Thanks for having me out, Mackenzie. Below is everything we went over, in the order we walked the yard, with plant options for each spot so you have it all in one place.
As a consult client, you're already in the Garden Nerd Club, so you have direct access to me there. If questions come up while you work through any of this, ask me there anytime.
Bee friendly plants by the hives
Back here by your beehives, the goal is plants that attract bees and feed them well. Up against the wall, orange jubilee or yellow bells are the best fit, since they'll cover the wall and bloom for months. Here are some smaller shrubs that bees love too.
For the wall
Orange Jubilee
Fast and lush, with big clusters of orange trumpet flowers spring through fall that hummingbirds love. Grows 10 to 12 feet tall. A hard freeze can nip it back, but it grows right back in spring. Plant 4 to 5 feet apart.
Yellow Bells
Bright yellow trumpet flowers spring through fall on lush green foliage, 8 to 12 feet tall. Takes full sun and heat and handles some shade. A hard freeze can nip it back. Plant 5 to 6 feet apart.
Smaller bee friendly shrubs
Globe Mallow
Native with silvery leaves and cup shaped orange flowers in spring. Native bees love it.
Gregg's Mistflower
Soft, mounding native covered in fuzzy purple flowers spring through fall. Butterflies swarm it.
Penstemon
Tall flower spikes in red, pink, or purple in spring. Hummingbirds and native bees love it. Plant in fall for spring blooms.
Autumn Sage
Compact, 2 to 3 feet, with red, pink, or coral flowers fall through spring. Takes full sun and can be sheared into a tidy low border.
Baja Fairy Duster
3 to 4 feet tall with bright red puffball flowers most of the year that hummingbirds love. Takes full west sun and can be lightly sheared into a loose, informal hedge.
Pink Fairy Duster
Native, low and airy, 2 to 3 feet, with soft pink puffball flowers in late winter and spring.
Brittlebush
Native, silvery mound covered in bright yellow daisies in late winter and spring.
Trailing Rosemary
Spills and spreads with blue flowers bees love in winter and spring. Great spilling over the edge of a pot or wall.
Mixing plants that bloom at different times keeps food going for the bees almost year round. Skip any pesticides back here.
My approach with a desert landscape is to add a lot of different plants for diversity. They don't need to be strategically placed. A little sporadic looks good and fuller. Keep lower growing plants near walkways and under trees. Other than that, just do your thing and don't stress about placement.
The lime tree's root flare
This lime looks nice and healthy, but it seems to be buried a little too deep. The root flare is where the trunk widens out into the roots, and it needs to be exposed to air. When it's buried, the bark stays wet and roots can start circling and choking the trunk. This video shows why it matters, with real examples.
Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.
Root flare excavation
- Pull the soil and mulch back from the base of the trunk. A strong stream of water from a hose blasts the dirt away fast without damaging the roots. Finish with a hand trowel or your fingers.
- Keep going until you see the trunk widen out and the first big roots heading sideways.
- Cut any roots that are wrapping around or pressing against the trunk. Those are girdling roots. Cut them cleanly where they leave the main root and pull them away.
- Leave the flare at or just above the surrounding ground, sloping the soil gently away from the trunk. Don't fill it back in.
After that, it should be happy.
A new fruit tree
There used to be a citrus tree in this empty spot, and you'd like to plant another fruit tree here. Citrus would work, and so would a fig or a peach.
Citrus
Evergreen, fragrant spring blooms, and fruit through winter. Greenfield Citrus Nursery is the best place to get a healthy tree.
Fig
One of the easiest fruit trees here. Big leaves, fast growth, and two crops a year on many varieties. Takes the west sun well with deep watering and mulch.
Peach (low chill)
Low chill varieties like Florida Prince and Earligrande are bred for our warm winters and ripen in late spring before the heat. Prune each winter to keep it a manageable size, and thin the young fruit for bigger peaches. Loses its leaves in winter.
For citrus, Greenfield Citrus Nursery is the best place to go.
- Size: start with 15 gallon trees. Smaller trees establish faster and always end up being better trees long term than big boxed ones.
- Above grade: find the root flare, where the trunk widens into the roots, before you dig, and set the tree so the flare sits slightly above the surrounding ground. Dig the hole two to three times as wide as the root ball but no deeper.
- Backfill: native soil plus a tiny bit of compost in the hole, compost on top of the soil, then mulch over the compost, held a foot back from the trunk.
Covering the west wall
This wall faces west, and you want to cover all the walls in the backyard. So the same options apply to every wall, and you can decide what you like. Arizona rosewood, hopseed, twisted myrtle, orange jubilee, and yellow bells are all good choices.
