by Ken Lain, The Mountain Gardener, Watters Garden Center
Moving to the high country of Arizona is a breath of fresh air — literally. But if you have just arrived from the humid East Coast or the coastal warmth of Southern California, your gardening internal compass is likely spinning.
High-altitude gardening isn’t just “different,” it’s a whole new ballgame.
When you combine our thin, bright air with persistent mountain winds and a dry climate, you can take everything you learned elsewhere and toss it over the garden fence. Our soil responds differently to water (or the lack of it), and our seasons have a rhythm all their own. To help you settle in, I’ve put together five essential habits that set successful mountain gardeners apart from frustrated ones.
Habit 1:
Master the Zone 7 Mindset
The first thing newcomers do is try to plant what they had back home. If you moved from Phoenix or San Diego, you might be tempted by palm trees or citrus. Don’t do it. Our local USDA garden zone is 7, with a bit of a zone 8 influence. This means we have a real winter with nightly freezing temperatures.
The secret? Buy plants labeled for Hardiness Zones 1-7. Stay away from those desert dwellers meant for zones 10 and 11. The silver lining of our cold nights is the chilling hours they provide. This cold is precisely what allows us to grow world-class apples, peaches, cherries, grapes and berries. It’s also why our lilacs, forsythias and butterfly bushes bloom so spectacularly.
Habit 2:
Embrace the 12-Month Garden
Right now, we are deep into the harvest of warm-season crops like tomatoes and peppers through October. In many parts of the country, you hang up the shovel in October. Not here. Because of our mild seasons, we garden 12 months of the year.
Now through September, it is time to get your cool-season crops in the ground. Broccoli, spinach, lettuce and Brussels sprouts love the last monsoon rains and autumn chill. You will be harvesting fresh from the garden until the end of the year. Very few places in America offer this kind of two-season harvest. If you want color in the snow, plant pansies, violas and ornamental kale next month.
I fully expect my garden to show off brilliant colors every single month of the year, and yours should too.
Habit 3:
Respect the Triple Threat (Sun, Wind and Air)
Never underestimate the intensity of the Arizona sun at 5,000+ feet. The air is thinner, meaning the UV rays are stronger. Combined with our mountain winds and low humidity, plants lose moisture through their leaves at an alarming rate.
Successful gardeners look for “tough” foliage. Look for plants with thick, leathery leaves. These are naturally designed to retain moisture and resist tearing during our fierce spring windstorms. This is where informed selectivity saves you a lot of heartache and money.
Habit 4:
Test your Soil (Yard by Yard)
In the mountains, the soil isn’t uniform. I’ve seen homes where the front yard is sandy granite, and the backyard is heavy, red clay. You must treat each garden project as its own unique environment.
Most local soil lacks organic material. Whether you have fast sandy soil or slow clay, the answer is the same: organic mulch. Adding mulch helps granite soil hold water and prevents clay soil from turning into a brick.
One vital tip: our soil is naturally alkaline. Do not add lime or wood ashes, as they raise the pH even higher. Instead, use soil sulfur to lower the pH and make nutrients more available to your plants.
Habit 5:
Garden with the Neighbors (the Wild Kind)
We are surrounded by beautiful national forest lands, which means the local wildlife thinks your garden is a five-star buffet. Javelinas, deer, antelope and rabbits are part of the landscape.
Successful gardeners don’t fight nature; they outsmart it. We use a local deer and rabbit resistant plant list to choose things the critters find unpalatable. If you want to grow tulips or roses, they’ll need a fence or a safe container.
