Arizona Landscaping
There are many unique challenges to Arizona landscaping and keeping a beautiful garden all year round, but most can be easily overcome with a little elbow grease, and more importantly, a little research. One of the biggest challenges you might face in Arizona landscaping is finding the right USDA plant hardiness zone for your area.
Arizona Landscaping Zones
Getting plants to grow is not as much about nurturing as one might think, a lot of it has to do with picking plants that do well in your climate. For Arizona landscaping, the USDA plant hardiness zone map provides a great deal of useful information for a gardener or landscaper. Choosing plants that are marked for your zone will make a difference between a great deal of unnecessary hard work and a thriving, lush garden. There are a lot of different zones however, and the soil and specific climate conditions to your region need to be noted when choosing plants. Pick exactly for your own zone.
When taking on an Arizona landscaping project, choose plants that will not only thrive in your areas climate, but in your soil as well. If your soil is not exactly suited for the plants that you get then it will be much harder for the plants to survive. Do the due research and either find plants suited to your soil or fix any soil conditions that need to be seen to.
Plants that are not exactly suited to your region might survive anyway, but you will need to take care in where you plant them. If you get an annual, then you can keep it in a pot and replant it when the weather warms up. Another trick is to plant warmer weather plants against a house or other structure. Quite often the plants will survive until the next spring, but you might need to just try and see what works for you.
Arizona Landscaping Native Style
Using indigenous and native plants is one of the best and easiest ways to build a landscape. Rather than fighting the plants that grow well, work with them and let them guide you as to what your landscapes will look like. The highlands and deserts of Arizona have a wide array of native plants that aren’t only interesting specimens to look at, but they often have a gorgeous life cycle, and colors that change throughout the season. Native plants will adapt well in the soil and will give a transition from the landscape in your garden to that beyond its walls.
A reputable nursery is probably the best place to purchase plants as they will be knowledgeable about which plants will grow in which specific areas and recommend some for your purposes. They will also tell you what you are getting into if you purchase non-native plants for your Arizona landscaping.