Archive for “Landscape” Tag

Surprise’s free landscape workshop: Hummingbirds & butterflies

July 22, 2019

Orange bells, Ruellia, Eremophila, oh my! Plant expert Jim Oravetz will have you flitting and fluttering over a variety of plant options to attract winged critters to your yard.

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Surprise’s free landscape workshop: Smart controllers

Did you recently install a smart controller for your irrigation system? Are you considering purchasing a smart controller in the near future? This class is intended to teach you best-practices for utilizing the features of your smart controller in order to gain the water-saving benefits you deserve.

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Surprise’s free landscape workshop: Scentsational

You survived the summer, temperatures are starting to drop, and you’re itching to get back in the yard! As you prepare your planting schedule, we are here to help with a special focus in this workshop on aromatic plants.

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Surprise’s free landscape workshop: Drab to fab

We’re kicking off the planting season with this landscape makeover workshop. You will learn how to get the most out of your landscape renovation with step-by-step guidelines, tips on hiring landscape professionals, and a special focus on rainwater harvesting retrofits.

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Surprise’s free landscape workshop: Plant selection

Whether you are new to desert landscaping, or just a plants nerd like us, you’ll find something to inspire you as you prepare for the planting season. This class will focus specifically on plant selection for desert-adapted plants. Pretty plants that won’t break my water bill? Yes, please!

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Plant of the Month: 5 Plants That Can Take the Southwest Heat

July 16, 2019

It’s no surprise that the biggest challenge to growing plants in our region is the intense heat and dryness of summer, which is a stressful environment for plants. Thankfully, there are several plants that thrive in a hot, dry climate. Here are a few of Southwest Gardening’s Noelle Johnson’s favorite plants that can take the Southwest heat.   1. Bush Lantana (Lantana …

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Hydrate Your Yard with Rainwater, Greywater, and Composting!

June 28, 2019

Envision your dream landscape. Does it have a rainwater-harvesting garden, rockwork, and basins overflowing with flowering native plants? How about a greywater system watering a fig tree or a buzzing pollinator garden? Once you’ve got the image, how would you bring it to life? Watershed Management Group (WMG) can help! Water harvesting rain gardens are basins that collect water and …

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Hydrate Mesa: Hydrate Your Food

June 6, 2019

Hydrate Your Food Use rain tanks to support your vegetable garden Rain tanks are like rain barrels, only upgraded: bigger, better, and your harvested rainwater lasts longer. While most rain barrels hold about 50 gallons of water, rain tanks can hold 1,000 gallons or more, capturing water from several storms and storing it for use over the course of many drier …

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Plant of the Month: Desert Ruellia

May 13, 2019

Vibrant purple color, lush green foliage, and a long bloom period combine in the form of desert ruellia (Ruellia peninsularis). This Southwestern native thrives in full sun and shrugs off the intense heat in summer. The arrival of spring is greeted by a large flush of purple flowers, which contrast beautifully against the bright green leaves. Flowering will continue through …

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Plant of the Month: Chuparosa | Plants for Birds – Part 2

April 16, 2019

The Hummingbird’s Choice Award goes to … Chuparosa! If Arizona’s hummingbirds could vote on a state flower, it would be Chuparosa (Justicia californica). A mainstay of most wildlife gardens, this long-suffering desert beauty asks little and gives much.  It can be grown long and lanky, spindly branches vining into trees — or pruned to take on a more civilized appearance. …

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Mesa’s free landscape workshop: Watering for the Arizona Desert

March 29, 2019

City of Mesa staff water conservationist and horticulturist, Donna DiFrancesco, will talk about simple steps to landscape watering and programming your irrigation timer. After attending this workshop, you just may save some money on your water bill too!

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Don’t Just Stand There … Plant Something!

March 12, 2019

Want to improve your quality of life? Plant Something. Seriously. How is a plant or tree possibly going to make life better, you ask? By lowering your heart rate, providing beauty and shade, improving your property value, lowering your energy costs, cleaning the air and water, and creating a more inviting yard and community…….whew…….that’s a lot for a landscape to …

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