Report from commentor Mrs. D Ranged in AZ:
I’ve been working really hard on my front yard this year and have been trying to create a coherent design that doesn’t use too much water but is pleasing to look at. The planter box was a discarded shipping box I grabbed from the trash behind a Michaels store. I reinforced the bottom with some scraps, burnt the wood to help preserve it (shou sugi ban technique), lined it with burlap, then added a watered-down red paint, and finally distress sanded it. There are five succulents and a Purple Queen (I think) in the box, not sure if they’re going to make it.
Honestly I’m horrible with plants. I either forget they exist and they dry out or I over water them and they drown. It’s frustrating to me because my grandmother had such a green thumb. She was raised on a farm in northern Mississippi and could grow anything. Her small suburban garden was like the garden of Eden and overflowed with vegetables that I long for to this day. Her pickles were sublime.
The new plants are on a watering system, but I don’t entirely trust it since I can’t find the stupid key to the control box. Did I mention I have the attention span of a housefly? (shout out to all my fellow ADHD jackals out there).
The 4 ft tall wagon wheel is leaning on a support column near my front door. It is next to a Thunder Cloud sage hedge that produces purple blooms almost year-round, which attracts hummingbirds — much to the delight of my cats, who lay in the front picture window in the morning sun chittering away.
The rocks to the left are a dry river bed, common to yard decorations here in the Phoenix area. I’m on the hunt for more 4-6 inch stones to finish lining it all the way to the sidewalk. I gathered up about 10 wheelbarrows full of this size rock from my backyard to get it started (and I lost 35 lbs in the process, so woohoo!). Now I’m either going to have to buy more or go hunting in the desert for the “free” variety. Knowing my luck I will be unbeknownst on someone’s property and get shot by some FPOTUS-treason-loving rancher who thinks I’m an illegal immigrant.
Future plans for the front yard include a faux boulder or two (since the real thing is beyond my financial reach).
The Dr Seuss tree in my front yard is actually Mesquite. I’ve been trying to save it from falling over since I moved into the house 4 years ago. Originally it had grown so far over to the left that some branches were hanging over the driveway. Every tree expert I have talked to says there is no way to pull it back to plumb so best I could do was slowly trim it so the weight of it is more over the trunk and a tad bit more stable. Every time we have a big monsoon storm I’m afraid it will topple over.
I’ve actually become quite fond of it. Because of all the trimming over the last 4 years I have lots of cut offs and use it in my arts and crafts work. In fact the two large branch cutoffs by the wagon wheel are from this tree.
Last two photos are from a trellis/arch in the backyard that has a Tangerine Beauty Crossvine on one side and a Purple Snail Vine on the other. They cover a little solar powered fountain/birdbath that entertains the cats in the evenings.
So it’s not much but it’s a start.
Hopefully this winter I will have some raised vegetable gardens built to show you all in the backyard. Cheers from Arizona!
***********
What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
JPL
Your tree is a classic and I hope that you are able to get years of enjoyment out of it.
Van Buren
That is a charismatic tree, no doubt. Hope it stays upright(more or less) for many years.
sab
Winter is coming here in Ohio.
In a fit of irresonsibility I bought a potted boughanvilea at our local hippy grocery last Spring.
It has been lovely all summer. Blossoms everywhere.
This being Fall I brought it inside to live with a growlight. It is not happy.
What am I doing wrong. Leaves turning yellow and dropping.
NotMax
A little whimsy for y’all’s gardens.
;)
sab
@NotMax: My boughanvilea doesn’t want whimsey. It wants life support.
raven
Damn the house behind the shot of the tree looks like my folk’s house up near Lookout Mountain!
