Breckenridge Real Estate Blog

Moving into March, it is a great time of the year to think about how you can improve life for the growing things in the patio, garden, yard, woods, hillsides, and decks of your summer Breckenridge CO real estate.  There’s nothing like a Victorian chalet bedecked with colorful blooms bursting through the white of winter.  Many people choose to buy hundred-dollar pots of blooms to care for; others like immersing themselves in the beautiful summer clime.

The first step is to learn about your options.  Gardening at your summer vacation Breckenridge home will be different than gardening in the lowlands of Colorado or tending a winter garden in Florida or Arizona.  Our real estate in Summit County ’s Breckenridge, Keystone, Dillon, Copper Mountain, and Frisco is certain to make a gardening scientist out of you.  The three main components that must be considered for successful Summit County gardening are altitude, slope-side, and exposure.

Living in a mountainous or hilly region moved you one full hardiness zone to the north for every 3,300 feet of elevation.  Elevation affects the length of the growing season.  For example, Breckenridge, with about a 140 day growing season sits at 9,603 feet.  Pueblo gets 174 days at a lower altitude.  Part of the mystery of the equation is our marvelous sunshine that baths the community over 300 days during the year.

The easiest route for a new gardener here is to buy empty pots to be able to move around the patios and decks (or inside if it is going to freeze in May).  A foolproof early flower is the pansy, which comes in a variety of colors.  Even in June, though, keep an eye out for cold nights and protect your floral artistry.  A mixture of perennials and annuals will fill your garden with constant brilliant color.  Dramatic flowers like delphiniums, lupine, and hollyhocks beautifully contrast with some of the more rustic homes in the area.

Terraced mountainside gardens will keep rainwater (or irrigation) from rolling down the hills.  The idea is to slow down the runoff so that your trees, bushes, and flowers can absorb it.  Another way to keep the moisture on the hills is to plant tall grasses and ground covers. 

Our high-altitude sun is much hotter than the sun at sea level.  Our plants need to be well watered.  Some flowers, such as impatiens, will need protection but other plants such as tomatoes will thrive in the intensity of the high-altitude sunshine.  Flowering shrubs and trees that thrive are French hybrid lilacs, high bush cranberries, the Colorado pine locust, the hawthorn, cosmos, and morning glory.  North-facing slopes receive less sunshine and that is where you want to plant alpines and ferns, which are heat sensitive. 

If you live out of town during the colder months, ask someone to visit your property to determine subtle differences in the lot.  Where does the snow melt first?  Where does it stay icy?  Where does the soil dry out quickly and where is it always waterlogged?  Listening to your land, you will avoid planting in hollows where the frost collects and protect plants that may receive too much sunshine with a small fence or other taller vegetation.