Trees

The Palo Verde Tree

We're getting closer now for those frosty nights to be over.  In about a week, you'll be able to start placing trees into your landscape.  Most of our desert trees are medium height at 20 to 30 feet tall.  There's a huge variety of trees to choose from.....the questions is, which one to choose?  While I won't go through all the trees available, I will list several that are popular in the Tucson area and that I am currently working with on the El Presidio Grounds. Gardeners have now until the beginning of May to get their trees into the ground.  The reasoning for this is to allow time for the new trees to establish their root system and acclimate to the rising temps.  If you don't plant a tree now, you'll have another opportunity again in October when temps start cooling down.  The first couple of years are critical for our young trees.  Once they are established, they may need an occassional watering, fertilizing, and pruning session.  Do not put trees into your landscape that require a lot of work.  For example, people from the Midwest miss their sugar maple trees.  Unfortuneatly, they do not grow well out here and will die.  A gardener can create anything they want in the desert with plants that may have similiar structure and habit to a favorite plant from back home.  It just requires us to investigate a bit.....but believe you me, anything is possible here.  You just need your imagination and some research. In this series, I'll explore the world of important trees for Tucson.  Today at 3:00 PM, I'll kick off the series with the first tree on the list that I think is one awesome performer.  Stay tuned for more from my garden journal on trees......