land Maintenance LLC P.O. Box 12620 928-776-4637
Prescott, Az. 86304

How plants thrive in the high dessert.

Here in the high dessert both the sun and the wind can be intense making it a challenge for our plants to take in moisture and get it to the leaves and needles quickly enough. Even the "native" plants such as Pinon and Ponderosa Pine are really on the cusp. We barely get enough of annual rainfall for them. This is part of the reason there has been so much die-back in these plants.The most important factor in growing plants here in the dessert is the soil. Our soils are alkaline and either heavy clay or mostly sand. Neither is good for growing plants. We recommend removing the soil and using fresh topsoil/mulch mix when planting new plants or flower beds. All soils benefit from our fertilizer program. Our fertilizer is a custom blend based on soil tests done over the years in our area. We also add supplemental minerals in between fertilization. Next we like to add bed of mulch around all plants. This will help keep the soil moist longer, cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. We have also recently begun applying a anti-transpirant to plant leaves. Because we are at elevation and are typically dry and windy this is a great aid for the retention of moisture to the plant. Flowers will last longer and the plants will be able to resist disease and insect problems better also. Anti-transpirants will also reduce fungus including blackspot and powdery mildew. We also use superthrive for all new planting to reduce stress and actually increase growth through the transition from pot to ground. Another strategy we are transitioning to is the use of in line emitter tubing. The new soaker lines have emitter embedded inside them so they do not clog easily and last a lot longer the old soaker hose. The major benefit to the soaker hose over traditional emitter is we can cover much more of the root zone and use the same amount of water per plant.