Your consultation write-up

Back in this area, the goal is plants that cover the ground and fill in the space. Since you like purples and pinks, ruellia is a great place to start, and the others below all bloom in that same color range.

Pull the rock back first and put mulch down before you plant. Rock holds heat against the plants and the soil. Mulch keeps the ground cooler, holds moisture, and feeds the soil as it breaks down. Space these at the widths listed and let them grow together.

Seeding this area with hollyhocks is also an option, and now is a great time to do it. They come up tall along the wall with big pink, purple, and white flowers in spring. Scatter the seed on bare soil, press it in lightly, and keep it moist until it sprouts.

The orange jubilee along the wall should stop being pruned so much. Left alone, they'll fill in, cover more of the wall, and keep flowering. Constant trimming keeps them thin and cuts off the blooms.

It's going to be the same theme for all of the trees back here. Don't prune anything for now. Leave them alone until next summer and let them grow back in. They need their leaves right now to rebuild energy.

Give them deep, infrequent soaks. Get the hose out here and water each tree deeply once a week, letting it run slowly out toward the edge of the canopy so the water soaks down deep where the roots are.

Then let's get some fertilizing going. I've laid out exactly what you can do yourself, and what our service would cost, in the Soil and Feeding section below.

This is where you had the Lady Banks roses. One survived, and the others up against the hot block wall didn't make it. You can replant them, and now is a great time of year to do it.

Before you plant, pull all of the rock back and put mulch down. The rock against that hot wall is a big part of why they struggled. Then feed them on a regular basis. Roses are heavy feeders and want lots and lots of food. Lay compost on top of the soil around each rose every month through the growing season, add composted chicken manure a few times a year, and keep a layer of mulch over it all. Water deeply so the whole root zone gets wet, rather than a little every day.

This bougainvillea is getting too much shade under the Chinese elm. Bougainvillea needs full sun to grow and flower, so it's never going to be happy here.

Here are a few options that do well in the more shaded areas of your yard. The vines can cover the wall, and the ferns and purple heart fill in the ground underneath.

Same with this ash tree. It's a goner. One option is to plant a new tree next to it and let it start growing, then take the ash out once the new one is established. But I wouldn't spend much time or effort trying to save the ash itself. Any of the shade trees listed earlier would work for the replacement.

Along this wall you're looking for privacy and to cover the wall. Twisted myrtle is what I'd go with here. This spot is a little shadier because of the ash tree, and twisted myrtle handles that well. It's dense, evergreen, and grows into a full screen.

Here are a few other options as well. Space them about 4 to 5 feet apart and let them grow together rather than shearing them tight, so they fill in faster. If you go with hopseed, know that right behind the tree there's a little more shade, and the hopseed will be a bit thinner in that spot.

Not much to change on these raised beds. For what to plant and when, use my Maricopa County planting guide.

For feeding, top the beds off with fresh raised bed mix or compost from Arizona Worm Farm at the start of each season, since the soil settles and gets used up. Mix in a handful of worm castings when you plant. Through the season, lay a thin layer of compost on top of the soil every month or so, and give the beds an organic liquid feed every couple of weeks while plants are actively growing. Keep a light layer of mulch on top to hold moisture.

Stop pruning the hopseed so heavily. Take a month or two off between each hedging.

Every cut forces the plant to spend energy regrowing instead of filling in. Trimming less often, and taking off less each time, lets it thicken up and stay full all the way to the ground.