Making your yard in Phoenix look like Southern California

-
Some of my friends from Southern California (Los Angeles to San Diego) visited me recently and it reminded me that my goal here in the Phoenix area was to have the lush, tropical feel that I liked so much in Southern California.

As you can see here in my backyard in Glendale, Arizona, it's possible, but it takes a few tricks to make it work.

Luckily, there are a lot of similarities between Phoenix and Southern California, as a lot of people in Los Angeles are discovering. They're both deserts that get very little rainfall. So the first thing you have to do is to set up a watering system.

Here in my yard I have two watering systems, both designed for minimal water use. Water costs money, and should not be wasted! I have a low-pressure *drip* system with sprayer heads and an ordinary misting system (like the kind that you see on restaurant patios). They are set on inexpensive battery-powered timers.

For plant selection, avoid plants that require high humidity. Ferns won't grow in the Phoenix area, it doesn't matter how much you water them. Ask me how I know! The plants that I have here that kind'a look like ferns are actually cycads. Google them. They're more expensive than ferns but they're as tough as nails, and look great. I also have a good assortment of other succulents, as you can see. And most importantly, I have no grass. That's artificial turf.

I just love the lush look of a tropical paradise in a Mediterranean climate. I lived in Santa Barbara, California, and that's where its at its best in the United States. But, don't get me wrong, I love living in Phoenix, where I can actually afford a house, and I don't have to sit in traffic all of the time, but I just want that tropical feel.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to tell if your cycad (sago palm) is alive or dead

-
Image
Cycads are strange plants. They're beautiful, and look like small palm trees, or large ferns. They grow very slowly, and can be very expensive, even common ones like "sago palms". But sago palms, in spite of their common name, aren't palms at all. They belong to a group of plants called cycads. They are wonderfully weird, and grow in strange ways. And sometimes they lose all of their leaves. Of course, if it were a palm tree that lost all of its leaves, you would know that the plant was dead. But it's not true of cycads. So don't dig that cycad up and throw it away! Not yet. If you've recently transplanted a cycad, and the leaves have all faded away, hang on. Take a look at the top center of the plant, at what I call "the pucker". There you will see some stubby, soft fronds, no more than an half-inch or so. At least that's what you should see. That means that the plant is still alive, and has dropped its leaves to focus on building r...
Read more

Rooting sago palm pups for more plants

-
Image
Once a sago palm ( cycas revoluta ) reaches a certain level of maturity, it starts to create pups. Like agaves, these are little plants that are exactly the same as the parent plant, only smaller. And yes, you can trim them off and grow them into new plants. This is how to do it. Cut them off from the parent plant with a sharp knife. If there are any roots at the bottom, try to save them, but chances are there won't be any. That's not a problem. The next step is rooting them. Douse the cut part and the bottom of the plant with some garden sulfur and some rooting hormone powder. Rooting hormone powder is pretty easy to find at your local Home Depot. I had to go to a real nursery to get garden sulfur. Anyway, the idea is to keep the little plant from rotting while giving it time to grow its own roots. Sago palm pups being rooted Bury them fairly deep in some free-draining mix. It should include volcanic pumice, if you can find it, and if not, you can use perlite. I ...
Read more

Growing sunflowers from Pennsylvania in Arizona

-
Image
It's October 21st, and I just received some sunflower seeds from a friend in Pennsylvania. Their season is ending and the season for planting here in Arizona is just beginning, and I'm kinda wondering if the seeds are wondering what's going on? It's spring again already? If you're new to the Phoenix, Arizona area, and are from back east it must seem kinda strange that fall and winter is our flower season, but it is. By springtime it will start to get so hot here that the flowers will die, and of course back east the season is just beginning.  Sunflowers growing in Peoria, Arizona, about a mile from where I live I've seen sunflowers blooming around my neighborhood of Glendale, which is a suburb of Phoenix, in the winter, and although I've never grown them I understand that they're easy to grow. I guess I'll find out - I learn best by doing! The seeds arrived safely, and it's my understanding that they were still connected to the spent flower (I do...
Read more