Arizona Rosewood
Native evergreen with dark, glossy leaves that grows 10 to 15 feet tall. Dense, tidy, very low litter, and one of the best screens for full sun and reflected heat. Plant 5 to 6 feet apart.
Hopseed
Fast growing native evergreen that fills in to a dense 8 to 12 foot screen. Stays fairly narrow and upright, so it fits tighter spots. Takes less water than plants that aren't desert adapted and handles reflected heat off a block wall. Plant 4 to 5 feet apart.
Twisted Myrtle
Dense, fine textured evergreen with small glossy leaves and a light fragrance, 6 to 8 feet tall. Shears into a clean formal hedge or can be left natural. Handles full sun and part shade, and drops very little. Plant about 4 feet apart.
Orange Jubilee
Fast and lush, with big clusters of orange trumpet flowers spring through fall that hummingbirds love. Grows 10 to 12 feet tall. A hard freeze can nip it back, but it grows right back in spring. Plant 4 to 5 feet apart.
Yellow Bells
Bright yellow trumpet flowers spring through fall on lush green foliage, 8 to 12 feet tall. Takes full sun and heat and handles some shade. A hard freeze can nip it back. Plant 5 to 6 feet apart.
Here's a short video on orange jubilee.
You can't fit all of these. Pick your favorites and repeat them along the wall.
Planting the hedge
- Plant 3 to 4 feet off the wall so the back of the hedge gets light and air and doesn't rub on the block.
- Backfill with native soil plus a tiny bit of compost in the hole, lay compost on top of the soil, then mulch over the compost, a foot back from the trunks.
- Water new plants deeply two to three times a week for the first few weeks, then stretch it out. Give each one its own emitters.
Clumping bamboo for the back wall
This back wall faces south, and you'd like to cover it with clumping bamboo, which would work great. Oldhamii is my favorite. I have it at my own place, and I'm happy to share a photo of mine in the Garden Nerd Club so you can see how it fills in.
Oldhamii Bamboo (Clumping)
My favorite clumping bamboo. It widens slowly in a tight clump instead of running through the yard, and makes a tall, dense green screen up to 25 to 30 feet. It wants more water than the desert options.
- Clumping only: a clumping bamboo like Oldhamii widens slowly instead of spreading underground through the yard, so no barrier is needed. If it ever spreads past where you want it, cut out the edge canes with a sharp spade.
- Spacing: plant them about 5 to 6 feet apart for a solid screen.
- Water: bamboo wants more water than the desert plants, so give it extra emitters or its own valve, and add more as the clumps widen.
The other wall options work here too
Arizona Rosewood
Native evergreen with dark, glossy leaves that grows 10 to 15 feet tall. Dense, tidy, very low litter, and one of the best screens for full sun and reflected heat. Plant 5 to 6 feet apart.
Hopseed
Fast growing native evergreen that fills in to a dense 8 to 12 foot screen. Stays fairly narrow and upright, so it fits tighter spots. Takes less water than plants that aren't desert adapted and handles reflected heat off a block wall. Plant 4 to 5 feet apart.
Twisted Myrtle
Dense, fine textured evergreen with small glossy leaves and a light fragrance, 6 to 8 feet tall. Shears into a clean formal hedge or can be left natural. Handles full sun and part shade, and drops very little. Plant about 4 feet apart.
Orange Jubilee
Fast and lush, with big clusters of orange trumpet flowers spring through fall that hummingbirds love. Grows 10 to 12 feet tall. A hard freeze can nip it back, but it grows right back in spring. Plant 4 to 5 feet apart.
Yellow Bells
Bright yellow trumpet flowers spring through fall on lush green foliage, 8 to 12 feet tall. Takes full sun and heat and handles some shade. A hard freeze can nip it back. Plant 5 to 6 feet apart.
Plants for the pots
You have a bunch of containers that already have drip running to them, which is great. Here are some desert adapted options that will add height and dimension, like desert milkweed, and grow well without much fuss.
Desert Milkweed
Native, upright gray green stems with cream flowers, 3 to 4 feet. Adds vertical dimension and feeds monarch and queen butterflies.
Red Yucca
Grassy clumps with tall coral red flower spikes spring through fall. Adds height and color without getting big, and hummingbirds love it.
Pencil Cactus
Bright green, upright, pencil thin stems that add a lot of height and a sculptural look in a pot. Takes the heat and needs very little care. The sap is irritating, so wear gloves when handling it.