Jeffery
You might try propping the tree up with wood. The Japanese do it with old trees that need support.
https://www.grbbells.com/japan-six-garden-props-a-few-tools/
NotMax
@sab
The most amateur of gardeners I, but have heard over the years from folks who have bougainvillea that fish meal as a fertilizer works like a charm.
raven
@NotMax: And smells great!
sab
@NotMax: Thanks. I will remember that and consult my plant.
sab
@Jeffery: It doesn’t need physical support. It has that. It needs life support. Inside under a growlight isn’t like lightp in the full sun in the driveway. Plant is not happy in the basement with a growlight.
Nancy
Mrs. D Ranged in AZ
I enjoy seeing your minimalist approach and I love the rocks. There is a quality to spare plantings that I admire, but have never reproduced.
I tend to place plants too close together (something like a certain willow and a house we’ve read about) and this means that I have to move them once they begin to grow into each other. I like the look of massed plantings but haven’t quite taken the long view. . . five years from now, this plant will be five feet wide. . . how far apart should I space the seedlings?
Nah, I’ve got a hole dug here and it goes here!
I think I will adopt your attitude towards rock moving with moving plants.
Again, lovely photos.
Gvg
Bougainvillea have a semi dormant period in the winter so I am not sure it’s doing as badly as you think. They loose some leaves in the winter even here. I don’t do house plants though. I suggest you look on Logee’s site. They are the experts I know of for keeping tropicals as houseplants in cold climate. I have heard they give good advice too. There is another I have heard of called glasshouse works that may be relevant? Then I think it was at Top Tropicals I read about bougainvilleas. I think that some were winter dormant and some were more summer dormant depending on where that cultivar came from…I ended up not getting into them because it seemed more complicated than I wanted and the thorns were worse than roses.
And the site has stopped remembering my nym!
Raven
@Nancy: my dad moved to the north side of Phoenix in the late 70’s. He would “rescue” cacti that were going to be bulldozed and had quiet a collection.
oldgold
Jumpin’ Jack Frost
This week the Twilight Hardy Zone experienced its first frost. Marking the end of a plague filled growing season for my garden – West of Eden (A/K/A West of Weeden).
In the not too distant past, I welcomed this initial autumnal icing. As it released me from the angst of gardening in a manner less than above reproach.
With the persistent passage of time pushing me into post-prime personhood (A/K/A damn old), I no longer find any relief in fall’s hoarfrost. Rather, as a harbinger of the certain cold and darkness to come, it tends to make me look through the glass darkly into the future.
Reflecting a bit about such things, I was fortunate to come across this sage observation from Tolkien that leavened my mood.
“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.”
I am sure he got the gold part right; hopefully, the rest too. Yet, winter is coming. Perhaps, like Camus, in winter, I can find an invincible summer within me.
delphinium
Nice photos-that leaning tree definitely has character! As someone who lived in AZ for a bit, always enjoyed seeing all the creative ways folks landscaped their yard with minimal plants, rocks, and repurposed materials.
suzanne
Your xeriscape looks great. We had a big leaning mesquite at a former house, too, and I think it is still doing just fine. The palo verdes seem to fall over and split in the monsoons more than the mesquites.
PBK
@oldgold: Same here. It gets harder every year to see the light fade earlier and earlier, and feel that cutting chill.
Kristine
I love your leaning mesquite. And your reclaimed planter box (along with the preservation method).
Speaking as someone who has reclaimed tables, a metal garden cart, two lovely framed prints and a framed mirror during morning dog walks through neighborhood alleys.
satby
@sab: mine sits in a south facing window and gets more natural sun that way. It will naturally drop some leaves with some lower light levels, but mine hangs on through the winter and starts blooming again in late January. Be sure the grow light is on a timer so that it gets a few hours of darkness too. And, don’t over water it, which is easy to do in a pot.
satby
Mrs. D Ranged in AZ: I’m all admiration over here on my dirty sand dune in IN! I planted some succulents in a pot that I wanted to not have to monitor for water so closely as I do my other raised beds, and the squirrels dug them all up. I have no knowledge of xeriscaping, but if I continue to slaughter plants here even with our abundant rainfall, I may have to ask you for tips 🌞!
