Brad's Tropical Paradise

A trick that I learned a long time ago is to give yourself access to the back of your garden. If you don't do that, you have to step into the planting area whenever you need to do some trimming or weeding, which you can do, carefully, but it shouldn't be a regular thing. A path behind the garden doesn't have to be perfect, but it does have to be stable, or you'll find yourself avoiding it and instead walking into the planting area - which of course you don't want to do. In the area pictured, next to the house, I have some river rocks for drainage, and then some smoother gray rocks as a transition, and also a few pieces of flagstone, which is for stable footing. This isn't a path to wander around while drinking your coffee (that's in front of the garden), this is for access, to be used only by the gardener, and occasionally by wiener dogs. If you do this, take your time, and be sure that the rocks don't "teeter-totter". It takes a bit of fussing

One of the most irritating things for a gardener is to watch someone stepping into the planting area, maybe knocking things over, crushing small plants, etc. Of course gardeners know that they shouldn't ever step into that part of a garden, any more than they would stroll across some's dining room table, but many people don't know this. You could, of course, put up signs, but they look awful, and besides people will step anyway, if it looks like a place to step. And that's the design clue - don't make it look like a step! I discovered a long time ago that you needed to make it visually clear where people should step, and if you don't, you really can't blame them. Any empty spot in the garden is an invitation to step, and of course if you never bothered to create places for people to step, they have no choice. My garden has plenty of room for people to step, including artificial turf, and a flagstone path which I've found for most people to be crystal cle

Your garden is just like a picture that you would hang on the wall. It's meant to cover a bare, boring wall, and bring pleasure to the eye. And just like a picture, it deserves a frame. I use rocks. But just like framing a picture, you have to remember that it's the garden that's the star, not the frame. So the frame should provide a transition from the bare wall (or in this case the concrete patio) without drawing too much attention to itself. Of course, hoses lying around, like wires left hanging on the wall with scotch tape, is the last thing you want to do, so start with a good cleanup. If your garden requires hoses to be left lying around, then it's time to rethink how you water. The system here is hidden underground, and set to a simple battery-operated timer. It takes a fair amount of effort to get into place, but once it's in, it's so much easier than lugging a heavy hose around you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Anyway, back to the garde

Even though it really doesn't get all that cold in the Phoenix, Arizona area (it never snows here), many plants look kinda sad in the coldest months. And that's because of cold stress, and that they're mostly used to warm temperatures (I know how they feel!). But there's one exception that I have here in the garden - it needs some cold weather to look its best, which is when it's suffering from cold stress. You can find them easily at any garden center - they're called "Firesticks", and they're a type of euphorbia. But don't expect just any euphoria to do this, be sure it's the right kind. In the summer they're just green, like any other euphorbia, and it's only when the weather chills off that you see their special beauty, as if they're on fire. Just the tips turn orange, so they look their best as a background plant. My recommendation is that you prune it hard, if you have one that's growing well, in the late fall or early

If you're out shopping this winter and you see something that you recognize as bulbs not yet flowering, I strongly recommend that you buy them, instead of cut flowers. The reason for this is that instead of just watching flowers die, you will get to watch them bloom. And if you're not sure what to do with them, I recommend that you give them to me so I put them on my patio here in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Of course, if you can't, I understand. But you don't have to live somewhere with warm winter temperatures to enjoy them, even if it's snowing outside. Just don't put them outside, or they'll die! The temperatures here in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, never get cold enough to harm these flowers (it doesn't snow here), which are narcissus, hyacinth, and tulips. So just put them in a sunny window and they'll bloom. By the way, if you're wondering what "forcing" means, it just means that the bulbs have been handled in such a way that th

If you're in the Phoenix, Arizona area, or any desert city, you may be surprised at how cold it can get overnight in winter. No, I'm not talking about ice and snow, but I am talking about the kind of conditions that can damage, and even kill some plants. Chances are that none of the plants in your garden need any kind of protection, but just to be sure, go Google them with the term "hardiness", which is how low a temperature a certain plant can take. My motto is "better safe than sorry", so if there's a freeze warning I go into my garage and find an old bedsheet and cover up plants that might be sensitive to the cold. There's no need to pay money for a "frost cloth", but just be sure to never use anything plastic. Old bedsheets and towels are what I use. Like I say, unless you've planted some unusual tropical plants, chances are very good that you'll never need to this. It rarely gets very cold here in the desert, and when it does i