When to Prune Roses and Shrubs in Desert Landscapes Knowing when to prune your roses and other shrubs takes some knowledge of the plant type, cues from nature and a little guesswork. In the low desert, hard pruning usually begins in winter (January or early February) to stimulate early spring growth. A second prune in…
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How To Grow Basil In Pots One of the easiest and most prolific herbs to grow in the desert is sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum). In addition to being a regular culinary tool and treat, the pretty stalks of petite white flowers this plant produces make great summer bouquets. In food, it is loved for its…
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How To Troubleshoot an Irrigation System Your landscape is a major investment, adding up to 10 percent of the total value of your home, so an ounce of prevention is certainly worth a pound of cure. Like your car, your irrigation system has moving parts and electrical connections – thus it needs regular maintenance and…
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Best Emu Bush Plants For Endless Winter Color One of the many benefits of living in the Southwest is that we enjoy a lot of color from flowering shrubs, trees and other landscaping plants year round. If you need a splash of winter color, we love to plant one of these varieties of Emu Bush.…
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How To Use Ornamental Grasses In Your Landscape When homeowners plan landscapes or stroll through a garden center, they often gravitate to brightly colored flowers. And every garden needs some color, so that’s great. But flowering plants have seasons when they bloom, depending on the average temperatures in a low or high desert region. Ornamental…
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How To Grow And Care For Artemisias Gardeners in the Southwest are constantly on the lookout for plants to provide some green that rustles in the breeze but can live in harmony with agave and barrel cactus. I’d like to suggest artemisias, a family of fragrant herbs that come from hot, dry regions of the…
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Garden greens in our area need the cooler soils of autumn to grow their best. Luckily, there are a number of other tasty greens to grow this month. Best of all, there is no back-breaking gardening! All of these can be grown in large pots on the patio. Seeds need cool soil to germinate and…
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How to Grow Lemongrass at Home Like other perennials from Southeast Asia, Lemongrass is not difficult to grow at home in our Southwestern heat. The tender portions of this aromatic grass provide a light lemon flavor used in teas, soups, and stir-fry dishes. It can also be a popular addition to gardens and landscaping as…
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How To Design A Drought Tolerant Landscape One of the most frequent questions we get is how to design a drought-tolerant landscape? Anyone who has lived in the Southwest knows how important it is to conserve water. Years of drought have taken their toll on the area’s lakes and reservoirs and have made water a…
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Colorful Winter Plants and Shrubs for the Desert Landscape Unlike most areas that are lifeless and devoid of color in the winter, landscapes in the Desert Southwest can be full of colorful winter plants and shrubs. Make the most of your outdoor spaces by adding some of these colorful plants for the desert winter landscape.…
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