5 Tips to Starting a Garden in Tucson
It’s Easier Than You Think
Installing an edible or floral garden in the heat of Tucson, Arizona, can be a daunting task. Especially if this is your first time. Visions of plucking fresh morning tomatoes before the desert sun takes hold are often squashed by the overwhelming feelings of planning. And digging. And crossing fingers. I understand, when I first relocated to Tucson and wanted to install some gardens, the thought was daunting to me as well. Thankfully, I’ve done a lot of the research and hard work so you don’t have to! Below are my top five tips for how to start a garden at your home in Tucson. Still have questions? Feel free to contact me or send me an email.
tip 1: Choosing Your Location
Depending on your garden’s needs, the location is the number one priority for success. If you’re growing vegetables, you will want to plan for 6-10 hours of sunlight a day, even when it’s in a blazing hot climate! You can always add shade if needed, but it’s almost impossible to create more sun. This means ideally you will be installing a garden on the south or southeast side of your home. Western exposure in hot climates will also work, as long as you can provide some filtered shade in the hot summer months.
Group Plants Together
All plants will vary with sun and water requirements. Because of this, when planning your garden layout, you will want to group plants together with similar needs. While it seems obvious, this strategy gets missed all the time. Research your plants, and your garden type, and put your plants in locations where they will succeed.
A great strategy is to mimic their natural environment as closely as possible at your own home. It’s not always the perfect aesthetic, but a thriving plant is better than an aesthetically pleasing dead one. ;)
tip 2: Water AcCESS Matters
Locate your water access at your home, and plan your watering strategy for the new garden. This may mean water spickets, rain harvesting systems, or both. I always praise drip irrigation for the easy watering, even though the setup can be more complicated.
Drip irrigation can be helpful tool in Tucson
Whether it’s a drip irrigation system, soaker hoses, or hand watering, the important thing is - You need a plan!
Keep Thirsty Plants Close
My best strategy is to keep vegetables and plants that need higher water closer to the home and close to the water spigots and/or hoses. Plants that are drought tolerant can be moved further away. Vegetable gardens need consistent watering, even twice a day during hot months. Battery timers and simple soaker hoses could be the best start if you’re going to DIY without experience.
tip 3: Prepare For critters
Hardware cloth helps protect from critters like this adorable rabbit
Birds, squirrels, lizards, ants, you name it, they are coming for your garden! Critters are a natural part of gardening, and I am supportive of their existence - They belong here, too.
To protect your plants and ensure you get to enjoy your garden and its harvest, proper critter protection is important to set up before you plant. If you have raised beds, hardware cloth placed underneath is essential. If your plants are going to be spread apart, a personal plant hardware cloth cage will be a better solution.
If you need a fence to protect a large area, make sure you bury 6 inches of hardware cloth into the soil to keep out the diggers and make it at least 2.5 feet high to keep out the jumpers.
Raised Bed gardening itself is also a great solution to keep out most critters. The height is a deterrent. Using modified stock tanks, cinder blocks, or prefabricated products specific to gardening can raise plants high enough to protect your plants. It also helps you control your soil, which is discussed in the next tip.
Tip 4: AMEND YOUR Soil
All plants require different soils. Even native plants like Gregg's Mist, Chuparosa, and Desert Lavendar might need some amendments if your soil is barren of organic matter. Depending on the plant, mix in a little compost to the soil before backfilling the hole. This encourages the roots to grow into the native soil. Try not to add too much, maybe 30% compost or so, or the plant will only grow in the rich, composted area creating a “pot in the soil” effect.
Vegetable gardens require more balanced amounts of 30% compost, 30% native soil, and 30% of an aerating material like pumice. The last 10% can be amendments like worm castings.
If you aren’t sure about your soil type, send me an email or use the chat below, and let’s see if we can figure it out.
Gregg’s Mist caged with hardware cloth in my home garden in Tucson.
Red Wriggler Worms in the raised bed garden
Tip 5: KNOW YOUR CLIMATE
Picking out what plant you want to plant can be so much fun! I often find it’s the best part of gardening, with it being full of hope and potential. So let’s get this one right!
Do your research and grow the right plants for our desert climate, and maybe even more importantly, in the right season.
Recently, the USDA changed the climate zones, and it is a good reminder that theses zones were initially created for agricultural use. Adapting them into the garden can get you started, however knowing your first/last frost dates, local weather patterns, and microclimates in your growing space is much more important.
If you’re in the warm climates of zones, for instance, lettuce and cole crops will only succeed in the cool months. Plants that fruit like tomatoes, eggplants, and watermelons will need the heat and longer days to produce.
When thinking of other styles of gardens, always remember your climate. In Tucson, tropical plants (that like constant moisture and lots of shade ) like blueberries and jasmines, can be very difficult to grow. Your home has a lot of microclimates to consider when selecting your plants.
Identify the following types of microclimates within your yard:
Your hot spots
Your sunny spots
Your cold zones
Your shady areas
It’s impressive how much your own yard’s microclimates can impact a plant’s success.
If a plant dies, consider it an experiment that leads to learning! All gardeners have a graveyard of plants that got them to their gardening successes.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you can find these five tips helpful when thinking about starting a new garden in the desert. Now go get growing! I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Need help getting started? I’d love to help you design a garden that works for your yard, your climate, and your interests. You can use this link to request my services, or if you just want to chat about gardening (my favorite topic!), use the chat or send me a message.
Fresh from the Garden,
Kathleen Opeka
Owner, Desert Primrose Gardens
