Gardening on the Moon ( GOTM )

Written by Jeff

The struggle for water

Gardening in the desert southwest is unforgiving. In a more moderate climate you may be able to miss watering a potted plant by a day or two depending on the weather, but in the heat of the Sonoran desert, that window is small indeed.

Each plant that grows in the landscape is involved in a struggle to get enough water to keep itself alive and hopefully thriving. Each plant also needs a minimum amount of fertilizer and care. Thriving plants provide the most blooms. The intensity of this struggle and the demands on the desert gardener encourages a judicious use of plant material in a landscape package and an increase in the amount of rocks, ornaments, driftwood, etc. As a class, these non-plant items are referred to as hardscape.

Joining the rock group

When done correctly, hardscape is wonderful. It doesn’t need water (a prime consideration in the desert) it needs no fertilizer, it doesn’t generate debris and it is reliable. When we lived in Hunterdon County, NJ, our yard had thousands and thousands of rocks. No matter what size rock we needed, we could forage in the woods and pick several that met our criteria. In the desert, we have to buy rocks. To date (and only one year in our home) we have spent thousands of dollars on rocks.

A term I never knew on the east coast was rip rap. To the best of my understand, rip rap are pieces of rock ranging from small to eight inches in diameter. Some of the time they are larger, but not often. These rocks are used to spread on the ground to form a ground cover and highlight certain areas. Rip rap is also helpful in preventing erosion in particular situations. The largest rocks in a ton of rip rap are to be cherished because they then can become accent pieces.

Rip rap is sold by the ton and depending on which type of rip rap ordered, the price varies. These rocks come in a number of colors ranging from dark to light. Most have various hues spread through the pieces of rock. Matching the rock to the rest of the landscape is a challenge so the best thing to do is to take a ride around nicely landscaped neighborhoods to see what other people have done in similar circumstances. In the age of digital photography, it is easy to gather these ideas for future reference.

As a matter of courtesy, if you see an owner outside who looks puzzled about why you are taking snapshots of their landscape, it might be a good idea to stop and explain what you are doing making sure to incorporate copious compliments about their yard. You wouldn’t want anyone to get nervous about having their home cased.

NOTE: When visiting the rock yards, get their handouts explaining how much area particular sizes and tonnage of rocks will cover.

Rocks of Ages

Boulders are another story. It is very rare to find a natural boulder in the desert. There are some, but not many. For my purposes, a boulder is any rock that is more than 24-inches in diameter. Of course many boulders are a lot larger. At ten cents a pound, a ton of boulders would cost $200 and a one-ton boulder doesn’t necessarily look that large. We didn’t think the pricing structure was too bad except in NJ we were able to get them for free by hauling them out of the woods ourselves. Watching the automated delivery process was quite something as the driver maneuvered the mechanical claw to place each boulder with a good degree of precision.

Continued at the following link:

Hardscape:Desert Gardener’s Best Friend – Part II

Article references:

MDI rock – www.mdirock.com

Pioneer rock – http://www.pioneersand.com/

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post