Are you ready to plant wildflower seeds, a vegetable garden, or a winter lawn? Fall is a fantastic time to plant because soil temperatures are still warm, encouraging root growth and development while allowing plants to get better established before next summer’s heat sets in.
Wildflower Seeds
Plant your wildflower seeds NOW for spring bloom! We recommend that you only use Sonoran Desert or southwest desert natives like poppies and lupines. Most wildflowers germinate after seasonal rains in the fall and bloom in the spring and go to seed by early summer, avoiding hot and dry periods. Visit local nurseries or contact Wild Seed, Inc. at 602-276-3536 for a great selection of locally collected seed. Find simple planting info in our Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert.
Landscape Plants
Fall is the perfect time to spruce up your landscaping or to install a new one and Water – Use It Wisely has a lot of advice to offer:
- Choosing and Planting Low Water-Use Plants offers planting guidelines, selection, design ideas and more!
- Outdoor Water Saving Tips offer all kinds of landscape tricks, like this one: “Water-Saving Tip #64: Choose the right Arizona-friendly plants and watch them thrive in our desert environment.”
- Water – Use It Wisely Latest News includes many helpful articles and resources for more information like how to plant trees.
- Water – Use It Wisely Calendar of Events lists all of our partner landscape and gardening workshops taking place in the Valley.
You also won’t want to miss some of the specialty plants sales going on. For a listing, see our October Sustainability Savings Tip link below.
Winter Lawn
Are you thinking of overseeding your Bermuda grass with winter rye? Check out Mesa’s “Top Ten Reasons Not To Plant A Winter Lawn” where we also have tips for you if you do. Trust me, this is one place you can save a lot of water!
Vegetable Garden
Fall and winter vegetable gardens are great for growing leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, and root vegetables like beets and carrots. Don’t miss Veggie Gardening Basics: 10 Tips to Growing Success! – Oct. 19 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Mesa Urban Garden (212 E 1st Ave. Mesa, AZ). This workshop will be presented as part of Mesa’s Living Green Event series by gardening expert, Vynnie McDaniels.
LEARN MORE
Planting tips, plant sales and more can be found in Mesa’s October Sustainability Savings Tip.
Donna DiFrancesco is a Conservation Specialist and Samantha Booher is a Sustainability Intern with the City of Mesa, AZ. The City of Mesa is one of fifteen Water – Use It Wisely partners to offer water-saving advice and programs.