Planning Next Year’s Desert Garden

Cabin Fever Sprouts Creativity

Jan 20, 2007

Whether you're looking at bleak, snowy days in the high desert, or chilly winds in the low desert, now's the time to think about what your garden will look like next year

Desert gardens, whether they are in high or low altitudes, can benefit from insight and planning now.

While you're reading those seed catalogues, you may be asking yourself about possible changes in your garden. Or, if you’re a newcomer to desert gardening, you may be thinking about how to design and plant your first one.

For instance:

Are you going to be entertaining in your garden this spring, summer and perhaps fall?
Are you going to need a patio area, or maybe more than one? If so, where would be the best place to put one? And what material do you want to use for the patio floor?
Do you need or want more privacy in your garden? Is there a fence or wall that needs to be higher? Or would a tall hedge or a line of small trees suffice?
Do you like to sit in your garden sipping coffee in the morning? Or is the afternoon a time you prefer to view your garden? Perhaps, like many, the idea of sitting in the cool of a desert evening with a steaming cappuccino in your hand, taking in the beauty and smells of your desert garden is the most precious thing in the world? Where would be the best location?
Do you want to attract birds and butterflies to your garden? What can you plant in your desert garden that will bring them there?
Do you want to create interesting and striking garden views visible from inside your home? What plants will work, and where should they be planted?
Do you want a cut flower garden?
Do you need a place for children to play?
Would you like a quiet spot to read or meditate outdoors? Where would you want to put that chair or bench?

Ask yourself these questions. You may want to do a rough sketch of the garden area and pencil in what you want.

Congratulations! You have successfully begun designing your garden for next year.

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The copyright of the article Planning Next Year’s Desert Garden in Desert Gardens is owned by Robert Dailey. Permission to republish Planning Next Year’s Desert Garden must be granted by the author in writing.

Comments

Jan 21, 2007 6:11 AM

pondwriter :

Bob, do you think that as our country's wasting of water and also its continuing drought, that we all need to consider using more native plant material and doing more xeriscaping?

Jan 21, 2007 3:58 PM

Robert Dailey :

Yes, I'm a firm believer in xeric gardening, xeriscaping and the use of native plants.
Even in the desert, I have found invasive species that were once planted as ornamentals, and now are colonizing areas, forcing out native plants.
So it's not just our yards that are affected by not using as many native plants as possible, but by planting non-native species, we are actually helping to change the ecosystem.
Native animals, both micro- and macro-organisms, find food and shelter in native plants. By introducing species, we may also be contributing to the demise of these organisms.
Those scenes in old John Ford films with the tumbleweeds being blown across the desert are striking, but the tumbleweed is actually Russian Thistle, a relatively recent arrival, introduced into the U.S. through cattle feed in the late 1890's.
They produce billions of seeds, which are inedible to any wildlife that I know of, and I have seen them colonize hundreds of acres. As they dry out in the fall and winter, the large bushes become detached from their roots, and are blown by the wind. As they roll, they distribute seeds, thus further colonizing.
The plant is a bane to farmers, ranchers and gardeners, and is only one of many that have been introduced into the west.
The rest of the country hasn't fared any better. In the south, Chinese tallow trees (again brought as ornamentals) have rapidly colonized river banks, roadsides and fencerows, forcing out and decimating native trees like pine, oak, gum, maple and others.
I know this is a long answer, but I am certainly passionate about this.

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