Garden & Landscape

Privacy and hedgerows are not top-of-mind until that neighbor dumps his leftover construction material for all to enjoy at the next backyard BBQ. Or, what about that super-sized motor home parked within feet of the property line that is now a chrome-covered albatross sitting between yards? Arizonans spend a lot of time outdoors, making privacy essential.

The front yard of any house makes such an important first impression.  Many homeowners lean heavily on a shrub border and a couple of trees to bring the landscape’s design together. What most people don’t consider, though, is that the front yard is often the sunniest spot in a landscape, which makes it the perfect spot to install a beautiful working farm: vegetable gardens thrive in lots of sun, and with careful planning, edible plants can play a starring role in a yard’s striking scenery.

When walking down the fertilizer aisle at Watters Garden Center or any home improvement store you can’t help notice the dizzying the array of plant food. You’ll see bags and bottles, powders and granules, sprays and concentrates. Furthermore, you’ll discover an increasing number of organic and “earth-friendly” plant foods. Which one is best for a healthy landscape? To pick the best plant food, you must make sense of a few plant nutrients first.

Container gardening is very easy, but there are secrets to ensure big, bold, overflowing pots to decorate your spring landscape. With more than 50 large container gardens in my personal gardens, I’ve learned a lot from MY mistakes!  However, here’s a head start to successful containers and the  most common mis-steps for you to avoid that local gardeners, myself included, have made.

During my childhood years, evergreen trees were the living room centerpieces of holiday memories.  Although a decorated tree still is part of our Christmas décor, I also like to use living evergreens at the front door.  Because trees are not actively growing through the holidays, classic evergreens can stay in their growers’ pots for months before being planted.   That’s why they can provide a living presence when all other plants look dead or have died back to the ground.  Especially inviting is that the number of evergreen varieties offer many decorating possibilities.