Growing roses

Water-wise lawn replacements 

Hot Gardens Newsletter - August 2003

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Summer Break.  July rains have given our Southwest desert gardens a break from the heat, but it is still far too soon to begin Fall planting.  You should wait until the daytime temperature is consistently below 100 degrees F.  which will probably be in mid-September.   

Anorexic Plants.  A little fertilizer will give your potted plants a needed boost right now.  All the water they have received in the last couple of months has washed away nutrients in the potting mix.  The poor little plants are half-starved.  Just make sure the fertilizer is diluted or use slow-release fertilizer sticks.  And if the leaves are turning yellow with green veins, you may need to add a chelated sulfur fertilizer, such as Kerex.  

Double Your Iris.  If you have large clumps of iris that should be divided, dig them up and divide the rhizomes now.  But wait until September to replant them.  Keep them in brown paper bags in a dry place until replanting.  Other perennials should be divided when cooler weather comes.  

Who Needs Grass?  Water restrictions giving you second thoughts about a green grassy lawn?  We recently saw a small front yard that had been entirely planted with gold lantana (Lantana camara).  It was brilliant!

Another idea for lawn replacement is ornamental grass, such as Deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) or clumping blue fescue (Festuca ovina glauca).  Both need very little water and neither need to be mowed.  The Deer grass should be trimmed back in January. 

One variety of Deer grass is called ‘Regal Mist’ and it has lovely, airy purple blooms in the Fall.  Combine “Regal Mist’ with lantana for a spectacular, water-wise front yard. It will make you forget you ever loved green lawns!

Fast and Beautiful.  Consider planting the Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia) this Fall, the best time of year to plant all trees and shrubs, except for palms.   Under the right conditions the Chinese elm can reach 30 feet in 3 years and once established it needs infrequent, deep watering.   If you plant it in a lawn where it will receive water regularly, it will eventually reach a height of 50 to 60 feet.  As the Chinese elm grows its branches arch into a weeping shape.   

Go to our Newsletter for August 2004  or August 2005

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