Are your plants feeling underdressed? Maybe you take the best care of your garden; digging deeply, using good soil, adding nutrients, and providing ample water. But have you left your plants topless? For several reasons, a good top dressing of mulch is the final layer your plants need to truly thrive. In nature, it is common to see fallen leaves …
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Welcome to a steamy July morning on the Agua Fria River near Cordes Junction, Arizona. Humid, heavy air hangs above young willows laid flat by recent heavy flows. We slop through thick, mocha colored mud to the mechanical whir of cicadas, and screams of nesting Zone-tailed Hawks. While searching for the threatened Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo (hereafter cuckoo), we encounter the …
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Have you ever experienced the agony of sitting in a car that has been baking in an asphalt parking lot? If so, you understand the main value of trees in the desert; they provide much-needed SHADE! Trees benefit our environment in so many ways. They moderate our climate, provide wildlife habitat, improve air quality, and help conserve water by storing water and reducing storm run-off. Trees create microclimates that allow other plants, animals, …
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So, you’re thinking about installing a new irrigation system or updating the one you already have. There are several steps you can take to create the most efficient system possible, which ultimately will save water, save time, and keep your plants looking beautiful. Water – Use It Wisely asked Warren Gorowitz, Vice President of Sustainability from Ewing Irrigation & Landscape …
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Just because you’ve heard that the Earth is made up of 71 percent water, it does not mean that you can go ahead and waste it. We all need to appreciate it. If you have not realized how lucky you are that you’re living in a country where fresh water seems to be unlimited, then how about some demonstration? In …
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All good things must come to an end, and so too must our four-part series on water-wise edible gardening. (Sad face.) To catch up on where we’ve been so far: we’ve gone over the basics, introduced you to some lesser-known desert delicacies, and let you in on the secret awesomeness of saving and sharing seeds. To wrap it all up, …
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Welcome to the third installment of our early fall series on water-wise edible gardening. So far, we’ve talked about The Basics of Water-Wise Edible Gardening and introduced you to harvesting edibles from the landscape in our blog Putting The Desert In Dessert. Now it’s time to talk about seed saving and sharing. Survival of the fittest is the basic tenet …
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We’re back with the second part of our four-part series on edible gardening! Did you miss us? We missed you! Last time we introduced you to the basics of water-wise edible gardening, and now that we’ve given you a week to mulch, plant and tend to your bountiful harvest (maybe), it’s time to talk about another favorite topic of ours: …
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On September 30, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed into law the Colorado River Basin Project Act. Fifty years is a long time, especially to those who have lived that long, but to understand the impact of the Colorado River Basin Project Act, I actually think you need to look back even further to a story that began almost exactly …
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It’s October! Let’s rejoice with a sigh of relief for the unofficial end of summer, shall we? All at once now: ahhhhhh. Doesn’t that feel good? With cooler temperatures on the horizon, many of us in Arizona will be trading in the flip-flops for the trowel and tending to our vegetable gardens. All October long, we’ll be posting some of …
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Greywater systems are a great way to increase a household’s water efficiency. Overall, these systems are quite intuitive, but those that are new to greywater use can benefit from understanding where mistakes might be made along the way. It’s no secret that freshwater shortages are growing across the globe. One creative solution embraced by those concerned with the health and …
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It is far too common to see trees that are entirely too large for the yards they occupy. When trees with mature canopies reaching 30 foot or greater (like Ficus or Chilean mesquite) are planted in tiny front or narrow side yards, the amount of pruning needed to keep the trees a manageable size is overwhelming. Not only is it …
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