It's time to adjust for fall! As days get shorter and cooler, your plants need about half the water they did in June. If you haven’t checked your irrigation clock lately, now’s the perfect time! Use our step-by-step guide to reprogram your timer to match the suggested fall watering schedule below.
💡 Got a smart controller? Good news – it should adjust automatically with the seasonal changes.
🌱 Fall is planting season in Arizona! Don’t miss our one-stop fall planting resource site for guides, tips, free wildflower seeds, and inspiration. 👇🏻
Recommendations below are for plants that are established in the landscape (in the ground about two years).
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Warm season grass (Bermuda) - once every 7-10 days
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Overseeded cool season grass (rye) - 4x per day for the first 7 to 10 days to germinate, then once every 3 days
- Desert Adapted - once every 21 days
- High Water Use - once every 10 days
- Desert Adapted - once every 24 days
- High Water Use - once every 12 days
- Desert Adapted - once every 18 days
- High Water Use - once every 9 days
Cacti and succulent watering
Annuals & vegetable watering
- Once every 4-5 days (or more if you are starting seeds)
Wildflower watering
- Once every 1-2 days to germinate, then once every 5-7 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.
Gardening and Landscaping Programs at Mesa Libraries!
Sat., Oct. 10, 9-11 a.m. Plant Exchange & Propagation Demonstrations Bring your potted plants and cuttings to exchange with other plant lovers. Parking lot - across from the Monarch Garden, Red Mountain Library, 635 N. Power Road.
Sat., Nov. 21, 10-11:30 a.m. Rainwater Harvesting 101 Part II of the Watering in the Arizona Desert Series
Instructor Kaylee Colter will help you understand the basics of collecting and using rainwater in your landscape. You’ll explore different approaches to rainwater harvesting, from simple techniques that you can DIY to more involved systems. You’ll learn how to assess your property, understand the essential components of a rainwater harvesting system, and begin planning a project that works for your landscape and goals.
You could win great prizes, including a rain gauge or a $50 gift card to a local nursery. THINKspot at Dobson Ranch Library, 2425 S. Dobson Road.
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Desert Institute of Gardening (DIG) Classes
City of Mesa Kicks Off Tree Planting Season
 Fall means cooler temperatures—and the start of tree planting season in Mesa!
Mesa will partner with community organizations and volunteers to plant trees across the city. Through the Trees Are Cool Initiative, residents and businesses can also help grow Mesa’s tree canopy by planting, caring for, and recording shade trees.
Get involved at an upcoming event:
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Oct. 24 & Nov. 7 – Mesa Neighborhood Shade Tree Workshops & Tree Distributions. Mesa residents can learn proper tree care and take home two FREE desert-adapted shade trees. Register and learn more.
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Dec. 5 – Mesa Tree Steward Community Tree Planting. Help plant approximately 50 trees at Chelsea Park and in the surrounding neighborhood. Check back soon on our All About Trees page for details.
Learn more in our press release.
Plant One. Care for One. Help Plant One.
Already have trees? Proper care is just as important as planting. Visit our Tree Maintenance page for selecting, planting, watering, and other maintenance information.
No room to plant? Volunteer! Organizations such as Trees Matter and Arizona Sustainability Alliance offer opportunities to help plant and care for trees throughout the community.
📍 Planting a tree of your own? Put it on the map! Add your tree to Mesa’s community tree map and help us track and celebrate our growing urban forest.
Whether you plant one tree at home or help plant 50 in a neighborhood, every tree adds to Mesa’s growing urban forest.
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Helping HOA's Cash In on Xeriscape & Irrigation Upgrades!
 Have you heard the exciting news? We offer great incentive programs customized to HOAs and other non-residential customers (multifamily properties, businesses, churches and nonprofits). Incentives of up to $50,000 are available for converting grass to Xeriscape. Plus, up to $20,000 for updating irrigation equipment. Incentives are for FUTURE PROJECTS ONLY. Learn more.
Residential Grass-to-Xeriscape and Tree Bonus Incentive! 💰
Take advantage of our incentive of up to $2,100 to replace your grass with a low-water-use Xeriscape!
The Grass-to-Xeriscape Incentive with Tree Bonus aims to help our single-family residential customers reduce their landscape water use by half or more by replacing water-thirsty lawns with landscape plants appropriate to the Sonoran Desert Climate. Xeriscape provides wildlife habitat and helps to create shade for people, homes, and communities.
Ready to transform your outdoor space? Check eligibility details and apply at the link below. Incentives are for future projects only.
Residential Grass-to-Xeriscape and Tree Bonus Incentive Program.
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Water – Plant It Wisely Fall Microsite!
Want a landscape that’s beautiful and sustainable? Check out Water – Plant It Wisely, our ultimate Arizona fall landscaping and planting microsite.
At Water – Plant It Wisely, you'll discover:
🌸How to plant now for spring wildflowers
🦋 Ideas for designing for wildlife
🎥 Our “Drab-to-Fab” landscape video series
💧 The best fall water-saving landscape ideas
🌱 Can’t-miss specialty plant sales
👉 Explore now: WaterPlantItWisely.com
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 Are you thinking of overseeding your Bermuda grass? Save time, save water, save money and more. Check out Plant of the Month (to NOT Plant): Ryegrass or Winter Grass.
Adjusting Watering Frequency for Plant Type
Different plant types need different watering schedules to stay healthy. Our guidelines distinguish between desert-adapted plants and high-water-use plants.
High-water-use plants (like citrus, hibiscus, and roses) need more frequent watering.
Desert-adapted plants (such as palo verdes, Texas sages, and penstemons) can go much longer between waterings.
Here’s the trick: a Texas sage and a hibiscus of the same size require the same amount of water per watering to soak the root ball. The difference is in how often they need it. If both types share the same irrigation valve, you’ll have to water for the thirstier plant, often giving the desert-adapted one more water than it needs.
👉 Find more tips like this in our online watering guide by clicking the More Tips link at the bottom of the watering guide page.
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Plant Pollinator-Friendly Wildflowers Now
Did you know? Wildflowers need to be seeded in the fall for those gorgeous spring blooms. The best time to plant is October through mid-December.
This colorful backyard display of California poppy and purple owl’s clover is proof of what a little fall planting can bring!
👉 Learn more at our Planting Wildflowers page.
Wait... you read all the way to the end? 👀 We’ve got a prize for you!
Email (conservation.info@mesaaz.gov) us your name and mailing address, and we’ll send you a FREE Sonoran Desert wildflower seed packet—while supplies last! 🌼
**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.
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