Plant Selection

When I began to gradually transform my Mediterranean landscaped yard to a desert landscaped yard, the booklet "Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert" was my bible.  As I would debate over what plant to put where, this guide was indispensable.  It allowed me to see at a glance what plants could take reflected heat from the swimming pool, which ones were low-water use, what season they are in bloom, how wide and tall they would grow,  and what wildlife they may attract!  Now there is an online version that has even MORE information!  See www.amwua.org/plants/

The city of Chandler has an awesome interactive landscaping tool online that also makes it easy and fun to plan changes to your landscape.  See http://www.chandler.watersavingplants.com/


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Other excellent desert plant selection and care guides include:



The Arizona Low Desert Flower Garden - A Seasonal Guide to Bloom, Height, Color, and Texture by Kirti Mathura - The Arizona Low Desert Flower Garden features easy-to-use tri-cut flip pages that make it a snap to compare height, color, and growing season of hundreds of low desert plants. At-a-glance symbols indicate water requirements, along with whether the plants attract birds, butterflies, or caterpillars.

Pruning Planting and Care
by Eric Johnson

Pruning Planting and Care by Eric Johnson

Virtual Library of Phoenix Landscape Plants


Desert Botanical Gardens Gardening Guides

Also see Mountain States Wholesale Nursery Mswn.com  The plant care guides at this site are the ones posted at Desert Botanical Garden's bi-annual plant sales alongside each plant.

Upcoming Plant Sales:

Boyce Thompson Arboretum Spring Plant Sale 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. March 10 - 25 - A fundraising sale of trees, shrubs, herbs, flowers, cacti and succulents. Need planting and landscaping advice? Arboretum staff are joined by helpful volunteers from Pinal County's Superstition Mountain Master Gardeners program, there to advise and assist buyers with suggestions for trees and smaller plants ideal for a wide range of landscaping projects.  Special events during the March plant sale include lectures, guided tours and weekend wildflower walks; most are included with daily admission of $12.50.

Desert Botanical Garden Spring Plant Sale  Saturday, March 17 | 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, March 18 | 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. Prepare your garden for the season at the annual Spring Plant Sale. Choose from more than 30,000 plants, including cactus, succulents, trees, shrubs, groundcover, herbs, veggies, perennials and other oddities.

AZRFG Spring Plant Sale  on Saturday, March 31 at 8 AM - 12 PM Hosted by Arizona Rare Fruit Growers - at The Rose Garden at Mesa Community College, 1833 W Southern Ave, Mesa, Arizona 85202

Upcoming Master Gardener Training - Master Gardener Initial Training classes are taught by University of Arizona Cooperative Extension faculty, industry professionals and other horticulture experts. The program teaches the fundamentals of selecting, installing, and maintaining healthy, appropriate landscapes and gardens for the Arizona low desert.The cost of the 17-week training is $275.00.  University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, 4341 E. Broadway Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85040  THE APPLICATION FOR THE FALL 2018 EVENING SESSION IS NOW AVAILABLE!
APPLY HERE: MASTER GARDENER FALL 2018 APPLICATION

Watering Tips for Desert Dwellers

See online version. or look for this
free guide at your local nursery.

Week 6 of the Master Gardener program covered watering.  Here are a few pointers -

1. We are probably all over watering our yards, especially if you have desert landscaping.  Big lush brittlebush popping up through your yard is a sign that you are over watering.

2. We need to move our drip emitters farther away from the trunks of our trees and shrubs out to the drip line (the outer canopy). The reason is that not all roots are water absorbing, the parts of the roots that absorb water are the feeder roots and they are out at the farther edges of the trees canopy, so that's why you need to move your emitters out farther.

3.  Learn how to operate your irrigation control box and change the settings at least 4 to 6 times throughout the year changing with the seasons.

4. Put on new emitters where you don't know the flow rate.

5.  Wateruseitwisely.com has a landscape watering guide and interactive online tutorial on how to water your landscape properly.

6. Try attaching a filter to your system to keep chlorine, calcium and salts contained in city water away from your plants and soil.  Available locally at GreenLife at a great price!



7. If you are really an avid gardener, and are buying a home in the valley, look for one in a neighborhood with flood irrigation. Its the best irrigation method and it's cheap! Flood irrigation water is river water, full of nutrients, no chlorine, flushes salts away from the tree root zones, and keeps salts from building up in the soil.

How irrigation works

Flood Irrigation | City of Tempe, AZ

The What, How and Why of Flood Irrigation

8. If you are not blessed with flood irrigation, the next best thing is rainwater harvesting.  The benefit is not just what you store in your tank, but that you can redirect the flow of water off  of your roof and into your garden and out to your trees.  Slow it, spread it, and sink it is the mantra of rainwater harvesters.

Rainwater Harvesting

Watershed Management Group

There are a lot of great rain water harvesting classes and workshops coming in the next few months!

City of Tempe Water Harvesting Class  Saturday, April 7 at 9 AM - 1 PM · Join us for a free class that will introduce you to strategies for using rainwater and greywater in your landscape. We'll teach you how to design your landscape to "plant the water" using rain gardens, rain tanks and greywater systems so you can grow lush plants, while saving money and water! vHosted by Watershed Management Group location - 1400 N College Ave, Tempe, AZ 85281

Rain Barrel Workshops and Giveaway on Saturday, May 5 at 10 AM - 2 PM - Tempe Water Conservation presents a Rain Barrel Workshop and Giveaway at the Historic Eisendrath House on May 5, 2018. Four workshops featuring a live demonstration of how to build and install a rain barrel will be offered starting at 10AM, 11AM, 12PM, and 1PM. Attendees need only attend one demonstration to receive a free 55-gallon barrel to take home. All attendees will also have the chance to tour The Historic Eisendrath House for Water Conservation where sustainable practices are on display. · Hosted by Project Rain Barrel - River Network and Watershed Management Group. Location - Eisendrath House, 1400 N College Ave, Tempe, Arizona 85281

Water Recycling - Saturday June 9th - 11:00AM at Tempe Public Library - Slash your water bills by learning to implement gray water recycling in your home! Do you have a pond or garden that could use rain water to keep it living? Did you know you can collect dew?  Join Garden Pool and the Tempe Public Library to learn all about water recycling: how to capture, store, and reuse rain, dew, and gray water. Hosted by Garden Pool  Location: TPL Meeting Room A, Tempe Public Library, 3500 S Rural Rd, Tempe, Arizona 85282