Gardening in the AZ desert (Tucson, Tombstone: renting, HOA, condo)

[brrrinmass]

Hi all. Can anyone tell me how the gardening is in the AZ desert with all that sunshine? I have heard that the roses can grow as big as your head out there. My wife is very into gardening here in the east. We have thousands (literally) of flowers in our yard. Hundreds of varieties and colors. I have heard that the ground is extremely hard to dig. Something about ancient sea beds is why the ground is so hard???? I understand that most new developments have HOA's which only allow certain things to be in the front yards. Are they restrictive towards flower beds as well? Do you have to have a backhoe come in and dig up the ground and replace it with soil. If you do add soil does the AZ sun bake away all the nutrients in the soil leaving you with caliche. My wife and I are trying to relocate to Tucson and would like to have a pool and some flower beds in our back yard.

[brooks2007]

We were just in Tucson last week and coming from North Carolina I was pleasantly surprised to see plants such as jasmine and camelias thriving! We looked at quite a few homes and some owners were very successful in creating nice flower gardens. I think the key must be proper soil preparation and placement, but it looks like it can be done successfully. I did see a lot of container gardening with drip irrigation.

BTW, one of my personal SW favorites is bougainvillea! The color is amazing!

While visiting Tombstone (south of Tucson) we stopped into see the "World's Largest Rose Tree". This Lady banks Rose was planted in 1885 and has grown agressively. My sister has a beautiful one on a trellis where she lives in Tucson and it looks like a great choice for the area.

Xeriscape Landscaping Plants For The Arizona Desert Environment, Pictures, Photos, And Information, Vines, Lady Bank's Rose, Rosa banksiae

There is also a link at the bottom of that page for AZ desert xeriscaping... working with drought tolerant plants is always a good idea!
If you want to skip to that it is:

Xeriscape Landscape Plants For The Arizona Desert Environment Pictures, Photos, And Information

Good Luck & Happy Gardening!

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by brrrinmass

Hi all. Can anyone tell me how the gardening is in the AZ desert with all that sunshine? I have heard that the roses can grow as big as your head out there. My wife is very into gardening here in the east. We have thousands (literally) of flowers in our yard. Hundreds of varieties and colors. I have heard that the ground is extremely hard to dig. Something about ancient sea beds is why the ground is so hard???? I understand that most new developments have HOA's which only allow certain things to be in the front yards. Are they restrictive towards flower beds as well? Do you have to have a backhoe come in and dig up the ground and replace it with soil. If you do add soil does the AZ sun bake away all the nutrients in the soil leaving you with caliche. My wife and I are trying to relocate to Tucson and would like to have a pool and some flower beds in our back yard.

You are in for a treat. You'll be able to grow a whole lot of semi-tropical plants you wouldn't dream of growing in Massachusetts - the flowers already mentioned - plus things like orange and lemon trees. It will be different from what you are used to, and some of your cold weather favorites just won't make it there, but as I said, there will be a whole new range of alternate plants to choose from. It'll be a whole new world as far as gardening goes.



http://www.gardeninginarizona.com/

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/azgard/

Ken

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by brooks2007

BTW, one of my personal SW favorites is bougainvillea! The color is amazing!

He-he, the color IS amazing... However, have you tried sweeping after it every day?

[cacto]

Gardens in the Sonoran can be very successful. The soil and temperatures can be challenging if you're unfamiliar. The usual soil lacks nutrients for most garden variety plants and it needs a lot of compost, earth worm food, kelp meal and such to make it productive for non-desert stuff.
To enrich the soil to a depth ot 2 or 3 feet can be problematic because in most places at that depth you hit a very hard layer of clay which can really give you a sore back. If you want deep roots and bigger plants it's worth it.
In Tucson there is a store/organization called Native Seed/SEARCH. The store is awesome, it's on 4th Ave. by the University and I think it's moving somewhere on Campbell soon. It's a seed store of all native american and hispanic plant varieties domesticated in the Sonoran Desert. It was founded by botanist Gary Paul Nabhan who's been traveling all over Arizona and Sonora for the last thirty years collecting the seeds of plants adapted for here. It's really helpful because you'll go to Home Depot and buy some seeds of some variety from back east and they'll die in the summer and everyone will tell you nothing grows in the desert, and these native varieties will really thrive.
Anyways, good luck. Hope you make it to Tucson.

