I’ve grown gardens (vegetable and flower) in several states. I’m not good at it; I’ve not taken the time necessary to learn all I should about soil acidity, best practices for fertilizing, ideal ways to grid out a garden, complementary plants, etc. It warms up, I dig, I buy something to toss in the ground, pour on some water and Miracle Grow and pray. I’ve done it mostly for the therapy~~ peaceful, personal gratification. I win or lose based on my effort. Normally I land somewhere in the middle. Although a few seasons I had killer rhubarb, great peppers and hibiscus’ that looked as if they came from a giant’s garden.
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| Pre-Green (As Dated by Shadow) |
Growing anything in the desert is like nothing I’ve ever done. A few times I’ve felt it’s almost more effort than reward. Yet I keep at it because I really don’t like the alternative; endless rock and sand. Blech.
Step 1: Digging
Digging in the desert has become my alternative to using weights. Every shovelful is a struggle, really. The only solution I’ve found is to run a hose ahead of the dig. Keeping it low-flow is a must as well or the water just runs off and finds a channel down some hill to escape then quickly evaporate.
Step 1.5: Remove/Replace
I really haven’t had to replace much; Henrick left the enclosed ground pretty barren save for a smattering of mostly native plants. However, outside the gate/wall it’s another story. Full of native shrubbery that are sucking the life out of a variety of cacti struggling to survive. I ran across one piece to remove that nearly took a rope and the truck to give a final heave. I was do for a heavy lift that week so I kept at it till it finally gave.
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| The Heave-Ho |
Step 2: Fuel
Give anything that grows a taste of real dirt and a little water and it seems to grow like a week. Solution: find dirt. I found a guy down the road who sells dirt. Yup; he’s got giant mounds of dirt for landscapers since they’ve got my problem on a grande scale. In keeping with the yard-work as therapy-cum-workout I just haul a bunch of tubs and help-myself to his dirt piles. Nasty, dusty, sweaty, completely therapeutic labor. Perfect.
Turns out dirt’s heavy. Good thing the truck drives into the backyard so I can pull out the tubs and drop them straight to the ground which takes us to….
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| Self-Serve Pile-o-Dirt |
Step 3: Planting
See Step 1 as a start. Within minutes of soaking the ground to dig it the water drains away leaving a dry, partially cement-like paste that’ s worse than before starting. Solution: more water. Because the sand/gravel/rock mess runs down several feet it’s also necessary to dig a bit deeper and wider than would be done in real planting dirt. Benefit to that: a longer upper-body workout. Plus more planting dirt that places get to sell.
Step 4: Water and Fertilize
Standard Miracle Grow for me. All sorts of fertilizers are available depending on the type of plant, the type of planting dirt and the acidity of my particular soil. To that I say: Miracle Grow.
Step 4: Praying
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| Fillin’ It Up Before the Plant |
We’ll see out things turn out. This’ll be the first winter for a number of things put in the ground and we’ll see if we’ve followed enough of the important pieces of all the steps. My shoulders are sore from digging and my back is wretched from hauling dirt. Plus I broke a rake and a shovel this summer so the planting is done for the year and we relax and pray we’ve done it right–or close to it.
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| Rapidly Drying Destination |
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| Mortar-esque Mess |
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| No Sprinkler System Needed |
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| Buckets of Planting Gold |