Welcome Newcomers, to our Garden

Most of us have had gardens in places where the soil is rich, its pH perfectly balanced, where the climate is blessed with consistent rainfall, gentle sun, and plant coddling humidity. Mountain soil and climate present the opposite of such ideal gardening conditions. This week’s garden class at the nursery is “Gardening for Newcomers”, one of the most popular topics of each session. My mind really has been on this up-coming class so for this week’s column subject I chose local gardening tips for ‘newbies’ to the Arizona mountains.

My words are limited here, but they’re enough that I can sketch out the big picture of mountain gardening. The local USDA garden zone is 6b with a definite influence from zone 7. This defines our area as mild, but with a definite winter and possible subzero temperatures.

Low winter temperatures provide the chilling necessary to grow all the deciduous fruits and perennials that thrive in the coldest climates. The list includes apples, peaches, cherries, grapes, and berries. This climate also is conducive to blooming deciduous shrubs such as lilac, forsythia, hardy camellia, rose of Sharon, butterfly bush, and Russian sage. Some of the nicest roses in the country thrive here without the tedious demands of constant tending. That’s because, thanks to the low humidity and mild winters, mountain roses experience few problems with bugs, mildew, and virtually no black spot.

The climate is so mild that we garden and design landscapes 12 months of the year. The average last frost date in spring is Mother’s Day. However, spring is so mild that our cool season gardens can be planted as early as March 1. These can include lettuce, spinach, broccoli, potatoes, onions, radishes, and more. In fact, seed potatoes, onion sets, rhubarb divisions, and asparagus roots arrived at the garden center this week. This is the season when the first showing appears from early spring bloomers like azaleas, rhododendrons, quinces, winter blooming heaths, and forsythias. All can be planted now to create a wave of spring color this year.

The first light frost happens on or about Halloween, depending on your garden’s specific elevation, but gardens look great through Thanksgiving. This makes the average frost-free growing season in the area approximately 150 days long.

Never, but never, under estimate the Arizona sun, wind, and dry air. They are major influences in determining which plants will do well in our landscapes, and which ones won't. Local soils are typically heavy clay with very little organic material. Therefore, soil preparation for planting is of extreme importance. It demands the addition of organic mulch to your soil to either hold in the moisture for granite soils, or to keep clay soils from compacting. Our soil is alkaline and usually doesn’t need the addition of either lime or wood ashes, which would increase its already high pH.
When selecting plants for mountain landscapes look for those with thick, leathery leaves; they allow plants to retain extra moisture and to be less prone to tear in the area’s fierce windstorms. This is where it pays to talk to a gardening expert with some experience in local landscapes. It can save you a whole lot of time, energy, and expense in creating your landscape.

The area is surrounded by National Forest lands so mammals can be an issue. Javalinas, deer, antelope, rabbits, squirrels, and gophers all have the potential to devour portions of a carefully planned landscape. It is essential to be very selective of the plants used in the landscape; this is another case where professional advice can save you a lot of headaches and costly errors. Physical fencing is highly effective. I use a low voltage electric wire to keep rabbits and javalinas from tearing up my gardens. With the wire on an electric timer so it only cycles in the middle of the night when marauding creatures are active, I never need to worry about shocking effects on two-legged or four-legged family members.

Bitter tasting or highly fragrant animal repellents can be applied to plants’ new foliage with successful results. To continue their effectiveness, these bitter tasting or highly fragrant sprays need to be reapplied as spring plants flush new growth. Here again, it is best to ask for help from local gardeners. Garden here for more than a season and you quickly will find locals that either have given up because of the critters or have found ways to garden along ‘side them. I have several printed handouts that tell which plants critters won’t eat. Ask for them the next time you visit the garden center.

As usual, this Saturday’s gardening class meets at 9:30 a.m. at the garden center’s greenhouses. The people in the group are ever changing but always energetic with probing questions requiring detailed answers that often bring on follow-up questions! You are welcome to join us for a gardening good time.

In-depth gardening tips also are available each week by tuning in to my weekly radio show, ‘The Mountain Gardener’. This local program is aired every Saturday morning from 10:00 to 11:00 on KJZA 89.5 FM. The show also can be heard from 11:00 to noon each Saturday on KQNA 1130 AM and 99.9 FM. I guarantee you’ll learn something from each show. ‘The Mountain Gardener’, it’s the program where people who love to garden love to listen.

Until next week, I'll see you in the garden center.