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Arizona Gardening

novice gardener in Fountain Hills

10 years ago

Hello,

I am a novice gardener and new to fountain hills. Could anyone tell me please what type of soil this is. I am located on one of the slopes and not down at the bottom of the valley. The soil seems very rocky with lots of white hues to it. Is it alcaline? Salty?

What can I do to correct/ok improve it?

Thank you!

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Comments (9)

lazy_gardens
10 years ago
Fountain Hills ... Your area is several degrees colder than the main part of Phoenix, which means you have to plant a bit more carefully.

You have the usual fast-draining rock-filled mountain side dirt. Yes, it's probably alkaline.

Don't bother trying to "improve it" ... it's perfectly good dirt for growing a lot of Arizona lovely native plants and plants from other arid regions.

Go to a nursery or Home Depot and get a copy of Sunset's Western Garden's book. It's our best sourcebook for what grows here.

Go to the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum near Superior and the Desert Botanical Gardens near the Phoenix Zoo. Look at all thge lovely plants you can grow here that can't be grown elsewhere.
fanocle
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks a lot!!! I should have explained myself better. Yes I want to grow mainly desert plants and I really like them, but since I love fruit I was thinking of planting some fruit trees...hence why I was wondering if I needed to improve the soil around those trees.

Thank you again!
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I think if you had some small shelves that are about as tall as the window sill you could grow plenty. If the shelf ended about 10 inches from the sill the plant would be in the sunshine most of the bright part of the day (assuming its planted in a 10 inch tall pot). You would want lights overhead of the plants during the evening when winter days are the shortest. Plenty of plants will survive without the lights but they will barely grow and probably won't bloom and fruit during the shorter days. You could use regular adjustable floor lamps with the bulbs set within a foot of the top of the plants (the closer the better) and either use grow bulbs or fluorescents. Lighting is tricky. People seriously growing under lights use big bulky expensive lamps that won't work well in a home-ey sunroom if you want to also use it as a reading/sitting room. I would at least start out with something simple and expand from there as your experience grows. You'll probably have better luck growing a cherry tomato in a pot outdoors in the summer and then bring it indoors for the winter and toss it out when it goes down hill - it may last all season but they usually get disease or insects before March. I can never get regular tomatoes to ripen when I bring them inside but cherry tom's do fine. Most of the herbs should do fine except the rosemary - in my experience it hates living indoors. Garlic is a seasonal plant that you plant at one point in the year and then harvest half a year later. It is not something that you can harvest off of all year long (there will be a plant but there won't be a bulb). Garlic chives should do fine in a pot indoors though and the flavor is similar. Asparagus will be tricky since the plants get 6 feet tall and about 4 feet wide and they pretty much like full blazing sun - I move them to the outside plant list. Carrots might work but they take more than one season to size up for me. You could grow seedlings all winter that you could then plant outdoors in the spring. Orange trees and other citrus would work and most will stay small when grown outside of the tropics. They can get buggy but if you move them back outdoors in the summer you may not have a problem. Most citrus bloom during the winter or very early spring and then it take all year for the fruit to form and ripen - making them a great winter time crop when no other fruit ready to harvest. They don't need high heat (I keep mine just above freezing!) but they do like higher humidity than what most people have in their homes.
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ChasingCenturies (Arizona 9b)
10 years ago
Are you new to the Valley or just new to Fountain Hills? I'm a tried and true xeric gardener right here in Fountain Hills.

Google "caliche".
Laura81
10 years ago
I am another Fountain Hills gardener wannabe. Don't listen to GermanStar. He will get you hooked on agaves and you will spend your spare time searching all the garden centers around the area for new species. Very addictive! Good luck with your garden.
ChasingCenturies (Arizona 9b)
10 years ago
I've given up on that. I've now taken to searching all the surrounding areas for Agaves in habitat. I was up in Payson and Pine yesterday looking for Agave parryi. Very addictive! ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Parryi in the Pines

This post was edited by GermanStar on Sun, Jan 5, 14 at 15:15
hellbound
10 years ago
in order to plant fruit trees you'd have to do alot of amending maybe try peaches apples plums you know stone fruits they will do better and actually need the occasional frost pomegranites will also thrive but citrus will need frost protection
lazy_gardens
10 years ago
If you want fruit trees, you have to be VERY careful about what variety ... make sure they don't need a lot of winter chill. Sunset's book is your friend here.

I wouldn't do much "improving" beyond a reliable water system and a thick wood chip mulch to keep even soil moisture.

If you plant in a heavily improved hole, you create what is called a "flower-pot" ... the roots will be unwilling or unable to leave the improved area to spread in the native dirt. The trees may grow really well for a year or two, but they end up stunted and tend to fall over in windstorms.
fanocle
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for all the replies!!! I am new to Fountain Hills from Mesa and I am already hooked on AGAVES! Parryi is great...I also have just bought a couple of umbrella ones...interesting flowers!

Thanks lazygardens! Very insightful!
fanocle
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for all the replies!!! I am new to Fountain Hills from Mesa and I am already hooked on AGAVES! Parryi is great...I also have just bought a couple of umbrella ones...interesting flowers!

Thanks lazygardens! Very insightful!

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