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by cacto

Gardens in the Sonoran can be very successful. The soil and temperatures can be challenging if you're unfamiliar. The usual soil lacks nutrients for most garden variety plants and it needs a lot of compost, earth worm food, kelp meal and such to make it productive for non-desert stuff.
To enrich the soil to a depth ot 2 or 3 feet can be problematic because in most places at that depth you hit a very hard layer of clay which can really give you a sore back. If you want deep roots and bigger plants it's worth it.
In Tucson there is a store/organization called Native Seed/SEARCH. The store is awesome, it's on 4th Ave. by the University and I think it's moving somewhere on Campbell soon. It's a seed store of all native american and hispanic plant varieties domesticated in the Sonoran Desert. It was founded by botanist Gary Paul Nabhan who's been traveling all over Arizona and Sonora for the last thirty years collecting the seeds of plants adapted for here. It's really helpful because you'll go to Home Depot and buy some seeds of some variety from back east and they'll die in the summer and everyone will tell you nothing grows in the desert, and these native varieties will really thrive.
Anyways, good luck. Hope you make it to Tucson.

Good info

[Marcy1210]

I live in a condo, so do balcony gardening. I grow herbs, panises, crysthemums, and geraniums year round. I planted "topsy turvy" tomatoes (Beefsteak from Burpee's) last week, and peppers (green) from Home Depot this week. I can grow beans, peas (in the shade) herbs, flowers, broccoli, melons, squash, and cucumbers all in containers on my balcony. They won't feed an army, but they're perfect for my son and I. You'd be surprised what you can grow, and for so much longer than in the East, out here.

[sabinanm]

We live in a subdivision on the SE side and the HOA is particular but many people have made beautiful flower beds both in the front and back. I have roses in full (evil hot in the summer) sun and they grow well. I put in a drip irrigation system both for my flowers and veggy garden.

Because we are renting I did not want to dig up the rocks in the backyard so I made a veggy garden in a used horse trough. I got free horse manure from someone in Corona de Tucson (10 min south of Tucson) and added some top soil filling it aobut 1/2 full. I have had 2 seasons (yrs) of veggies even through the winter (covered it with cheap plastic during Dec, Jan). I just add a small awning for the really hot summer months but have had fresh veggies for my family of 5.

I have lived in MA and other cold climates so I know what you are use to up there and the growing here is not hard. Mostly you need to add a little loomy soil if planting into the AZ dirt and LOTS of water but use drip irrigation for best effect/conservation/cost. Plants tend to dry out more in containers but they are manageable if you use a drip system. Drip systems cost less then $40 at Walmart, thats including hoses, drip/sprinklers, regulator and even a decent electronic timer.

[brrrinmass]

Originally Posted by sabinanm

We live in a subdivision on the SE side and the HOA is particular but many people have made beautiful flower beds both in the front and back. I have roses in full (evil hot in the summer) sun and they grow well. I put in a drip irrigation system both for my flowers and veggy garden.

Because we are renting I did not want to dig up the rocks in the backyard so I made a veggy garden in a used horse trough. I got free horse manure from someone in Corona de Tucson (10 min south of Tucson) and added some top soil filling it aobut 1/2 full. I have had 2 seasons (yrs) of veggies even through the winter (covered it with cheap plastic during Dec, Jan). I just add a small awning for the really hot summer months but have had fresh veggies for my family of 5.

I have lived in MA and other cold climates so I know what you are use to up there and the growing here is not hard. Mostly you need to add a little loomy soil if planting into the AZ dirt and LOTS of water but use drip irrigation for best effect/conservation/cost. Plants tend to dry out more in containers but they are manageable if you use a drip system. Drip systems cost less then $40 at Walmart, thats including hoses, drip/sprinklers, regulator and even a decent electronic timer.

Good info Sabinanm. Thanks very much. Anyone grow any citrus trees? How much room do they take up in the yard? Not sure how big they get. Do they bear a lot of fruit? Do you have to wait years for fruit or do they bear fruit quickly?

[RavensGarden]

I had a veggie garden in Tucson 2 years ago. First you have to dig all of the rocks out of the soil. Then do the mulch thing. After a couple of weeks, dig holes and put 2/3 peat moss and 1/3 earth in the hole. Then you can plant your seedlings from the Jiffy pellets (I like to take the mesh off the Jiffy pellet for better root growth.) I left the hole a bit deep, so the water could puddle and the water could slowly seep deep into the earth so the roots could go deep as well. This way in the heat of mid summer, the roots would reach down into cool moist earth. I also had to use wooden planks to make reservoirs so the water would stay where I put it. Water and Miracle Grow after that and I had huge veggies. Cantaloupes, cucumbers, 3 kinds of tomatoes, corn, broccoli, carrots, green beans, cabbage...etc. it was amazing. Because there are no worms in the earth here, I'd have to use that tool, looks like a three pronged thing to move the earth around. It was one of the most amazing things i ever did. Just remember, it takes a LOT of water...I was putting at least 200 gallons a day on the garden.