Q.
What plants can I plant in my front and backyards? I want plants that grow
large enough to produce shade.
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| No shade on this south facing wall of this home. Wow, its hot! Shade the walls of this house to reduce electricity use in the summer. If they are deciduous then the sun can warm this house with sunlight in the winter. Shade the walls and windows. That is all that is needed, Not the roof. |
A.
Shade only what’s needed. This is usually the West and South windows and walls.
A single-story home only needs, at the most, 25 foot-tall trees or shrubs. A
two-story home can handle trees to about 35 or 40 feet tall maximum. Selecting
trees taller than needed just looks “funny” when they are mature. Big trees
need big spaces like parks and malls to look good.
Select Trees by Low Temperature
Winter low temperatures should be the
deciding factor for permanent trees and shrubs important to the design of the landscape.
There are plants used for “fun”. Fun plants can be selected for any low winter
temperature. But expect damage or lose them during cold winters. In the Las
Vegas Valley, use a winter temperature around 20°F minimum for the most
important trees and shrubs in a landscape.
To see which
plants are available. There are three choices; buying from a local nursery or
garden center, taking a road trip to buy plants, or purchasing plants online.
Buying online starts around October with shipments beginning in January for
spring planting of winter hardy plants. Plants bought online won’t have any
soil around the roots so more care at planting time is needed.
To aid your search for the right
plant, use two places online; the plant database from the Southern Nevada water
Authority or Arizona State University’s (ASU) plant database by Dr. Chris
Martin. To access ASU’s plant database, type in the plants “common name”
followed by “ASU”. To access Southern Nevada Water Authority’s database, start
by typing in “SNWA” and “searchable database”. Pick 3 to 5 different plants in
the case the plant you want is not available.