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Arizona Gardening

Hi Everybody!

18 years ago

My name is Christy. I live in the Gilbert/Power Ranch area. We have lived here for about 3 years. I have been reading this site for several months but am just now getting the courage, or maybe desperation has set in, to finally get involved. I lived on Kauai as a child and if anyone has ever been there it is the most beautiful. Anyways, living in the desert now is obviously a major change. I love it though. I just have to learn how to deal with everything I plant having to tolerate the heat. Anyways, my backyard is in desperate need of some advice, tips, ideas, anything would help. I like my yard but it has a lot of problems: Too much lawn, too symmetrical, no "layering", dogs tearing things up, not enough shade, vines on west wall are dying, no paths or seating, etc. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks for letting me blabber. There is a link to some pics. Hopefully it works.

Christy

http://community.webshots.com/album/399164421mhOKmc?798

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Comments (5)

Garden_trolip
18 years ago
Hi Christy! And welcome! Glad you came out of "lurking" mode :)
Your yard is great! I wish I had half of that room! I can tell your Kauai influence with the patio.
Love the pups too!
You have SO much room, I can just see winding paths with different "rooms" set up.
I'm sure you will get some great ideas from the folks here :)
Ever thought of a water feature?

Here is a link that might be useful: Christy's yard
aztreelvr
18 years ago
Hi Christy and welcome to the Forum. I live/work in Gilbert and would be happy to offer my past successes and failures when it comes to gardening and landscaping here. Right now it's just too hot to do much, but it's a great time to plan your yard. October is the best month to plant because plants can take the entire fall/winter/spring to put down a good root system that will carry them through next summer's blast of heat.

August is the best time to kill part of your Bermuda lawn areas if you want to 'shrink' them. I've listed a link at the bottom for information on how to do this as it can be a bit tricky.

The Town of Gilbert has great resources for you when it comes to landscaping. They have several free booklets - one on design, one on plant selection and one on watering/irrigation systems. There is also lots of info on their web site.

I'll send you my phone number via email in case you want to call.

Here is a link that might be useful: Town of Gilbert Landscape Tips
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Easygoing
18 years ago
Hi Christy,

I'm curious as to why you planted your roses in pots? They probably would be much happier if you had planted them in the ground in the same locations you have them in. The weather has been extremely HOT, and it is tough on our roses. If I were you, this fall I would plant them in the ground. The roots will not get so hot as they get in those pots with that sun beating down on them. Also, roses like to be showered. Take a water wand two or three times a week, and wash off the leaves with a gentle shower of water. They will thank you for it :)

Easy
jimdaz
18 years ago
Christy,

Welcome to the forum. You have a great yard to begin with, I envy you. aztreelvr would be a great resource, she is a wealth of knowledge.
ChristyN
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks to everybody for the suggestions. I will let you know what changes I come up with.

Christy

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