Yard & Garden
Everything filed under yard & garden.
Yard & Garden9 min readChoosing plants for a Phoenix yardHow to choose plants for a Phoenix yard from the four things the climate asks of them, with a comparison of the plant categories the local lists are built from.Yard & Garden11 min readCitrus in the low desert, month by monthA Valley citrus tree keeps a calendar of its own: heavy water through the heat, feeding in spring and autumn, and the December nights that decide whether the crop survives.Yard & Garden9 min readDesert lawns, water and what they ask forA lawn is the largest watering decision a Phoenix yard makes. What the rainfall normals look like, and what the alternatives to grass actually ask for.Yard & Garden9 min readFrost dates in Phoenix, and what to protectThe Valley freezes less often than almost any big city in the country, and it does freeze. What the normals say, what the station record says, and what that means for a yard.Yard & Garden8 min readHow often to water desert plantsWhy there is no single watering interval for a Phoenix yard, how the schedule changes with the season, and how to tell overwatering from underwatering.Yard & Garden8 min readHydrozoning a desert yardHow to divide a Phoenix yard into water zones so no plant is drowned keeping its neighbour alive, and how little rain the yard actually gets to work with.Yard & Garden10 min readNative trees worth planting for shade in a Phoenix yardSeven desert trees compared on the numbers that matter (mature size, water use, growth rate and how cold they take) plus how far a tree's shade actually reaches at noon in July.Yard & Garden11 min readPlanting vegetables through a desert yearVegetable gardening in the low desert runs on two workable windows either side of a summer that stops the harvest. What the normals say about each one.Yard & Garden11 min readPlants that are safe around pets in a Phoenix yardWhich of the plants a desert yard is built from are listed as toxic to dogs and cats, which are listed as non-toxic, and how to check any plant before it goes in the ground.Yard & Garden10 min readReading the sun across a Phoenix yardThe noon sun at Phoenix swings from 33 degrees above the horizon in December to 80 in June, and solar noon is never at twelve o'clock. How to read the light your own yard gets.Yard & Garden9 min readThe two growing seasons of the low desertWhy the Phoenix year has two vegetable seasons rather than one, when each window opens and closes, and what the frost record says about the gap between them.