There are a lot of palm trees grown in the Phoenix area.  There are a number of different varieties.  Desert Palms provides a lot of detailed information about the different types of palm trees that will grow in the Phoenix area.    Palm trees have developed an association with a resort or vacation destination.  So if you want to create a mini-resort in your back yard.  Plant a palm tree or two.  Put a hammock or lounge chair underneath and get yourself a drink with an umbrella in it.  Then relax and enjoy!

Differences Between Gardening in Arizona versus the Midwest and other areas

1. Yard and Garden care must be done year round.  There is no dormant period during the winter or summer.
2. Weeds find ways to grow in the rocks and hard soil regardless of the heat or rain.  You’ll have to decide if you will pull them by hand or spray.  Many people chose to spray.
3. Planting times are different.  If you have a vegetable garden, some plants should be put in during the fall, some in January, and there are a few that may make it over the summer.
4. Citrus is the zuchinni of Arizona.  Many people have way too many oranges, grapefruits, and lemons.  They’ll bring it in to work, try to give it neighborhoods, put it in a box marked free in front of their house, you name it.
5. I miss having flowering bulbs come up in the spring.  We do have some other nice spring flowers.  I particularly like the California Poppies that many people have masses of in their yards.
6. A bonus is that there are no squirrels to steal your tomatoes.  As a side note, I think there are squirrels at higher elevations in Arizona.
7. A surprise to me was that roses do well here and some people have very nice rose gardens.
8. I’ve had fairly good luck with herbs in a garden or in pots – at least during the winter.  It is too hot for some to survive the summer.  I’ve had good luck with lavender being outside year round.

I’m hoping that some of you will add to this list.  I’m not a master gardener and would be interested in other peoples insight into yard care and gardening here in Phoenix area.

A Pond in the making

It’s not finished and I’m not a professional landscaper. But, it’s kind of fun to work on. My second pond.

A pond is something any home owner can build. It takes a shovel. An imagination. Some rocks, some way to keep the water in and maybe a pump to create a water feature.

My first pond was in our garden. I used a hard liner, dug a hole in the raised garden and had a pump shooting water in the middle. I put rocks around the sides and it looked good. We bought some gold fish. The kind the pet stores sell for food. They became our pets and grew as time went by.

Until, it rained hard one day. The hard plastic liner wasn’t weighed down enough and the rain water pooled under the liner. Eventually lifting the liner and tipping it over. Our poor gold fish ended up on the grass.

Now, it’s time for pond #2. I’m using a soft plastic liner. I dug the hole in the ground next to a palm tree that we didn’t plant. It just grew there. I formed a rock wall on the back of the pond using ‘rainbow rock’. Next I will add more rock to cover up the black plastic and get some plants along the edge.  I added a pump that gets the water to the top of the rock wall and creates two water falls.

Now, if all goes well and I can keep the water in the pond, I might even get some more gold fish.