Planting Recommendations
A written recap of everything we walked through on-site — area by area, with what to plant, spacing, and the reasoning behind each call, so this is a plan you can run with on your own timeline.
Eight areas, plus what we fertilize with
West wall, against the house
This wall takes the full brunt of the afternoon sun, and it shows in the heat load on the house. A clean hedge planted 2–3 feet off the wall and 5 feet clear of the AC unit would block that exposure. Three options, in order of what I'd lean toward for this spot:
Hopseed
Fastest coverage of the three and needs very little water once established. Straightforward, dense, and low-maintenance — the easiest option to just plant and forget.
Orange Jubilee
Fast-growing with orange blooms most of the warm season. Handles our heat and cold well and doesn't need much water once established — adds color on top of the screening.
Twisted Myrtle
Denser and slower-growing than the other two, with fragrant evergreen foliage and white spring flowers. More of a refined, formal look if you want the hedge to double as a specimen feature.
- Citrus — evergreen, so it blocks the sun and heat year-round.
- Guava — another fruiting option for this spot.
- Peach — works, but you'd need to stay on top of pruning to keep it from outgrowing the space. It's also deciduous, so in winter the leaves drop and the sun would still hit the bedroom wall directly.
Bananas
Feed these as heavily as you can — compost, composted chicken manure, steer manure, worm castings, grass clippings, leaves, whatever organic material you have access to. More is better with bananas.
Bump up watering to once or twice a week more than you're currently doing to help the fruit grow nice and plump.
For pup management, keep no more than 3 pups per clump and remove the rest. Fewer pups means the plant puts more of its energy into growing bananas instead of spreading itself thin across new shoots.
Grapevines
Both vines are getting more shade than they'd like, especially the one growing closer to the ficus tree. I'd transplant at least that one over to the fence on the west side of the backyard — the wall that faces east there would give it noticeably more sun and it should be much happier.
Under the ficus tree
Yellow Dot would do well here — it's versatile enough to handle both the shade under the canopy and the sunnier edges around it. It also re-roots as it spreads, which makes it hardier and better able to bounce back from the dogs running through it.
East side of the house
Right where the motorcycle currently sits would be a great spot for a lime — I'd go with Bearss lime specifically. It's bigger, juicier, and better-tasting than a Mexican lime.
By the pool pump
Same general area, by the pool pump — a mango would do well here. When you're ready to move forward on this one, let me know. I'd rather get you a seedling-grown mango than a grafted one from a nursery — seedlings tend to perform better long-term.
Back fence
Bamboo along the back fence, on its own, would transform how the backyard feels — instantly more tropical. I'd do 3 plants along that wall, and the variety I'd go with is Oldhamii, a clumping type — it's the same one I grow in my own backyard.
Backyard rock
Pulling the rock out of the backyard and replacing it with mulch is the single fastest thing you can do to cool the yard down and get everything ready for fall planting. Worth starting on this one regardless of which other projects you tackle first.
What we fertilize with
Here's exactly what we use, so you can replicate it yourself if you'd like. We rotate through these and apply monthly — you really can't overdo it with the compost.
Compost — Arizona Worm Farm
For a yard your size, about half a cubic yard per application, spread across the landscape beds.
Nutrient+ — Arizona Worm Farm
Follow the application instructions on the bottle.
Tony's Magic Mix
A fertilizer made by Tony Sarah, a local producer out of Tucson. It's on the pricier side compared to most fertilizers, but it's very good. Available at A&P Nursery and Summerwinds.
Liquid blend — Catalyst Product Group
We use their Jenner 8, Organic Nitro Jen, and Kelp Fertilizer. You can order directly from Catalyst, or we can put together the custom blend for you.