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Arizona Gardening

Beginner Gardener Needs Advice

9 years ago

I live in Zone 9b and recently built my first raised garden bed, 4x4 about 12-14 inches high. Being a beginner I was hoping experienced AZ gardeners could tell me what's best to plant considering it's already April. Seeds scare me so I prefer transplants, but I'm willing to try whatever it's not too late to plant. Thank you!

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Comments (5)

grubby_AZ Tucson Z9
9 years ago
Gardening has two branches, the fruiting
and the decorative, so I don't know which you are aiming for. Assuming
the fruity type, one thing that's coming is the super-hot weather and
with that a general (but not total or inescapable) pollen death, and so
keep in mind that there are varieties of plants that fruit without
pollination. Also a smaller plot like a 4 X 4 won't self-shade well, so
you might need to add some somehow if you have plants that can't take
the direct sun..

One quirk about Az: there are many best guesses about last frost
date, and NOAA's is the beginning of April! Tucson got NO frost after
the beginning of January, so if you follow the common wisdom you'd be
running as much as three months late. It often pays to not listen to too
much advice about timing. Of course that could also come right back at
you and bite bad. When it works, you get to do this in April...
Summer Noble
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank u for your advice! Might have helped if I said what I would like to grow! The answer is anything edible, or beautiful! Prefer edible. My family loves all vegetables so my options are endless in that regard. The picture you teased me with makes me even more determined to learn! Are there any vegetables worth planting right now? Any other time I would have loved this, but my backyard has one small area that isn't shaded by other houses and it's right where I wanted to put my garden so it gets enough sun. And shading the area won't be hard because it's up against a fence. Thank u for your help!
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Make sure your roof will hold the weight and bear the foot traffic of you tending the garden. Order your seeds from Baker Creek or another place that sells only Open-pollinated or heirloom seeds, so you can save them each year. Good luck :)
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Tulips just don't seem to come back to flower again if they're grown in grass, unfortunately. To make a tidy and attractive drive-side you might choose to do the 'groundwork' of taking out the grass and either leaving the edge beside the grass to be trimmed (wait for DH to mutter!), or install a mowing strip of some kind that will stop the grass sneaking into the bed and make it easy to mow over to keep it trimmed without causing any harm to the garden. If you were to go for the earlier varieties of tulip then, depending on the conditions in your area, they would have died down in time to replace them with, for example, dahlias. These need lifting for overwintering around the time you'd be wanting to put the tulip bulbs back in the ground. If you want to associate the tulips with other plants over spring then violas in a compatible shade for the tulips, or wallflowers which can 'disguise' the foliage and also enhance reds, yellows, and oranges could be considered, perhaps. If you're thinking of densely planted ribbons of colour you may need to consider choosing tulips that flower at the same time and grow to similar heights. As it's a long, narrow ribbon of garden then possibly using a particular plant you like along the entire length with the tulips as 'punctuation' - in singles, curves or rounds of planting in one or more colours - could give you the picture you've got in mind. And it's MUCH easier to do that if the bed is grass-free, well-composted and easy to work from both sides.
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I am a beginner gardener. I need some advice, please!
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Comments (4)
Parsley is a cool weather herb in the southeast. If it dies, it's normal, so don't worry. Replant it in the fall and enjoy it through winter and spring. Assuming you did harden off the other herbs (if not, that's the trouble), the problem could be your potting soil. Herbs tend to like very well drained soil that's on the lean side nutritionally. So, if say, you used Miracle Gro potting soil with moisture control and fertilizer, the soil is staying too wet and the plants are getting too much feed. Back off the water first. Make sure the soil is nearly dry before you water. That may be enough for them to perk up. Next time, buy the straight Miracle Grow potting soil without the moisture control. (The fertilizer will leach out of the soil in a few weeks.) Arkansas Traveler is a really big tomato vine. You need a really big pot to grow it in: 18 inches wide and deep at least. If that's not the trouble, it may be hungry. Tomatoes in pots need regular (weekly or at least every other) fertilizer, and of course, they need consistent moisture. Don't ever let the pot go completely dry. The bigger the pot, the longer it stays moist... The pepper will be fine in your all day sun. Feed and water it just like the tomato. As the weather gets even hotter, it will do even better.
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Vegetable Garden Beginner needs all kinds of advice!
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Comments (1)
Check out this site: http://agr.georgia.gov/00/article/0,2086,38902732_0_57142766,00.html This should give you an idea of what you can do in July. The Market Bulletin is a monthly paper printed by the State of Georgia. It will give you a guide for each month.
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captaininsano (9b/13) Peoria, AZ.
9 years ago
melons, but they take up a lot of space, same with watermelon, Armenian cucumber which is really a melon, okra, corn, eggplant, yard long beans, squash etc. tomatoes will have a tough time as far as pollination when the temps get up to 100.
LeslieM peoria az
9 years ago
Here's a link to the UofA master garden calendar. It gives you a good idea of what to plant for your elevation. Its getting to be too late for much of anything in the valley, definitely too late for tomatoes, but at least you'll be ready in the fall. Almost anything you do plant will benefit from a shade cover when it heats up.

http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/regions13.html
Summer Noble
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank u for all the advice!

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