Firecracker Plant
Arching green stems with bright red tubular flowers most of the year. Handles sun or part shade and hummingbirds love it.
Red Bird of Paradise
Ferny foliage with fiery red and orange flowers all summer, 6 to 8 feet. Thrives in the hottest, most reflected spots. Cut it back hard in late winter. The seed pods are toxic, so trim them off if kids or pets are around.
Baja Fairy Duster
3 to 4 feet tall with bright red puffball flowers most of the year that hummingbirds love. Takes full west sun and can be lightly sheared into a loose, informal hedge.
Trailing Rosemary
Spills and spreads with blue flowers bees love in winter and spring. Great spilling over the edge of a pot or wall.
- Use the biggest pots you can. Bigger pots hold moisture longer and keep roots cooler.
- Fill them with a quality potting mix blended with compost, and top them with an inch of mulch.
- Mix tall plants like milkweed and red bird of paradise with spillers like trailing rosemary for the most dimension.
Bananas behind the rock feature
Behind the pool, up against the rock feature, bananas would be an awesome option. They'd make a lush, tropical backdrop to the rock. To make it work, pull the rock back and put down mulch to keep their roots cool.
Banana
Big tropical leaves and fruit once it's established. Frost burns the leaves back, so cover it on cold nights. It regrows from the base if it does get hit.
- Spread a few inches of compost where the rock was, then mulch over it.
- Bananas like regular water and a lot of feeding, so give them their own emitters.
- Frost will burn the leaves back. Cover them on cold nights, or just let them regrow from the base in spring.
Height for the back corner
This corner needs some dimension. You like orange jubilee and yellow bells, and both would add height here. Duranta, also called skyflower, is another good option. The pots can be moved to make room.
Orange Jubilee
Fast and lush, with big clusters of orange trumpet flowers spring through fall that hummingbirds love. Grows 10 to 12 feet tall. A hard freeze can nip it back, but it grows right back in spring. Plant 4 to 5 feet apart.
Yellow Bells
Bright yellow trumpet flowers spring through fall on lush green foliage, 8 to 12 feet tall. Takes full sun and heat and handles some shade. A hard freeze can nip it back. Plant 5 to 6 feet apart.
Duranta (Skyflower)
Fast, upright evergreen shrub, 8 to 12 feet, with sprays of purple blue flowers and golden berries. Great for adding height in a corner. Bees and butterflies love it.
A tree by the fire pit
You're considering a tree here next to the fire pit. It needs a high canopy so it doesn't interfere with the fire. Something with color would be great, like a Hong Kong orchid or a tipu tree. Here are a few other options too.
Hong Kong Orchid
Showy tree with large orchid like flowers in pink and purple through fall and winter. Rounded canopy that can be raised up high. Cover it on frosty nights its first couple of winters.
Tipu
Fast growing shade tree with a wide umbrella canopy and yellow flowers in late spring, 30 to 50 feet. Gives serious shade fast. It drops some leaves and pods, which is fine out in the lawn.
Red Push Pistache
Medium shade tree, 25 to 40 feet, with red new growth in spring and great fall color. Handles full west sun and heat, does well in a lawn, and is low litter.
Desert Willow
Native, 15 to 25 feet, with orchid like flowers all summer. Light canopy, takes full west sun, and loses its leaves in winter.
- Plant it at least 10 to 15 feet from the fire pit so the heat doesn't scorch the canopy.
- As it grows, raise the canopy a few lower branches at a time so it ends up well above the fire.
- Size: start with 15 gallon trees. Smaller trees establish faster and always end up being better trees long term than big boxed ones.
- Above grade: find the root flare, where the trunk widens into the roots, before you dig, and set the tree so the flare sits slightly above the surrounding ground. Dig the hole two to three times as wide as the root ball but no deeper.
- Backfill: native soil plus a tiny bit of compost in the hole, compost on top of the soil, then mulch over the compost, held a foot back from the trunk.
Replacing the carob
The carob here died and you're slowly pulling it out, with just the stump left. You have a red push pistache on the other side of the walkway, so I think another red push pistache would look best here, matching on both sides. Here are a few similar options too.
Red Push Pistache
Medium shade tree, 25 to 40 feet, with red new growth in spring and great fall color. Handles full west sun and heat, does well in a lawn, and is low litter.
Chinese Elm
Fast growing, semi evergreen shade tree with a wide, graceful canopy, 40 to 50 feet. Handles full west sun and does well in a lawn. The bark gets a pretty mottled look as it matures.
