How to prepare your desert garden for the winter

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It's the first week of December, and here in the Phoenix, Arizona area, winter started suddenly two days ago, with a drop in temperature. And it's a reminder that winter really is on its way here, and there are a few things that you need to do for your garden.

The first thing to do is to change the frequency of your automatic watering. I just changed it to weekly, and by the end of December I'll turn it off until the end of January. The air temperature really isn't all that chilly, but the ground is, and plants really don't like standing with their feet wet and cold. That can rot them! And you really don't want any new growth right before it gets cold, except for your annual flowers, which you should be hand-watering.

Another thing to be thinking about is frost cloths. No, you don't need them yet, and you may not need them at all this winter, but if there's a frost warning, and you have tender tropicals, it's wise to have some sitting out where you can get to them easily. Any old piece of cloth will do, old bed sheets, that sort of thing, just don't use plastic.

Other than that, I don't need to do much else. I have artificial turf, so I don't need to worry about grass. I noticed that I do need to get out there with the blower, but I'm gonna wait until the wind drops down, maybe tomorrow.

There you go: all set for those cold months ahead!

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