Amy Jacober

Back Wall: Replacing the Oleander

The oleander along the back wall is very old and very woody, and it just doesn't look great anymore. I agree with you on pulling it out. Old oleander like this rarely comes back nicely from a cut back, and it's going to keep getting bare at the bottom.

My main pick for this wall is green hopseed. It grows fast, stays evergreen, takes the full sun on that wall without complaint, and makes a soft, full screen that looks natural instead of clipped. Space them about 6 to 7 feet apart. Go closer to 6 feet if you want it to close in and look full sooner, closer to 7 if you're fine with it taking a little longer to knit together.

Go with 5 gallon plants. Don't spend the money on anything larger. Hopseed grows fast, and a 5 gallon roots in quickly and catches up to a bigger plant within a season or two.

Arizona rosewood is a great alternative if you want something a little denser and slower, or you can mix the two along the wall.

Chinese Elms: Root Flares

You have three mature Chinese elms back here. They're not in bad shape, but at the base you can see some of the root flare and not nearly enough of it. These are older trees, and over the years soil has built up around the trunks.

The root flare is where the trunk widens out into the roots, and it's meant to sit at or just above the soil. When it's buried, the bark stays wet, it can start to rot, and roots can start growing up and around the trunk instead of out into the soil. Those are called girdling roots, and over time they choke the tree off like a belt that keeps getting tighter.

The video below shows why an exposed root flare matters, with real examples of what buried flares and girdling roots look like.

Skyflower Area

Just a little north of the last spot, still on the east-facing wall, you have skyflower. It's a good plant for this spot. It just needs a proper reset, and more of them would fill this stretch out nicely.

Resetting the existing skyflower

• Timing: wait until after frost danger has passed, around late February to March. Skyflower is frost sensitive, and pruning before that can expose new growth to cold damage.
• Thin, don't shear: follow each long or crossing branch back to where it meets a larger branch or the base, and cut there. Skip the hedge trimmers, since shearing makes a dense outer shell with bare wood inside.
• Take out the oldest wood: remove a few of the oldest, woodiest stems right at the base. That pushes fresh growth from the bottom and keeps it full low down.
• How much: taking it back by about a third is a solid reset. If it's really woody and leggy, it can handle a harder cut down to 18 to 24 inches and it will regrow fast once the weather warms.
• After that, let it grow into its natural shape and it will flower much better.

For adding more, extra skyflower would tie in nicely with what's there. Mock orange is another good option for this spot if you want something a little different, and I've added a few more below that all do well on an east wall with some shade. You can't fit all of these, so pick your favorites.

Grass Under the Elms

Right now the grass under the Chinese elms is struggling across the board, and the reason is simple: too much shade. Bermuda needs full sun to grow, and under a canopy like this it thins out, goes patchy, and never fills back in no matter how much you water or feed it. On top of that, the elm roots are competing with it for water.

Instead of fighting it, I'd switch to something that actually likes shade. Dichondra or clover are the two best options for under these trees. Both stay low, stay green, handle the shade, and are much softer underfoot than Bermuda.

Which one to pick

• Dichondra if you want the most lawn-like look. It makes a dense, soft carpet of little round leaves, loves shade, and handles light to moderate foot traffic. It does want consistent moisture, so it needs to be on sprinklers.
• Clover if you want the easiest option. It fills in fast, stays green through most of the year, and pulls nitrogen out of the air and puts it into the soil, which feeds the elms too. It handles kids and dogs better than dichondra. Microclover stays shorter and tighter if you want a more uniform look.
• You can also blend the two, or plant clover in the high traffic areas and dichondra in the shadiest spots.

Raised Garden Beds

On the east side of the house you have three raised garden beds set up. The one thing I noticed is that part of the concrete runs through here, so half of each bed is sitting over it. That half isn't going to drain the same or let roots go as deep, and the concrete heats up and bakes that side of the bed in summer.

There are skinnier raised beds available that can go right up against the wall, so you don't have to deal with the concrete at all. Long, narrow beds around 18 to 24 inches wide work great in a side yard, since you can reach everything from one side, and the east exposure gives you morning sun with afternoon protection, which is ideal for a lot of what grows here.

For beds, I recommend Olle Gardens. Their metal raised beds are modular, so you can set them up in a long, narrow shape that fits right along the wall. They're tall enough to give roots real depth, they won't rot like wood, and they hold up to our sun for years. They also look clean, which is nice in a side yard you walk through.

For soil, go with the raised bed mix from Arizona Worm Farm. It's a quality blend with plenty of compost and biology in it, which is what makes vegetables really take off. Raised bed soil settles and breaks down over time, so when the beds drop an inch or two, top them off with more of their mix, plus some worm castings, before each planting season.

For what to plant and when, here's my Maricopa County planting guide. Right now is a great time for leafy greens, carrots, beets, peas, broccoli, and herbs.