The DeVINE Design!

Hello blogger friends and anonymous desert gardeners,

Pictures taken from last summer at El Presidio.  Note that my older cameras were used. 

For my blogger friends, this post is an informational one and you may just glance or skim, but I promised myself that I would do some writing about the garden.  For you(anonymous desert gardener) who googled my website and found this place, welcome!  You'll absorb it all in and then leave in the night:) That's okay.  I've done the same thing.  I hope your garden endevours for this spring are exciting.  March has arrived and there is so much to get ready for!!! While it may be a little early yet to put things into the ground, garden centers all over town are gearing up for the big days ahead.   This month you'll find several interesting writes about xeriscape gardening and how to do it.  I'll be featuring several "top" places that had some fun with their landscaping and demonstrate to you that Tucson can be a wonderful place to landscape and garden. 

Solar lights hang from the top of the trellis and are mixed in with the Cats Claw

Today it's all about using vines in our designs.  Sometimes we want to drape a wall or building.  Sometimes we want to frame an entry. Or other times we'd like vines to just ramble around the ground and go wherever they please.  I used the Creeping Fig in such a manner and it's doing a good job on "creeping" up my palm tree and around the ground.  Vines add vertical dimension to the garden and pull the eye upwards and around your green space.   They also have the affect of softening the rough edges and make things like fences or brick walls fade into the background.

Here is our ramada at El Presidio.  We still need to add color to this structure, but there are solar lights above and A LOT of cats claw around the this area.  We placed Confederate Jasmine to climb up the sides and it is slowly doing so. 

Brighten an entry. Train woody vines like Bougainvillea, Wisteria, Trumpet Vine, or Lady Rosebanks to frame entryways or balconies.  The beautiful flowers will dress up an ordinary house.  I personally love the color of the bougainvillea bracts next to our stucco.  Gorgeous. You will need to fasten them and keep them in place with wires, eye screws, plastic ties etc to hold up the main branches.  

I use a free standing trellis to frame our small patio space.  In hot burning temps, this bougainvillea thrives and flowers.

Screens and boundaries.  For fast and quick ways to hide a fence or divide a space, use Cats Claw(considered a weed here).  The leaves stay on this vine all year round making it a popular vine to grow here in Tucson. BUT be careful as this vine can pull off paint or stucco from the building.  Other vines with fast growth are the popular Morning Glory and Passion Vine. They'll create an attractive windbreak or privacy screen in NO TIME!  It's just that in winter these guys go dormant.  I personally like something all year round.

                          Morning Glory at El Presidio.  A great vine that spreads FAST!!  Careful where you place it.

There are generally 3 ways homeowners like to use vines.  The first is by using a lightweight wooden or metal trellis(clematis, bougainvillea, etc) for plants to crawl up.  The second is by using a freestanding trellis, ramada, gazebo or arbor.  No matter what your use, vines inspire and let the eyes wander upwards. During this spring, think about ways you could use a vine or two around your place.  Last year during my garden journal series, I reported on several vines that many Tucsonans, including myself, use around our gardens. Click here to begin your fun from that series.  More tomorrow....

Cat's Claw Vine

Buyer beware!  Our next perfect Zone 9 Hardy plant is cat's claw.  It's a vine that spreads quickly up a ramada or trellis with sun.  Arizona has plenty of sun and therefore has plenty of these vines growing all over town.  Personally, I like this plant and think it's a great vine to have in your landscape....little to no water once established.  It'll take the brutal heat and absolute cold.  It climbs on its' own and grows like a weed.  So be careful when planting this vine!  Without adding bias, I'll do a pro and con category and then you decide if this is the right plant for you.

                                                                          Pros

1. Will take the brutal heat...in fact thrives off of the sun and heat.  The more sun; the more vine.  Cold here doesn't seem to affect it.
2. Little water once established.
3. Climbs on its' own.
4. It has beautiful yellow flowers.
5. Once it has wrapped itself around the ramada, it will go for another round on its' own.
6. Fast grower!
7. Looks nice on a metal fence, trellis, or ramada.

                                                                         Cons

1.   Climbs on its' own.  Do not plant near stucco or the home....or you'll find that when you pull the vine off the home, you'll pull the stucco or paint off the house.
2. It's invasive and gets into everything.
3. It's a top heavy plant and with enough weight, it could pull things down to the ground.

So there you have it.  If placed in the right spot, cat's claw can make an attractive plant.  Drive around town and see how people have used this plant in their own yards. This plant is loved or hated.  You decide.  Our next perfect Zone 9 plant is coming up tomorrow. Until next time.....