The desert is an extreme environment… hot, dry, and possibly
the worst, windy… not a breeze, a severe hot dry wind that tears at leaves and desiccates
all…
There are plants, local plants that have adapted to “the
place” but as a human, there are plants that I like/love/treasure which are not
locally adapted which I would like to grow, here, where I live, in the desert.
The house came with some landscaping front and back, desert
adapted plants… but the side yard, maybe 12’ wide and 60’ long is a blank
slate. There is room to garden but it
is a limited space, a challenging space… There is a covered lanai protected, paved
opening onto the center of the side yard.
A covered space with a table, chairs, and soon a overhead fan…
The side yard is oriented roughly north/south… so it is
shaded from the worst of the sun… and the worst of the wind, but within the
space the wind creates eddies and swirls.
I want a lemon tree… I want raised beds…. Maybe a lime... Some decorative
likely planted mostly in woody herbs, others with vegetables… Tomatoes, cucumbers,
peppers and melons… all heat friendly but all still difficult in this place of extremes. In the center between the lemon and herbs and
perennials at one end, and the vegetables at the other I want a water feature
and a fire pit…
It is challenging my knowledge of plants and how to care for
them… near San Francisco, I struggled
with cold weather making it hard to grow tomatoes… Here it may be too hot in the
summer for a tomato to set fruit… In SF
a hard frost was near unknown… Here frost is an issue… we can get snow… and
will get a occasional killing frost… The lemon tree will get a set of c-9 clear
Christmas lights as a heating unit for very cold weather…
As I plan and work on creating a design, I have started some
plants in pots… two tomatoes… (both cherry tomatoes both with fruit set)
rosemary, parsley (flat leaf and curly!) and thyme and basil. There are geraniums and other ornamentals… Geraniums
seem particularly adapted… They are an easy plant… a favorite of my Grandmother
in Pasadena (aka an old lady plant), and common in Tina’s Peru… now common in my yard in Henderson.
Today I picked up more very large pots… tarragon and oregano
plants, geraniums in three colors…
I have the beginning of a plan… dividing the space into
three areas…
The front most having two corrugated galvanized planters, (already
purchased) a square one with a lemon, and maybe nasturtiums in the planter…
around the edges, outside the planter I want a wild planting… softening the
edges… the edges… the second long and narrow…
eventually mostly planted in perennial herbs, and maybe a artichoke… but this
first year with some sunflowers and cucumbers as well.
The center a landscape with a water feature (hot tub or just
a fountain and pond), a fire pit (likely portable, wood burning) and large
potted plants… a place for the BBQ… portable seating… (California friends have
suggested an evening gathering… I need the outdoor space, the fire pit… )
The rear will be two large raised wood beds… vegetables…
possibly some flowers… it may require shade overhead…
Today’s project (beyond successful plant shopping) was to
dig trenches for the drip irrigation lines… I had them roughly dug when I
encountered a water line… a drip irrigation line… on a existing timer… by some strange bit of luck, I didn’t damage
it… just found it and traced it across the front portion of the garden… So
instead of trying to dig a trench for a new irrigation line, I am cutting into
the existing line… making all much easier… A trip to the hardware store found
the parts needed to cut into the “found” water line… along with a price list for soil and
decomposed granite for around the galvanized planters…. So progress was made…
As a result of the water line “find” and in search of plants
and inspiration, late today I visited an independent nursery (Star nursery), Home Depot, and Lowes… I found
herbs and information about soil delivery at the nursery, large pots and some geraniums
at Home Depot, more plants and irrigation parts and Lowes… where I found myself
in line with a new neighbor… new houses lead to visits to hardware stores and chance meetings at hardware stores or home centers as well as visits to
desert gardens and research and such…
Let the gardening begin....
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