>> at the moment is hard summer so it's very hot most of the time and the area is very sunny. Hard time to start anything without copious amounts of water. Heck, itâÂÂs a hard time. Period. I would strongly suggest an airy mulch such as straw instead of a flat mulch such as bark or wood chips. Both can work well, but in your high temperatures you need insulation on the soil. >> should i use those small water sprinklers or drippers at the beginning? If you can, itâÂÂs easier to control the watering with slow drip emitters and you control the amount with time. Most plants do not need to have their leaves watered, so the less water that gets sprayed, the better. Sprays can be helpful when seeding, but I use lines of drip tubing (with the holes all along its length) covered with lots of airy-type mulch to keep the surface, and thus the small seeds, from drying out. It seems to work well. I do hit it with a hose occasionally. However, end emitter drip in the desert carries the possibility of a hidden problem. With very stingy drip and good drainage, such as with "sandy compost" ground, you can have underwatering in a way. You can drip water for an entire day and although the water has gone down quite a bit there might be no trace of moisture in the soil just one foot away. Be sure to check often for what is NOT getting watered. >> how long to water each session depending on what method will be used to watering. Your times depend on your results. HowâÂÂs THAT for a wimpy answer! We have had less than an inch/25mm of rain in the entire year so far, so the drip system is everything. At times I watered cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers every single day. Now itâÂÂs every three days at 100+F/39C+. The tomato roots are huge and the plants wilt at about four days in the full sun. Most everything else gets watered along with them since the drip system has only two circuits.

Hi Jen I put lantana in the sand. Recently plopped some cannas into the bed - running out of container-garden space, and my Black-n Blue Salvias. Salvia Coral Nymph get nice, even in the unamended sand. I can send ya some seeds,if ya want. But I start the seeds in pots, first. I wouldn't try to plant any seed in the sand, except for maybe Hyacinth Beans or those other peas that vine and bloom - Indigo Peas. This spring, I had a great marigold garden even though I didn't add anything to the sand. And bouganvillea grows even in rocks and oyster shells. I also put in my passion vines along the fence. In the front gardens that don't border along the orange grove and may have better soil from 30 years ago when someone probably put in some sod - I put angelonia, torenia and dahlias (but the dahlias haven't bloomed much. They were plants from seeds this spring, so they may need more time) and you could plant crape myrtles, duranta, tibuchina and daylillies in sand. I'm sure there's lots more - these are just the ones I've recently put into our yard that we just moved to. I've had good luck with this stuff in other Florida-sand yards, too. One thing, though, it really helps to have an irrigation system. The old owners of this place put roses, azaleas and caladiums in, plus some petunias for curb appeal, and they really perked up when we moved in and turned on the pump regularly. It never seems to rain enough!

Kinnikinnick, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. This plant is native to much of the country, evergreen, very cold hardy (z2) and pretty drought tolerant once established. it is also not the slightest bit picky about soils except that they be well draining. Does not spread all that rapidly so be prepared to bit a patient for full coverage or decrease the spacing. I would also consider mulching after planting to retard weed development, preserve soil moisture and add nutrients back to the existing soil.

the good news is north of Philly, generally speaking, your "rocky clay" is not as bad as it might be it isn't clear what you want the tree for, shade? general ornament? flowers? You can't go wrong with a Metasequoia or Taxodium if you just want "a tree". They are drought and flood tolerant once established. (what the NE US would call a drought, anyhow) And people like that their fall foliage is so small it doesn't have to be raked up. In a good year Metasequoia 'Ogon' is as showy as some flowering trees when it leafs out. (mine is greener than usual this year because of the odd weather) btw my thought on "too big" would be a trash tree like a silver maple that would eventually cover this backyard and prevent anything from growing at all underneath it. A Dawn Redwood or Cypress will give you a small shady area in a few years, but not take up too much square-footage space.