Benefits of Growing Wildflowers

Benefits of Growing Wildflowers

September Propagation Meeting

In September we had a great time learning how to propagate plants from cuttings and planting seeds. We started cuttings of basil, peppermint, among other herbs. The group also left with a variety of seeds to start their fall gardens. We also had several new faces join us making it even more fun.

Basics of Desert Roses

Basics of Desert Roses

Planting Fall Bulbs

Planting Fall Bulbs

Improving Desert Soils –Soil Structure

Improving Desert Soils –Soil Structure

Desert Fall Planting Schedule-Vegetables

Desert Fall Planting Schedule-Vegetables

Producing More Bell Peppers and Wilting Tomato Vines

I have Cosmos, Zinias, Zuccini all sprouting. I have tons of sweet cucumbers still coming on and on and on. I bottled pickles last week! what a blast. I have basil and bell peppers still alive and about 3 straggly tomato plants. What do I do to keep the latter one alive and what do I do to maximize my bell peppers?

Kristin

Extreme Garden Sports – Right Conditions for Selecting Plants

Extreme Garden Sports – Right Conditions for Selecting Plants

September Meeting Announcement

It’s time to start thinking about gardening again. In no time at all it will be time to start your fall garden. I hope everyone is excited about the upcoming planting season. Now, is a great time to start thinking about how you want to supplement that high grocery bill with fresh, yummy veggies. As I mentioned before, Sandy Allen and I have been taking the Master Gardener Program through the Maricopa Extension Office. We recently participated in a propagation clinic. We learned how to propagate new plants from old plants, how to start seeds, and transplant new seedlings. We want to share this information with your, and hope this will be beneficial to old and new gardeners alike. We learned some really exciting things, that will dramatically cut the costs of the plants you buy, and give you some added knowledge for a successful home garden. We are also planning to have some seeds and plants to get you started. The clinic will also be in combination with our semi-annual plant and seed exchange, so please bring any seeds or plants you want to share. Because we will need tables, and some extra room we will be holding our clinic at the church in the Relief Society Room at 10 a.m., Saturday, September 6th. I ask that those of you planning to come to please rsvp me, because we will be bringing supplies for this clinic and need to have a general idea of how many will be attending. Please feel free to invite neighbors and friends.

Plotting your Garden Landscape

Plotting your Garden Landscape

What’s your Garden Flavor-Picking a Landscape Theme

What’s your Garden Flavor-Picking a Landscape Theme

Low Desert Landscape Design-Intro

Low Desert Landscape Design-Intro

Low Desert Landscape Design - Introduction

Time and again I receive questions from people, who have moved from zones 6 & 7, wondering what they can plant other than a lawn will be artistically pleasing, and not emerge like the cookie cutter yardscapes peppering the valley. Replicating the practices of their previous yards of the north, new desert inhabitants run into immense problems. These visionary transplants often end up with dead plants, multiple weeds, and mounds of frustration. This common cycle of landscape habits often drives the disgruntled homeowner into planting a gravel lawn, and sowing various, colorful boulders now decorating numerous neighborhoods of the urban wilderness.

This article launches a series of articles on basic principles of design for landscapes in the low desert. Often desert dwellers like you are overwhelmed with the task of designing a new, aesthetic, and practical landscape. You journey to the bookstores with bright hopes of discovering just the right book that will give you the seeds of knowledge needed for the desert oasis. To your delight you discover there are many books that have page after page on designing a landscape. Unfortunately, after careful observation and sometimes experimentation you discover there are few books that address the unique environment of the desert southwest. You are disappointed to find that these books are geared for the northern United States. Without knowledge of the unbearable heat, short season cycles, and often severe weather patterns, you will inevitably resort to the easy, but dull solution of the gravel sod with no hope of having one living thing to occupy your outside space. Fortunately, not all is lost and there is hope for those of you longing for gratifying scenery out the front door can escape the hot, dull, infamous rock garden.

This series will give these sad landscapers renewed optimism because it will contain advice for designing your landscapes specifically for the low desert. The series will help you create a successful landscape that you will be proud to show off. I will include information to help you:
 Determine what flavor or theme you want you want your landscape to be,
 Help you assess and take full advantage of your current resources
 Establish a design that is aesthetic, and harmonious in rhythm, color and layout,
 Provide suggestions and examples of plants, shrubs and trees that work well here in the low desert

Whether you have a new home providing a completely clean canvas to work with, or a homeowner who wants to spruce up the old landscape, you will find useful information and perhaps a few new ideas to try. With these articles in hand, along with a healthy dose of imagination, your landscape will look so professional that neighbors and friends will be asking for your landscaper’s business card.

