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Efficient Planning
and Design
Start with an overhead sketch of the area. Try to note important
existing conditions such as, drainage, sun and shade areas, existing
plants, unusual soil conditions, unusual slopes, unsightly views
that you would like to screen, and the good views you want to
frame. Think too about the activities that you plan in your outdoor
areas and plan accordingly to provide the proper shade, shelter,
screening and spatial delineation between these areas.
Basic Principles of Composition are:
Simplicity. The careful arrangement of a few
species is more pleasing and creates a sense of unity over using
a collection of many different plants.
Scale. Use of smaller plants in smaller spaces,
and larger plants in open areas or near tall, bare walls.
Balance. Arrange plants informally to create
a natural-looking balance. Stagger the plantings and use an odd
number of plants, (three, five or seven), keeping them in groups.
Sequence. Use the form, color, and texture of
your plants to create a sense of rhythm and balance.
Focus. Locate focal points around which other
masses of plants can be arranged.
Limiting the Area and
Type of Turf
If you must have a manicured lawn, limit the area to no more
than 500 square feet, (or about a 20'x 30' area), and use Perennial
Rye, Bermuda or Fescue grasses in lieu of Bluegress varieties.
Consider using the more drought tolerant alternative lawn grasses
such as Buffalo-grass, Blue Grama, or Sheep Fescue, or eliminate
the lawn altogether and use ground cover plants like Verbena,
Mexican Primrose, or Ice Plant.
Efficient Irrigation
Drip irrigation systems with automatic timers should be used
to water your landscape plants. Make sure to group plants with
the same water requirements together on one water line, or zone.
Understand that trees, turf, and bedding plants all have very
different watering needs.
The landscape should be watered early in the morning, just before
sunrise. It gives the water a chance to soak in before the sun
begins its drying effects and ensures that less evaporation occurs
than when watering during daylight hours. Lawns that stay wet
over night are more susceptible to fungus, when mushrooms begin
to appear, you know that the lawn is staying too wet. Also, if
using pop-up style lawn sprinklers, keep the lawn grass from
interfering with their operation, and check the pressure at which
they operate, if they are misting you are losing a large percentage
of your water through drift and evaporation. Consider using a
pressure reduction device or adjusting the spray, if possible.
Soil Improvements and
Mulches
Well composted manures and mulches can be mixed with native
soil to improve overall composition. Composted mulches should
be spread 2-3" thick on top of the bare soil, under your
plants. It helps retain moisture, reduce soil compaction, reduces
weeds, and adds organic matter to the soil. Be careful not to
push mulch against the stems of vegetables, perennials or bedding
plants as it tends to stunt their growth.
Use of Low Water Use
Plants
It should go without saying that only plants requiring a minimal
amount of supplemental irrigation should be employed in the Southwest
landscape. Native plants are ideally suited for use in the landscape,
but be aware that some, especially taller shade trees, will not
survive without supplemental irrigation.
Appropriate Maintenance
Be sure to make proper seasonal adjustments to the timing
of your irrigation. During winter months root systems still need
moisture if there is little natural precipitation, and you may
want to run the system during the day after lines have thawed.
Aerating and dethatching of lawns is another great way to make
sure water penetrates deeply into lawns and to avoid excess runoff.
Remember too that as trees and shrubs grow they increase in irrigation
needs and should be provided deep, widely spaced irrigation.
The outside edge of the tree canopy is called the drip line,
this is the optimal area to set drip emitters.
Getting Drought Tolerant
Plants Established
Remember when purchasing plants that smaller container plants
are easier to handle, more successfully transplanted, less expensive,
and usually catch up to the height of larger container plants,
planted at the same time.
After purchasing your plants, try to keep them shaded and water
them daily until you are ready to plant. Dig the hole twice the
width of the container and only as deep as necessary, in order
to match the top of the rootball to the level of the surrounding
soil. The majority of plants that struggle or die is due to the
fact that they have been planted too deeply. It is always better
to plant them a little high than too deep.
Remove the plant from its container, being careful not to wrench
it out, as you could easily rip the feeder roots from the plant,
(better to turn the container upside down, or on its side, in
the case of heavy or tall plants, and slide the plant out), cut
the plastic container if necessary.
Amend the soil with a little composted mulch and bone meal, mixing
it thoroughly with native soil. Backfill the rootball slowly,
making sure to leave no air pockets in the soil. You can compact
the backfilled soil, but use caution not to push down on the
rootball. Build a circular, soil dam around the plant to help
retain moisture, and water thoroughly.
You'll want to water once a day for the first three weeks and
then every other day for the next few weeks. The next step is
to water deeply two times a week for a month, once a week for
the next month, then twice a month for a few months or until
frost. Once established, only occasional watering is necessary
during dry spells. Slow, deep, infrequent irrigation should be
the rule.
Other Conservation Tips
For energy savings try planting taller deciduous trees on
the south and west sides of the house. You'll enjoy the shade
during the summer heat and when the leaves drop for winter, the
sun will shine through and you can enjoy its warming rays.
