Jan19

Arizona January Garden Guide

by admin on January 19th, 2011
Posted In: Desert Gardening, Desert Plant Guide, Desert Plant Guide, January Plant Guide

January Arizona Low Desert garden guide:

  • Prune modern roses – remove the dead, crowded, or crossed canes that inhibit air circulation in the plant.  For hybrid teas and grandifloras, cut back 1/3 to 1/2 of the bush.  Leave 4-8″ of plant for optimal blooming.  Remove all foliage and the small twiggy growth.  For Floribundas and miniatures, leave 8-12 canes and more of the small growth.  Wait to prune Old Garden roses until after their spring bloom.
  • Feed annuals – yellowing on older leaves at the base of the plant may mean nitrogen deficiency in flowers and vegetables.  Apply nitrogen fertilizer and continue to incorporate compost in your garden to improve the soil.
  • Feed citrus – Fertilize your citrus in January or February with 1/3 its annual nitrogen requirements.  Scatter the granules at the tree’s canopy edge and slightly out to reach the feeder roots.  Water deeply after application.
  • Control aphids.  Spry all affected areas with blasts of water from the hose, squish aphids with your gloved hands and remove any heavily infested leaves.  Do not over-water or over-fertilize which will produce abundant growth and attract more aphids.  It is not recommended to spray with pesticides to kill aphids because it eliminates beneficial insects that consume them.

Arizona January Planting Guide:

  • Bare-rood deciduous fruit trees.  Choose self-pollinating types such as Anna and  Dorsett Golden Apple, Gold Kist, and Katy Apricot, Bobcock, Bonanza Miniature, Desert Gold and Tropic Beauty Peach.
  • Sow seeds for pepper and tomato seeds indoors to prepare for transplanting after frost has passed.  Mid February to mid-March you can transplant.
  • Sow seeds for beets, bok choy, carrots, chard, collard and mustard greens, green onions, leaf lettuce, peas, leaks, rutabagas, radishes, spinach and turnips.  Plant potatoes.  Set out transplants for asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, chinese cabbage and cauliflower.
  • Flowering Plants  – Plant Calendula, nasturtium, pansy, snapdragon, stock and sweet alyssum.

Do you need help with your back yard landscape or garden?  Call Arizona Living Landscape & Design 480-390-4477 or e-mail  ContactUs@LandscapeArizona.com

excerpts taken from Phoenix Home and Garden January 2011 issue.
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Jan19

Caring for your sprinkler system

by admin on January 19th, 2011
Posted In: Desert Gardening, Sprinkler System

The heat is on it’s way Phoenix AZ. With the change in temperature from frost to hot your sprinkler system needs to be maintained. Below is a checklist of items that need attention:

  • Check for waterline breaks, leaky valves, broken drip emitters or broken sprinkler heads.  Look at the ground when the system is on for puddles of water, check the valve box for water leaking from the top of the valves, check sprinkler heads for cracks or clogging.
  • Adjust the sprinklers to water the lawn and not the sidewalk, rock or driveway.  Turn the heads up or down if they are adjustable to ensure only the grass is getting watered.
  • Adjust the sprinkler/irrigation timer for proper watering times and frequency.  We water less frequently in the winter.  Desert plants only need water once a week in most cases in the winter.  Summer temperatures require quite a bit more watering to keep you plants healthy and blooming throughout the summer.
  • Move the drip line emitters out to the drip line of the trees and shrubs as they grow.  Drip lines that remain at the base of the trees will cause the roots of the tree to stay by the trunk.  This will eventually cause your trees to fall over in a wind storm.  The roots need to travel deep and far out into the ground to support the growth of the tree.
  • Check out the following website for guidelines: www.Wateruseitwisely.com/arizona

For a complete irrigation system check up and repair call an Arizona licensed landscape contractor at 480-390-4477.

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Jan17

Raised organic planter garden

by admin on January 17th, 2011
Posted In: Desert Gardening, Organic Gardening

Are you planning your vegetable or flower garden for spring. You might want to consider planting various plants that will actually repel those pesky bugs. In turn, you can use less chemicals and make your yard safer. Here are a few plants to consider in your organic garden in Arizona. Basil: repels flies, caterpillars and mosquitoes. Bay: repels ants, caterpillars and moths. Chives: repels aphids, borers, and crickets. Garlic: repels aphids, crickets, and grasshoppers. This is a great plant to plant around your roses, fruit trees and in your vegetable garden. Marigold: repels aphids, caterpillars, crickets, grasshoppers, nematodes, slugs, and white flies Onions: repels ants, aphids, borers, moths, crickets, and grasshoppers. Rosemary: deters many insects including moths, beetles, crickets, fleas, grasshoppers, and mosquitoes. Sage: deters mice and repels crickets, moths, and grasshoppers. Thyme: deters cabbage worms, flies, and white flies. Call an Arizona licensed landscape contractor for organic gardening ideas.

Arizona Living Landscape & Design 480-390-4477

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Jan14

Irrigation System Backflow Preventer

by admin on January 14th, 2011
Posted In: Sprinkler System

What is a backflow preventer and why do I need it? Homes built in Arizona with a front yard landscape already installed, usually have a backflow preventer installed. If your house does not have one already in place, then you must have one in order to have an irrigation system.
The backflow preventer is designed to stop the back flow of water from your irrigation system to your house and the city or well water system. The valves in the sprinkler system will not do this alone, thus a backflow preventer is needed. Landscape irrigation water is considered a contaminant and can introduce chemicals to your house and your drinking water. In Arizona, you are required to have a backflow preventer on your irrigation system. If your landscaper says you do not need one then find a new landscaper. The valves will eventually leak or break and without a backflow preventer installed, all the contaminants in your yard and ground water will come into your house.
Call Arizona Living Landscape & Design in Arizona for full sprinkler system or irrigation system installation or repair. 480-390-4477
www.LandscapeArizona.com

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Jan14

Cactus Care Arizona

by admin on January 14th, 2011
Posted In: Desert Gardening, Desert Plant Guide

The summer temps are rising and the plants are thirsty. But, did you know that cactus needs a little water in the summer? In years like this when the monsoon season doesn’t bring much rain our cactus needs a little help. Water your cactus plants deeply about once a month to keep them from getting dehydrated. Be careful to not over water them but give them a monthly watering and they will love you for it.

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