Kudos to Square Foot Gardening

Lately, when I go to the store to buy groceries, I have been coming out shell-shocked at my grocery receipt, sure that the clerk must have overcharged me and forgot to discount my sale items. However, to my chagrin I find that it is indeed the correct total. As the economy began to sour, and my checking account becoming anorexic, I started to find ways to cut unnecessary expenses and supplement where I could. A couple of years ago, my husband and I decided that we wanted to grow a garden. We hauled wheelbarrows of rocks out of the side yard, and rented a tiller to prepare the ground. After a long hot day, and sore muscles we finished the yard. We planted some tomatoes, and corn in hopes of enjoying a good bounty. However, after a couple of weeks, the weeds came, and our little fantasy became a harsh reality, when those wicked weeds began to take over our little garden. With four kids, jobs, and other activities it seemed there was no time to weed and take care of the garden. When we did have the time, the kids whined (we did as well) about having to spend our Saturday morning weeding. Needless to say the garden was a bust, and I decided that I would stick to picking veggies in the grocery aisle. However, one day, I stumbled upon a book by Mel Bartholomew entitled Square Foot Gardening. I was immediately intrigued by the front cover. It features the author standing in front of a 4X4 wooden box full of lush veggies and flowers and best of all. Inside the front, he talks about how using his system, he could guarantee a healthy, easy garden. I was sold on the word easy.  I decided to buy the book. It ended up being the best $15.00 I have ever spent. I went home and read the book. I decided to try it. After my last escapade, my husband wasn’t convinced that it was going to work, so I bribed my 12 year old son to help me build the boxes. It was surprisingly easier than I imagined. I would need to build the outside frames from wood. This was a fear for me, because I have no wood working skills whatsoever. I barely knew what a skill saw was, much less use one. I had brief videos running through my mind, of my family wheeling me into the emergency room after slicing my hand off with the skill saw. I was happy to find out that my local home store would cut the 2X4 frames there at the store. Mel suggests using 4’X4’ frames, but we built ours to be 4’X6’ to fit our yard. My son and I built two boxes in one Saturday morning. Anyone with any carpenter knowledge could probably finish them in an hour. After finishing the frames, we laid down landscaping fabric. Mel explains that if you do this, it will prevent the vicious weed attack that we had experienced earlier. We then combined equal 1/3’s of compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. We filled the beds, and then added a grid made of fur strips, that were 12”X12” squares over the top of the beds. Once the beds were finished we were ready to plant. We have had our beds now for three years, and because we live in Tempe, AZ, have been able to plant all year long. I have been so happy with the two, I eventually added two more. We have grown peppers, tomatoes, beans, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, flowers, and many other yummy vegetables. The only complaint I had was the initial cost of building these is rather expensive, but coming from an original tight wad I can honestly say it has well been worth the money and it has recouped ten fold.I went back to the store and bought over 10 books as gifts for family and friends, because I knew it would help them too.  After seeing my success, several of them have taken advantage of this method of gardening. In fact, because of this, gardening and horticulture has become a passion for me. I not only love the results of a bounteous harvest and beautiful flower, I have found that it has been therapeutic for me. It also has given me the opportunity to teach my children, and neighborhood children about various subjects. For instance, my boys have been coming in with different varieties of bugs they have discovered, and they have had so much fun finding out what kind of bug it is and whether it is good for our garden or bad. Besides, I know that what my children are eating from my garden is healthy, and is completely organic and safe. As a matter of fact I laughed a little when I have been picking lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes from my garden and still enjoying them last June, when they were pulled by the FDA for salmonella contamination. Square foot gardens are also great, because they can be built anywhere, and maintained by just about by anyone. My friend, Robyn built 2’X8’ beds along the narrow side of her house, and has grown an amazing amount of things. Now she is an avid gardener, and has expressed her appreciation for the fresh strawberries and lettuce she has pulled from her garden. Interestingly enough, the side of her house, used to be a place to store extra junk, and now it has become a peaceful, relaxing space. Another friend, Eileen built hers right on her back patio! She has very little space, and even less ground, but was able to incorporate this idea to work for her. I could go on and on about many others that have been successful with this. One last thing I want to mention is that while Mel Bartholomew while does sale the books and other things, he primarily does it for educational reasons. If you would like  more detailed steps on building a square foot garden, an instructional page is included on his website are free, as well as some other beneficial gardening tips. His website is http://www.squarefootgardening.com. With the economy getting tougher and tougher, as well as questionable horticultural practices, it is hard for me to understand why anyone would not want to do this. It is easy and fun.

