You don’t have to be a meteorologist to know that the heat is coming; we live in the desert it’s almost always hot here! But during the waning days of spring (can you believe temps have already reached 96 degrees?) it is time to get out there and spruce up your landscape before the first wave of triple digits hit! And because we don’t have long and time is of an essence, we at New Image Landscape and Pools have decided to help you out with a list of some of our favorite landscaping tips. Just follow along and by the time the valley reaches 100 degrees for the first time, your landscape should be impressive and peaceful and you can spend your leisure hours being leisurely; floating in your pool, sitting under the gazebos with the misters going, and when it gets REALLY hot, sitting inside the cool air conditioning, staring through the windows of your home out onto a beautifully landscaped Arizona yard!
Low Tech Tips
Not every landscape tip has to involve hi tech gear and expensive doodads some of the best tips are inexpensive, simple, and work wonderfully. For example, did you know that mulch can help keep the ground around your trees moist? Saving our most precious resource and only taking up a little bit of your time, simply purchase a bag or three from your local home store, spread it around the base of your trees, and watch them thrive during the hottest months of the year! Also, if your tree is in a particularly sunny spot and doesn’t have a full canopy of leaves to protect its trunk, you can purchase a protective tree wrap to keep it from being sunburned. (Who knew trees could get sunburnt?) The last of our low tech tips may not always be easy, especially during wetter springs, but if you get out there and pull all the spring weeds and then spray a simple pre-emergence, you won’t have to deal with city inspectors and HOA fees when your well-watered landscape begins to take on a jungle like appearance!
Plant These in Your Arizona Yard Before it Gets Too Hot
We all know that 100 degrees is still practically sweater weather for hardy desert dwellers, so now is the time to get out there and plant! June is the perfect month to plant seeds for your vegetable garden, including Armenian Cucumbers, Cantaloupe and Muskmelon. The happiest gardens often feature the happiest flowers of all, the beautiful sunflower, so now is a great time to plant those as well. (Did you know that on cloudy days when there is no sun, sunflowers turn to each other for light? Don’t you wish we humans could do that as well?) If water is our most precious resource, we think SHADE should be considered our most precious commodity and now is the perfect time to start planting trees that provide just that. Crape Myrtles provide a colorful canopy of green punctuated with brilliant crimson blooms and Ficus trees soften the look of your yard with their dense canopy of dark green leaves, providing beauty and shade all year long. Looking to give your backyard pool area a tropical look that feels cool even when temperatures reach the 120s? Date Palms can give your landscape the feel of the tropics and as they grow tall and sturdy can be used to tie hammocks too!
High Tech Prep
And then there are the high tech ways to kick off the summer solstice, designed to make your summer chores less complicated. Add a sprinkler system with bubblers attached and a timer that allows you to preprogram watering times and offer rain pauses during monsoon season. It is simply amazing how detailed these modern inventions can be and how much water that can be saved, especially if you have been hand watering or have set up a sprinkler attached to a hose. How many times have you forgotten to turn the sprinkler off and woken up the next morning to soggy yards and a much higher water bill? The sprinkler system with timer avoids any waste! Another high tech idea that can be especially enjoyed in the summer months is an outdoor kitchen. The outdoor (or summer) kitchen has come a long way from the early days when they mostly consisted of propane grills and occasionally a built in sink attached to a water hose. Today, your outdoor kitchen can include a pizza oven, mini fridge, and ceiling fans to help keep the cook cool as well as the house since no cooking will be held inside! If you are wondering how an outdoor kitchen could be considered a landscape option, just look out at your yard without one and imagine how much more beautiful it would look with its own kitchen!
Time’s Moving Quickly!
Give us a call today and let’s kick off your summer shenanigans with a new landscape!
