Buying Landscape Plants for the Desert

Your Nursery Visit

There are many plants to choose from when
landscaping your home. But which will perform best? How and where should they
be grown in your yard? Landscape plants can be chosen from your local nurseries
and garden centers which, for the most part, grow well in our desert
environment. Your job is to choose the right size plant, put them in the best
location, and amend the soil where they are growing.

Pick the right soil amendment such as this rich compost from Viragrow. This compost, because it is loaded with plant nutrients, is mixed with the soil about 25%. This compost contains about $150 of plant nutrients. Landscape plants planted with this compost in the soil surrounding the roots probably wont need any fertilizer for two years.

Make Two Trips

This may take two trips. The first is just
to gather information, take this information home and investigate your choices.
Your second trip is to purchase the plants and proper soil amendments.

Select plants that have a winter cold tolerance you can live with. This cactus had freeze damage one winter in Las Vegas. Very winter hardy plants, like the one behind it, can handle lower winter temperatures than the cactus that was damaged.

Winter Hardiness

Your first selection criterion is winter
hardiness. This information can be found online. Major trees and shrubs
important to your landscape should withstand temperatures to 20°F during the
winter months for their long-term health and survivability. Plants that can be
lost or damaged in the landscape should tolerate winter temperatures to 25°F.
If you want to experiment and have some fun with plants, select plants that
don’t handle any freezing temperatures at all.

If the mature height was researched on this tree before planting, maybe it would not be chosen to shade the house. Avoid later cost and disappointment. Pick plants that are the right size for its location.

Plant Size

You can reasonably reduce the size of a plant to about two thirds of its
mature height and width. This takes work and expense on your part as it gets
older. It’s best to choose a plant that’s closer to the right size at the very
beginning.

Microclimates

Another factor is landscape location. Some
plants tolerate the hotter Western and Southern exposures. Plants that perform
best in these hot, dry, and isolated locations frequently originate from hot,
desert climates in the southwestern US (Chihuahuan, Sonoran, Mojave and Great
Basin deserts). Other plants will struggle in these locations and should be
planted in Eastern or Northern exposures. Again, online research helps you in
this decision.

Some plants can handle rock mulch while others may struggle. This hawthorne is a poor choice when covering the soil with rock. It will stay green for a few years because of the soil amendment added at planting but eventually the “organics” in that soil “run out” and the plant turns yellow.

Rock or Woodchips?

Some plants grow well for many years
surrounded by rock. Others may grow there okay for a few years and then begin
to suffer. Plants from places like the East Coast, Asia or tropical areas
should be surrounded by woodchips rather than rock for long-term health and
well-being.

Research Three Plants

Select
three plants for each location before you do your online research. Online
databases from the Southern Nevada water Authority and Arizona State University
are good places to start. You can always contact me for more help if you need
it.