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
I’m rooting for you and your mesquite. It loots great! A spreading succulent would look good in your planter, especially if you can get it to trail over the edge. I’m sure there are lots of possibilities that are only house plants where I live. I’m jealous of your opportunities. I’ve been buying seed of succulent plants, especially Mesembs from S. Africa, from Mesa Gardens for several years. They sell plants too. Maybe I’ll have to send some pics to Anne Laurie. It has been a while since I shared any garden pics with the Jackalariat horde.
InMyRoom
@sab: Possibly too much water.
TaMara
Wow, that all looks so beautiful, and that Mesquite, what a showpiece, may it live many years.
MelissaM
That succulent box is charming, and the mesquite tree is now a living sculpture. As a midwesterner, I have a hard time imagining gardening in Arizona, but you’ve brought it to life for me.
As for my own plot, I’m trying to turn the rest of it over to a no-mow fescue grass mix. I started on a small slope area and next spring the plan is to put down cardboard or biodegradable landscape paper and cover it with mulch. Come fall, I’ll seed the grass. It might look like hell next summer, but I think it’s the cheapest and easiest way.
MomSense
That tree is like a life sized bonsai- maybe treat it like that. Have fun with it!
Another Scott
@Jeffery: +1. That was my thought as well.
We have a volunteer Bradford pear near our deck that has a split right down the middle of the trunk (probably from the last snow storm we here in NoVA had). About 6 months ago I wrapped a NRS tie down strap around it. It’s helped, I think. Trees are fighters and can survive a lot with some help.
Thanks for the post and good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
kmax
Late to the party, as always.
In the spring I posted about my little flowering dogwood that had died.
While planting its replacement I discovered the builder’s guy had planted it with roots still bound up with heavy rope and still in the wire basket.. The poor thing just choked to death over 20+ years.
Happily, the replacement tree (a Bonfire Peach) is healthy and had a good year despite the heat and drought. It is loaded with a first year crop of peaches, which I take as a good sign.
I wanted to blast the original landscaper, but surprise!.. they are no longer in business.
Mike
I have a nice 8″ diameter hemlock that fell over in an ice storm. I hooked a come along to it, brought it up a bit at a time, it’s vertical and doesn’t need any support any longer. (It did take over a year)
Mai Naem mobile
Mrs. D Ranged in AZ – I think the mesquite will be fine as long as you water it appropriately and you’ve been watering it appropriately. Deeply a few times not often shallowly so that the root system is stronger. Your ignoring the tree may have been the best thing to happen to it. I am just not a cactus person but bougainvillea, lantanas, bird of paradise and yellow bells do well in the desert.
MomSense
I miss Mary whenever we have garden chats.
StringOnAStick
@kmax: We lost a few columnar buckthorns at our last house, and when I dug them out they had the same wire basket and burlap on the roots that you described. They were annoying because of how aggressively they seeded themselves, but suddenly all the privacy between us and the neighbours was gone.
There are unfortunately a lot of crappy landscapers out there because the really good ones are too expensive for the non 10%, so too often you get the “two guys and a truck” with poor skills. I’m guilty of having hired exactly that recently because I didn’t want to run a sod cutter to remove dead grass and getting anyone here is nearly impossible. They left a huge pile of sod in the street strip because we paid them for most of the work, and now it’s been 2 weeks and they haven’t returned to haul it off. They were supposed to be here yesterday but never showed up. I’m going to have to rent a pickup and do it myself this week. I’m rather pissed off about it.
vitaminC
As a former ‘zonie now living in London, mad respect for that mesquite tree. There’s an ancient Japanese pagoda tree at Kew Gardens that literally grows sideways, and is held up by a brick buttress. It can be done with enough will, energy, and/or money:
https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/tree-gang-kew-old-trees
vitaminC
@vitaminC: That tree dates back to the 1700s – madness. The British have raised pollarding (a technique that goes back to the Romans) to an art form, basically turning out full-size Bonsai trees and massively extending trees’ lifespans.