Maricopa County Extension

Ok here is the plug of the day. As you all know, one of the biggest frustrations I had when I first moved here, was knowing what I could grow, and when to grow it. After living in zone 7, in Eagar, I was completely lost on how to garden here. If I had known and utilized the Maricopa Extension Office when I first moved here, it would have eliminated many wasted hours and money I spent in planting the wrong things at the wrong times. The Maricopa Extension Office/Horticulture department is a wonderful resource that is available to home gardeners. This program is ran as an extension of the University of Arizona. Sandy and I are trainees in their Master Gardener Program and am just amazed at all of the free help that is offered through this program. The people that work and volunteer there are a wealth of valuable information. They have a staff of long-time horticulturist, entomologist, and retired professionals that regularly meet to discuss and test for various diseases, pests, and other ailments that affect our home gardens. They also have volunteer Certified Master Gardeners that man the phones to answer any question you have about gardening here in Arizona. The number for the main office is 602-470-8086 I had the opportunity to sit in on their buzz session last Friday, and had so much fun watching this group ooo, awe, and discuss the pictures, bugs and samples sent in by people and formulate solutions to help them. The Office also has a website that I have included under Helpful Garden Sites in the right hand column. The site has various educational material for you to do your own research. There is everything from care of your Citrus to Watering to Composting. I highly recommend you take advantage of this service and take time to browse throught their site. I also want to mention that at the actual Extension Office site they have test gardens for you to look and see physically what will work here. They are located close to us and their address is:
341 East Broadway Road in Phoenix, which is only about 15 minutes away from most of us. When you arrive you will find a plethora of plants that are in all stages of growth. There are full grown banana trees, a vegetable garden, and herb garden not to mention many, many trees to observe at full height, (handy if you aren't sure if a plant or tree will fit or work in a specific place in your own yard). They even have various lawn species to test patches to walk on and see what will work in your own yard. In fact I am planning a "field trip" there this fall for our group. I will get more information to you within the next couple of weeks. They are a great group of people and are anxious to help.

Western Grape Skeletonizer

Ok, so I was bragging about my grapes doing great. Well, most of my grapes are doing great. I have had one plant that has been nearly destroyed by this little pest. My kids have been pulling these little stinkers off of my concord grape plant. I looked them up in the Master Gardener Entomolgy Manual, and it described them to a tee. This is what the book said, "Western Grape Skeletonizer. Adult moth is blue-black and about a 1/2 inch long. Larvae have black and yellow bands are up to 1/2 inch long. The catapillars line up and feed in groups. They feed behind the veins in the leaf, creating a net-like appearance. The adults produce masses of yellow eggs. Look for the adults and eggs in early May, and destroy any you see." I challenged my boys to fill a sandwich bag with them. So far everything I read, said that you need to pick off the leaves early in the morning to get all of the eggs. I noticed it in May, but wasn't committed to addressing the probem. Boy, now that it's July and my poor Grape plant is soo sad, I wished I would have taken care of it then.

From Lucy Higgins

Hi Bobbie I am not longer in the ward but I would love to continue getting advise I have a new house and they just finish building a small garden for me I will try to take a picture of it also they put irrigation in it for me and right now I just put good dirt and a lot of mulch on it and I have been keeping wet of course I had extra help with the rain any way I need advise what to plant right now the 2 spaces are about 6 feet by 4 ½ they are shape like a half moon and there is a 3 feet walk in the middle so I can reach both sides I was going to make 2 boxes but the landscaper talk me into building it with bricks and It looks awesome it was not more expensive than wood any way I need advise what to plant thank you Lucy Higgins

Ok, this is what I have got going on in my garden. I have an abundance of yellow squash. Great summer plant! It seems like the energizer bunny, it just keeps on producing. My kids are not fond of it, and I think they secretly wish they could yank the thing out. I however, am loving it. If any of you have any good recipes for squash please share, because I have only been making it two ways, and would love to reinvent it. My grapes are recovering after training them up my pergola, they should have the side covered by next year, and I think it will completely cover the top to shade my garden in a couple of years. Plus in the winter it should lose it's leaves and let the sun in. I am loving my sunflowers. They are so nice this time of year, and I can understand why Van Gogh used them as subjects in his paintings. They are huge and fun to watch grow. Next year I would like to plant more on the west side (thanks garden guy) to shade some of the flowers that suffer from the afternoon sun and see how well they do. So what is everyone else doing? Taking a break, planning for fall?

WELCOME!

Welcome Lakeshore Garden Group! I hope that you find this useful in your gardening adventures. I am including articles on various gardening subjects I how hope you will find useful for gardening here in the desert. I will be updating this blog regularly with special garden events happenings around the valley as well as updates on scheduled meetings.