Gardening for Hot and Dry Climates
Have you ever scoured your local nurseries or big box stores looking for that one plant or tree you’ve been dying to grow, only to come home empty handed? Well if so, I feel your pain! Occasionally there are plants that just aren’t readily available …
It’s common knowledge that fruit trees need a few things to flourish like water, sunlight, and food. Wait a minute plants need to eat? Absolutely! For those that thought all you needed to do was plant that fruit tree add some water and watch it …
When you think about gardening, you typically think of needing a lot of space like a backyard to be able to garden. While that definitely helps, it isn’t always necessary. If you look up the definition of gardening it typically doesn’t state anything about the …
When you think of gardening the first plant everyone wants to grow are tomatoes. It’s just the thing to do and for good reason. Tomatoes taste ten times better fresh off the vine then anything you’ll ever get at a supermarket. If you live in …
Living in Phoenix Arizona, aka the valley of the sun, we gardeners never have a problem with our plants being sunlight deficient. In fact, our dilemma is quite the opposite. Our hot desert sun can be extremely intense, especially during the summer months. Since sun …
Having a pest outbreak in the garden can put a gardener in panic mode. One common thought is to grab the chemicals and go for a quick kill. Not only are chemicals death for the pests, they can wreak havoc on the good bugs, not …
If you live in a hot climate where winters are fairly mild, you may wonder if it matters when you plant your fruit tree or when would be the optimal time to plant. In more temperate climates with the traditional four seasons, it’s pretty obvious …
Learning the art of watering fruit trees can be one of the most challenging things for beginning gardeners. Gardening in places with frequent rainfall can make life a bit easier, but If you’re living in a hot climate that sees very little rainfall, that compounds …
Often times when you buy a young fruit tree from a nursery it comes in a pot and the trunk is secured to a stake. If the trunk isn’t large enough, the tree will often lean or flop over once that stake is removed. Proper …
You know that moment when you’re fruit trees have looked great for a while, then unexpectedly the leaves start dropping? If you’re like me, seeing this can stop you in your tracks and get the gears cranking in your head. You start running through all …
When you’ve been gardening in a climate with four seasons and move to a hot, dry climate, gardening becomes a whole new experience. I’ve come across many people who have given up on gardening in our Arizona desert, because it wasn’t as easy as it …
If you ask a child what a plant needs to grow, common answers are going to be water, sun, soil, and air. Any beginning gardener would agree with the child. The one thing that is commonly forgotten about or least understood is feeding plants. There …
Have you ever dug in soil that just crumbled or was super dense? Well, if you live in hot, dry climates like the Arizona desert, this is a pretty common experience. Unless you’ve taken measures to create a healthy soil, I highly doubt any worm …
There are some basic tips that help turn your thumb green when it comes to starting a garden. One gardening buzzword that has been huge in helping me become a successful desert gardener is microclimate. When I began my gardening adventure, I had no idea …