1) about any construction site will have some around there 3X3 foot and I use our mulch in the beds I'm makeing,, so far I have about 350 cubic yards of mulch/top soil.. so we have a long ways to go

2)Keep your worm bin iin the shade and wet! a good thing is to use as large of a container as DH will allow....LOL

3)Heres a hint.. Home Depot has lill 4 wheel carts for about $100.00.. I got one for around here and it works GREAT,, it even has a dump bed on it.. easy to pull ,, easy to unload,, and it holds allot of mixes

4)Thats a personal call,, so for myself and as a painting contractor I keep shrubs 4' away and trees 8' away knowing the full size of the dripline of the tree.. One of the biggest problems homeowners have to a home is water damage.. Landscape thats to close gets watered.. wet soils weep into footings...

5)What shrubs are you refering to?.. as a rule of thumb your best to do any transplanting this winter or very early spring

6)It dosent cost anything.. just come over to my place and I'll give you free lessons..

7)Great idea.. your on the correct track,, and YES add the holes in the bottom

8)we get coit by the bale.. depending on any of the sources its 65 to 185 per bale.. it all depends if your getting bricks or full bales,, we have a source that will blend any mix we want,, all thats needed is letting them know how much of what part is needed.. the other part is the order has to be large enough for them to warrent setting their plant up for that blend..

Reid

Hey thanks Turtleman! That's mighty nice of you to patiently answer my Q's. I'll take your offer and visit you to learn how to trim the trees. Btw, I'm sending you an email.

Hi there and welcome.
I'm new to the area as well (two months). Gardening in Colorado was a challenge- but in the winter months, not the summer!
Horse manure is easier to tote when dry- lighter. When using it in Colorado, I did hear that there was some concern that the worming meds given to the animals could affect the worms in the garden. I didn't find that to be the case. Horse manure is best composted- usually it is too "hot" for most plants- will burn them fresh but my roses loved it in any form.
As for tree trimming- we moved into an old house with a bunch of neglected gardens and 4 weeks after we got in we re'd a nastygram from the city- trees on the outside of the courtyard were in the powerlines. Those got trimmed for free but the city contractors hacked away. Then the city street manager called- what was left of the trees was hanging too far down over the street...
I paid $350 for them to trim 5 trees. Not a complete trim, just the branches hanging in the street. Oh, and that included one tree that was so hacked up by the city that the
arborist I hired had to remove it. It was basically a trunk with one spindly limb. I looked for someone licensed/bonded/insured with "no topping" in their ad and a-okay with the BBB. They wanted the same amount to trim a 15 ft long, 1 1/2 story tall hedge (labor intensive, ladders required) so we passed on that and think we may be able to deal with it ourselves. But- the quote was free so you can call around.
As far as starting seeds in the chicken containers- it seems mighty hot and things have been drying out so fast that it might work but only when things are cooler. I've got some things I'd like to start myself but I am waiting. Even tough stuff like lantana is struggling during the establishment period.
I know in Colorado they recommended no trees closer than
5' from the foundation. Here I have a historic house with multi-story jujube trees 2ft from one corner of my house- no trouble EXCEPT it's a flat top roof and it's a weekly job chasing derbis off the roof (I'm rather chicken and make my husband do this) as it clogs the drains. If you have a flat top, you might want to consider this problem.
I don't have answers to the rest of your questions but I hope I helped a bit. The worm culture sounds interesting! Where did you live before?

Welcome to the forum, hope we hear from you a lot!

Okay, I'll take on a few line items...

1. Unless you intend to do composting on a reeealllly grand scale, I'd suggest getting some of the recycled trash containers from the City of Phoenix. They take the old green ones, cut the bottom off and drill holes in the sides. $5 apiece, most still have lids on them & they give you a small bag of compost to whet your appetite. The big limiting factor to composting here is the lack of moisture and the wood bins leave a lot of surface area to dry out.

4. Ditto on what Turtleman sez, with the additional caveat of tree aesthetics: If you got, for instance, a Palo Brea for its beautiful trunk and form, it kind of ruins it to have it shaved off of one side so it doesn't grow into your walls or roof. On that tree, at its mature growth you can expect about a 25-30' spread on it, so I'd park it about 15' from your home. A lot of the desert trees underplant really nicely, too, because they provide dappled shade, so you don't have to envision a big blank space.
5. Once again, ditto on above... also depends on what type they are. Some form pretty deep roots pretty quickly, so I'd go for the really young ones and give up on the bigger, tougher ones.

6. I'll give Turtleman a head start:

http://www.aridzonetrees.com/AZT%20Interactive%20Buttons/Illustrations%20Index.htm

Gives excellent pruning directions (not specific to tree).

BTW, I got my size info from the "Database" tab (once you enter the site) on the link below. It's a good place to look for specifics. The "Plantis" machine is a good resource, too.

HTH, good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mountain States Wholesale

Nina and Pagancat, thanks for the info! Wow, I think I have a ton of reading work to do this week =)

LOL, that's not all... did you take a look at the FAQ's for book suggestions??