If a plant is suffering from drought, do not keep it soaked
for the next few days, as so many want to do. It tends to compound
the problem as the dry plant now suffers from oxygen deprivation
by keeping all the air pores in the soil, clogged with water.
Use of non-native plants such as annual color plantings that
require more water should be located closer to the house, then
use more drought tolerant natives to naturalize the landscape
into its surroundings.
Although native varieties will need extra water while they establish
their roots and during a prolonged drought, you should remember
that watering need only occur occasionally, giving it a long,
slow drip. Never water your landscape cactus, although ocotillo,
(or coach-whip), can benefit from occasionally misting the canes.
Plastic should NOT be used to keep weeds from the landscape,
it doesn't allow the soil to breathe, or roots to grow, and effectively
sterilizes the soil. Plus, when we do get rain, it can cause
excessive water runoff. If you must use a weed suppression fabric
it should be a woven polypropylene type material, (although when
it is covered with granite stone you'll find weeds grow on top
of it). Better yet just spread the stone about 5"-6"
thick to shade out the sun from the soil and hand pick the few
weeds that will come up.
The best time of year to plant most trees, shrubs, or hardy
perennials is later in the fall, winter, and very early spring.
Try never to be planting in the heat of summer, it will require
substantially more moisture to try and get the plantings established.
If you must plant in the heat, dusk is the best time of day to
avoid heat stress to the plant.
One final rule of thumb when searching for effective drought
tolerance is to make note of a plants leaf size. Larger leaves
transpire, (giving off of water vapor through the leaves), more
than smaller leaved plants.
Recommended Native Plants
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Trees
Desert Willow… (Chilopsis linearis)
One-SeedJuniper... (Juniperis monosperma)
Alligator Juniper…(Juniperus deppeana)
Utah Juniper…(Juniperus osteosperma)
Pinon Pine…(Pinus edulis)
Arizona Sycamore… (Platanus wrightii)
Arizona Ash…(Fraxinus velutina)
Arizona Cypress…(Cupressus arizonica)
Arizona Mesquite…(Prosopis velutina)
Shrubs
Creosotebush…(Larrea tridentate)
Four-Wing Saltbush…(Atriplex canescens)
Desert Broom…(Baccharis sarothroides)
Buffalo Berry...(Sheperdia rotundifolia)
Apache Plume…(Fallugia paradoxa)
Beargreass…(Nolina microcarpa)
Mtn. Mahogany…(Cercocarpus montanus)
Curl-Leaf Mahogany…(Cercocarpus ledifolius)
Smooth Sumac…(Rhus glabra)
Sugar Sumac…(Rhus ovata)
Rabbitbrush…(Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
Squawbush…(Rhus trilobata)
Mockorange…(Philadelphus microphyllus)
Manzanita…(Arctostaphylos pungens)
Chokecherry…(Prunus virginiana)
Red Twig Dogwood…(Cornus stolonifera)
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Shrubs
(cont.)
Mormon Tea…(Ephedra viridis)
New Mexico Locust…(Robinia neomexicana)
Cliffrose…(Cowania mexicana)
Fernbush…(Chamaebatiaria millefolium)
Desert Ceanothus…(Ceanothus greggii)
Elderberry…(Sambucus glauca)
Soaptree Yucca…(Yucca elata)
Banana Yucca…(Yucca baccata)
Spoon Plant…(Dasylirion wheeleri)
Perennials
Evening Primrose…(Oenothera hookeri)
Scarlet Buglar…(Penstemon barbatus)
Sulfer Eriogonium…(Eriogonium umbellatum)
Sacred Datura…(Datura meteloides)
Shooting Star…(Dodecatheon pulchellum)
Blue Flax…(Linum lewisii)
Yarrow…(Achillea millefolium)
Desert Marigold…(Baileya multiradiata)
Skyrocket Gilia…(Gilia aggregata)
Arizona Lupine…(Lupinus arizonicus)
Cactus and Succulents
Hedgehog Cactus…(Echinocereus var.)
Century Plant…(Agave var.)
Ocotillo…(Fouquieria splendens)
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Please note that some plants on this list may not
be commercially available at all times, but all have been found
recently, either locally or via mail-order. Also, there are many
drought tolerant plants that work well in the Verde Valley but
are not considered native, and therefore have not been included
on this limited list.
Sources for Drought
Tolerant Native Plants
Please check your local telephone directory under
'Nurseries' to find the phone number and location of a nursery
near you.
Two excellent Internet / mail order sources are:
Plants of the Southwest
3095 Agua Fria
Santa Fe, NM 87507
(800)788-7333
www.plantsofthesouthwest.com
High Country Gardens
2902 Rufina Street
Santa Fe, NM 87507
(800) 925-9387
www.highcountrygardens.com
This FREE publication has been produced by :
The Green Party
of Sedona and the Verde Valley
www.SedonaGreens.org
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