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Our fall temperatures have been trending below normal, and the next few days show clouds and even a 37% chance of rain Saturday. That's great news and means our plants need less water. However, it is also being predicted that La Niña will return for the third consecutive winter. This can mean warmer and drier than average conditions from December through February. That's right...not so great news.
While plant water usage is at its lowest level in December, low humidity and windy conditions can dry out your plants quickly.
What's our best advice? Make sure you’re providing deep but infrequent irrigation for your plants (learn more below). This will help them fare better during cold temps and frosts, too.
Graph above: Due to daylength and temperatures, seasonal plant water needs can use 3 to 5 times more water during the hot, dry summer as they do during the winter.
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Recommendations below are for plants that are established in the landscape (in the ground about two years).
- Desert Adapted - once every 35 days
- High Water Use - once every 18 days
- Desert Adapted - once every 45 days
- High Water Use - once every 21 days
- Desert Adapted - once every 28 days
- High Water Use - once every 14 days
Cacti and succulent watering
Annuals & vegetable watering
- Once every 7-10 days (or more if you are starting seeds)
Wildflower watering
- Once every once every 10-15 days
Note: These recommendations are a general guideline only and may need to be modified for your specific site conditions.
Landscape Watering by the Numbers: Don’t forget our online, interactive watering guide. If you input some simple information about your landscape irrigation system, it will tell you how long to water to give your plants just the right amount with these frequencies.
Frost Protection for Your Plants
With temps above normal, it may be a while before we get our first cold snap. Our typical first frost is around Dec.12. If you want to be prepared, learn how to protect your plants on this University of Arizona Frost and Cold Temperature resource page.
Note: Photo shows what NOT to do. It's best to use sheets or frost protection fabrics that go all the way to the ground for best results, and to remove them during the day.
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Plant of the Month
Cascalote - Have you noticed the trees with cheerful yellow flowers this month? This winter bloomer is a great medium-sized tree for the landscape. You can find details on cascalote or find our full listing of beautiful desert plants at our Water – Use It Wisely’s Plant of the Month series.
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Landscape Tips for December
Find Landscape Tips for December provided by the UofA Cooperative Extension. Wondering why your citrus fruit is splitting open or how to best fertilize your winter lawn? This listing of typical problems and maintenance recommendations is sure to help.
Do-It-Yourself Plumbing Videos - now showing!!
With the holidays on their way it's time to get those household leaks fixed (well, it's always time). Dripping faucet? Leaky toilet? We can help! The City of Mesa had a blast partnering with the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) to create a series of short do-it-yourself videos. Each one will help you identify and fix simple plumbing issues to save you water and money. Find all six videos!
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Local Xeriscape Demonstration Gardens
Here's a great way to enjoy walks outdoors. Find our list of demonstration or botanical gardens to visit. We have two in Mesa, but heck, go out of town... Glendale, Scottsdale, and others have some amazing gardens to see also.
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Watering Deeply But Infrequently
Deep and infrequent watering offers many benefits. So what are those benefits and how do you do it?
Benefits: First, deep watering ensures water gets down to lower levels in the soil instead of just at the surface. Location of moisture deeper in the soil profile encourages roots to grow deeper which helps to develop a stronger and more resilient root system. Shallow watering causes roots to stay near the soil surface where they are more susceptible to stress, especially during a hot, windy day when the surface can dry out quickly.
How to Water Deeply: Your goal is to soak the root ball and the surrounding soil with water, penetrating 1 to 3 feet relative to the size of the plant. Depending on your soil type, 1" of water on the surface will penetrate approximately 6-10" into the soil. We offer a handy chart that estimates how many gallons it will take.
What About the Infrequent Part? I'm glad you asked. The drying period is not only important so the surface does dry out (and keeps those roots deeper in the soil) but also important for the health of the plant as roots need oxygen to stay healthy. Infrequent watering will help you save water, too. This time of year, if we don't get at least a half-inch of rain, that frequency would be once every 30 days for cactus and desert trees, once every 2 weeks for citrus, shrubs, and dormant Bermuda etc. Our Landscape Watering by the Numbers booklet provides a helpful seasonal frequency chart. Learn more.
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Ask A Master Gardener at Red Mountain Library
Sat. Dec 10, 9:30 - 10 am, and 10 am-Noon. This month includes a special Citrus Fertilization Review from 9:30 to 10 am. Then from 10 am to Noon University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners will answer questions about gardening, landscaping, plant identification, and plant problems. Click here for citrus and here for the Q&A program. Location: Red Mountain Library. Free!
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How Will Arizona’s Future Be Shaped by Water?
Sat. Dec 17, 3 - 4 pm. Sarah Porter is Director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. As Arizona state director of the National Audubon Society, she led a multi-state initiative to protect and restore important river habitats. Sarah brings to the project familiarity with the Arizona water management community and knowledge of Western water law. Join us for a timely conversation about water and what comes next. Location: Red Mountain Library in person or Zoom. Please register for this program. Free!
SRP Shade Tree Workshops - 2023 Schedule
Get two free shade trees by attending an SRP Shade Tree workshop. Classes for 2023 are now open - choose from Jan 12 & 28 or Feb 18. SRP is offering desert-adapted shade trees to help lower your home cooling costs and improve air quality without using a lot of water. Learn more.
Read the Mesa Climate Action Plan and how reducing energy and planting more trees are some of the many initiatives recently adopted in the community-wide plan.
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There are a number of ways to save water and they all start with you...
Thank you for being a subscriber this year... and for all of your efforts to save water! Also, be sure to sign up for our Living Green eNews. These alerts notify subscribers of sustainable and green programs, events, and opportunities. See last month's news. You can sign up directly for this newsletter by proving your email at this subscriber site. Also, be sure to follow us on our Living Green Twitter.
**Reduce your landscape water use 30 to 50 percent by adjusting your irrigation each season.** Landscape Watering by the Numbers: A Guide for the Arizona Desert will help you determine how much water to apply and how long to run your system. Visit the interactive website or request a free copy of the booklet.
-H2O-
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