Tipu
Fast growing shade tree with a wide umbrella canopy and yellow flowers in late spring, 30 to 50 feet. Gives serious shade fast. It drops some leaves and pods, which is fine out in the lawn.
Native Velvet Mesquite
The native mesquite, 25 to 30 feet, with a wide, airy canopy and filtered shade. It supports local wildlife in ways the non native hybrids don't, and takes less water than plants that aren't desert adapted.
- The stump: you don't need to get it all out. Plant the new tree right beside it. Old roots in the ground aren't an issue.
- Size: start with 15 gallon trees. Smaller trees establish faster and always end up being better trees long term than big boxed ones.
- Above grade: find the root flare, where the trunk widens into the roots, before you dig, and set the tree so the flare sits slightly above the surrounding ground. Dig the hole two to three times as wide as the root ball but no deeper.
- Backfill: native soil plus a tiny bit of compost in the hole, compost on top of the soil, then mulch over the compost, held a foot back from the trunk.
Covering the pony wall
Up against this pony wall, you planted a few agave, but they're not very tall and you're not sure you like them. There's a bougainvillea off to the side. I like the idea of covering the wall completely, so here are some shrubs that will fill it in.
Hopseed
Fast growing native evergreen that fills in to a dense 8 to 12 foot screen. Stays fairly narrow and upright, so it fits tighter spots. Takes less water than plants that aren't desert adapted and handles reflected heat off a block wall. Plant 4 to 5 feet apart.
Little Ollie (Dwarf Olive)
Dwarf, fruitless olive with dense silvery green leaves. Naturally 4 to 6 feet, but it shears easily to hold at 3 feet, or it can be trained as a small tree. No fruit, no pollen, very low litter.
Autumn Sage
Compact, 2 to 3 feet, with red, pink, or coral flowers fall through spring. Takes full sun and can be sheared into a tidy low border.
Texas Sage
Silvery foliage with flushes of purple flowers after summer rains. Takes full sun and takes less water than plants that aren't desert adapted.
You can't fit all of these. Pick your favorites and repeat them along the wall.
- The agave can be moved somewhere else in the yard where they have room to show off.
The volunteer elm
This elm is a volunteer, and it's looking good. I'd just start slowly raising the canopy.
- Each winter, remove a few of the lowest branches, cutting just outside the collar where they meet the trunk.
- Take it slow. Leaving some lower branches for now helps the trunk thicken and get stronger.
- Over a few years, you'll end up with a clean trunk and a canopy high enough to walk under.
A small native shrub
This spot is a good opportunity for a small, desert adapted shrub. Here are a few native options like chuparosa.
Chuparosa
Native with green stems and red tubular flowers through winter and spring. A hummingbird favorite that stays green and takes the heat.
Globe Mallow
Native with silvery leaves and cup shaped orange flowers in spring. Native bees love it.
Pink Fairy Duster
Native, low and airy, 2 to 3 feet, with soft pink puffball flowers in late winter and spring.
Baja Fairy Duster
3 to 4 feet tall with bright red puffball flowers most of the year that hummingbirds love. Takes full west sun and can be lightly sheared into a loose, informal hedge.
Autumn Sage
Compact, 2 to 3 feet, with red, pink, or coral flowers fall through spring. Takes full sun and can be sheared into a tidy low border.
Penstemon
Tall flower spikes in red, pink, or purple in spring. Hummingbirds and native bees love it. Plant in fall for spring blooms.
You can't fit all of these. Pick a few favorites and repeat them so it looks intentional.
Color along the dry riverbed
All along the dry riverbed, here are some native, low growing ground covers that add color and don't need consistent watering.
Trailing Indigo Bush
Native ground cover with silvery foliage and small purple flowers in spring. Very low water once settled in.
Damianita
Low, tidy mound of fine green foliage covered in golden yellow flowers in spring and fall. Stays about a foot tall.
Blackfoot Daisy
Native, white daisy flowers almost all year, under a foot tall. Perfect along a dry riverbed. Hates being overwatered.
Desert Marigold
Low mound of gray leaves with bright yellow daisies most of the year. Reseeds itself and keeps color going.
Emu Bush (Outback Sunrise)
Low and spreading, under a foot tall and 4 to 6 feet wide. Gray green leaves with orange red flowers winter through spring that hummingbirds love. Takes full sun and reflected heat and drops very little.
My approach with a desert landscape is to add a lot of different plants for diversity. They don't need to be strategically placed. A little sporadic looks good and fuller. Keep lower growing plants near walkways and under trees. Other than that, just do your thing and don't stress about placement.
