Good walking your property today, Ed. Here's everything we covered, written up area by area so you can move through it at your own pace. As always, hit me up in the Garden Nerd Club as you get into any of this and need more detail.
The mesquite needs to come out. It's not structurally sound and isn't a safe tree to keep long-term. The palo verde is a keeper, but it needs real attention: heavy reduction cuts and removal of the crossing branches inside the canopy.
For all of this, and any palms you want taken down while they're out there, call Kings Tree Service. They're a good arborist I use regularly.
kingstreeserviceaz.com →We talked through placement on-site, so no need to map that here. Pick any 3 of the 4 below, mix and match however you like. All four handle our heat and climate well; it comes down to the look and growth habit you want.
Broad spreading crown, low-issue and easy. New growth comes in with a red tint, then turns brilliant red, orange, and yellow in fall — best fall color of the group.
Deciduous
Fast-growing and good-looking, with graceful branching. Semi-evergreen — sheds for a short stretch in winter, sometimes doesn't drop everything. Fastest route to real shade.
Semi-evergreen
The biggest, fastest grower here — 40 to 50 feet in just a few years. Showy yellow flowers, full lush canopy. Give it room, this one gets big.
Deciduous
A native, fast-growing shade tree with a dense canopy. Well adapted to the desert and a reliable, no-surprises choice for quick shade.
DeciduousCloser to the house where the bougainvillea and oleander are, one smaller ornamental tree. Same 6-foot well, no rock, compost then mulch, kept 1 foot off the trunk.
Native to the Sonoran Desert. Long, trumpet-shaped blooms in pink, burgundy, or white all summer. Not a true willow, doesn't want that much water.
Deciduous
Big orchid-shaped blooms in magenta and purple, fall through spring. Sheds a fair amount of leaves, so keep it off a patio or pool if that bothers you.
Semi-evergreen
Not a true olive. White, crepe-paper-like blooms nearly year-round in the right spot. Slow to establish but tough once it does — a pollinator magnet.
Evergreen
Stays smaller and tidier than the other options here. Extremely well adapted to heat and low water, good if you want something that won't outgrow the space.
EvergreenAlong the north wall by the garden beds, a hedge to cover and cool the wall down. Any of these work, mix and match, spacing every 3–5 feet depending on how fast you want it to fill in.
Fast-growing with orange blooms most of the warm season. Adds color on top of the screening.
Yellow trumpet blooms most of the warm season, fast-growing, easy to keep as a hedge.
Fastest coverage of the group and needs very little water once established. Dense, low-maintenance, plant and forget.
Denser and slower-growing, fragrant evergreen foliage with white spring flowers. A more refined, formal look.
Tough, native, evergreen screening shrub with white spring flowers. Handles heat and reflected sun without complaint.
Leave the existing bougainvillea and oleander in place at first to nurse the new hedge along. Once the hedge is thriving and taller than the nurse plants — usually after the first summer — you can remove them.
The root flare is buried too deep. Pull the dirt, rock, and mulch back and create a water well, digging down until the root flare is exposed.
This is a DIY job for you. Post in the Garden Nerd Club when you're ready to start and I'll walk you through the details as you go.
Bananas will do great here, but the block wall needs to be shaded first or it'll cook everything planted against it. Shade cloth works, or bamboo fencing — bamboo will look nicer if you don't mind the extra cost.
Once the wall's shaded, plant bananas along with hibiscus and canna lily, spaced close together — these tropicals like being tight with each other. Purple heart works well as a ground cover in front of them.
Ground cover
All of these plants are heavy feeders. Give them plenty of compost, they'll reward you for it.
A citrus tree or a mango would both work great in the spot we discussed outside the pool gate — either one, it's your call. Same instructions: 6-foot well, compost then mulch, kept off the trunk.
In the corner where the oleanders are, plant a fig right in the middle, where the deer statue currently sits.
Along the wall facing your house (west side), plant a Barbados cherry hedge — full length of the wall. They love the sun and heat here and hold up well as a hedge.
On the other wall in this corner, facing north, plant the same hedge lineup we recommended for the front yard: orange jubilee, yellow bells, hopseed, twisted myrtle, or Arizona rosewood.
For the larger shade tree we discussed here, red push pistache is the right call for this spot. Plant a citrus tree to the west of it.
One more option to think about: a carob tree in the middle of the back lawn. It's a great climbing tree, and good for hanging a tree swing.
Water deeply and less often to encourage deep root growth. Every 2–3 days for 20–30 minutes is the target.
Fertilize monthly during the growing season with an organic fertilizer high in nitrogen that also has humic and fulvic acid. You can find these at most nurseries, or we sell our own custom blend — you can either apply it yourself or ask about pricing for us to come out and handle it for you.
That covers everything from our walk-through today. These are starting points, if any spot doesn't feel right once you're in it, or you want more options, just ask.
Beyond this planting plan, The Garden Nerd also runs a monthly organic soil fertilizing service to keep everything on the property healthy from the ground up, new and existing plantings alike.
