each year having learned that freezes do happen even in May, although they are rare.

A Better Landscape and Sprinkler Company offers full design, preparation and planting of landscape materials including annuals that are hand-selected by Nickerson and his crews—hardy plants that will produce blooms throughout their season.

Nickerson can be reached at A Better Landscape and Sprinkler Company at 720-314-5990 or info@abetterlandscapedenver.com