Pruning in the desert
Here's a general guide to when and how to prune the different kinds of plants in your yard.
When to prune
- Deciduous trees (red push pistache, elm, desert willow, and fruit trees like peach and fig): winter, December through February, while they're bare. It's easy to see the structure, and the tree isn't stressed.
- Evergreen and desert trees (tipu, mesquite, palo verde, acacias): late spring after they flower, or early fall. Thin them before monsoon season so wind passes through.
- Frost tender shrubs (orange jubilee, yellow bells, lantana, bougainvillea, red bird of paradise, duranta, hibiscus): wait until late February or March, once frost danger has passed. Leave any frost damage on until then. It protects the inside of the plant.
- Citrus: very little. Only take out dead wood and shoots coming from below the graft, in late winter or spring. Never shear citrus, and leave the low branches to shade the trunk.
- Native desert shrubs (Texas sage, fairy duster, chuparosa): light shaping right after they flower. Let them keep their natural shape.
- Hedges: twice a year, spring and fall, is plenty.
How to prune
- Avoid summer pruning. Fresh cuts in the heat expose the inner leaves and bark to sun and burn them.
- Never take more than about a quarter of a plant or tree at once.
- Cut at the collar, the slightly swollen ring where a branch meets a bigger one. No stubs and no flush cuts.
- Don't top trees or strip out the inside so only tufts are left at the ends. Both weaken the tree.
- Don't shear desert shrubs into balls. It cuts off the flowers and stresses the plant.
- Use clean, sharp tools, and wipe them with rubbing alcohol between plants if anything looks diseased.
For bigger trees or anything high up, I recommend King's Tree Service.
Fertilizing
Everything in this write-up comes back to the soil. Feeding is really about feeding the soil life. Fungi, bacteria, and worms break down organic matter and hand nutrients to the roots, which is what gets new trees and hedges established, keeps the lime and bananas producing, and keeps the bamboo thick, all without synthetic fertilizers. Here's the exact approach I use, so you can do it yourself.
- Compost, and be generous. On trees, spread it in a wide ring around the drip line, the outer edge of the canopy where most of the feeder roots are, from about halfway in to a couple feet past the edge. On shrubs, hedges, and vines, put it closer in, from a few inches off the stems out about a foot past the edge of the plant. Go 1 to 2 inches deep, and if you're unsure, go thicker rather than thinner. You really can't overdo quality compost. Do this three times a year: late winter (February), early summer (May), and fall (October).
- Worm castings every quarter. Every three months, scatter worm castings over the same areas: a few cups around each shrub and a couple pounds around the drip line of each tree. Castings are loaded with beneficial microbes that bring the soil to life. When it lines up with a compost round, put the castings down first and the compost right over them.
- A good organic fertilizer. These are the three products we use and recommend, all from Catalyst. Apply them at the label rate on the schedule each one gives.
Jenner 8
Liquid organic feed for the whole landscape.
Organic Nitro Jen
Organic nitrogen to push healthy green growth.
Kelp Fertilizer
Kelp based feed that supports roots and overall plant health.
You can find all three on the Catalyst website. Click Products, then Home and Garden.
- Water it all in. Give everything a deep watering right after you put it down so it soaks into the root zone.
- Mulch over the top. Mulch goes over the compost to keep it moist and cool so the soil life can do its work. Hold it a foot back from trunks and stems. No need to work any of it into the soil.
Compost, worm castings, and mulch are all at Arizona Worm Farm.
If you'd rather we handle it
Our monthly landscape fertilizing program feeds the whole yard for you.
- Covers the trees, hedges, bamboo, pots, and the rest of the landscape
- Monthly compost based liquid feeding across the full landscape
- Compost applications three times a year
- A recap video sent to you after each visit
Quick reference
Organic fertilizers
Catalyst (Products, then Home and Garden)Compost, mulch, worm castings
Arizona Worm FarmCitrus
Greenfield Citrus NurseryArborist
King's Tree ServiceRoot flare video
Why the root flare mattersOrange jubilee video
Watch on YouTubeIrrigation
Garrett: 480-678-9121Questions
Ask me anytime in the Garden Nerd ClubNext steps
You can take this list and do it yourself, and I'm right there in the Garden Nerd Club if you want a second set of eyes along the way. If you'd rather have us handle the planting, like the wall hedges, the bamboo, and the trees, I can put together a planting proposal for you.
For anything irrigation related, call Garrett at 480-678-9121.
You can see more of what we do on our planting services page.