Mulching your desert garden

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Mulch is anything that sits on top of the soil that discourages evaporation. At the very least, you can call the gravel used in desert landscaping mulch. It is better than nothing.

But if you really want to help your desert garden, use some real mulch in addition to the gravel. And be generous. If you have a couple of trees on your property, you can afford to be generous, because your mulch is free.

Dead leaves from your tree make an excellent mulch. There is no reason to bag them up and put them in a landfill! On my property, I have two olive trees which have supplied my garden with mulch for years. Some of the leaves just fall naturally, and the ones that end up on the sidewalk I scoop up and throw on the garden beds. There are a few trees that you shouldn't do this with, such as salt cedars, and the needles of some coniferous trees, so check first before you start throwing the leaves on your plants.

My old stand-up dustpan says
"Harry from Hawaii"
Out in the desert, there isn't much decomposition, but there is in your garden. The mulch that you see in this photo will have completely broken down in a season or two and I will add more. Get a nice big stand-up dustpan (like the one in the photo) and a small plastic rake. Then get scooping and dumping. Your plants will love it.

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