Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Carol Lightwood and I am a Master Gardener who earned my official state certification in Clark County, Nevada. More specifically, in Las Vegas.
Shortly after completing the lengthy Master Gardener certification program in 2003 I launched the Hot Gardens website to help newcomers to the Las Vegas Valley understand the challenges of gardening in a desert climate. (ProTip: don’t plant pansies!)
Gardening conditions in the Las Vegas Valley and elsewhere in the U.S. Southwest states are horrible! Poor soils and, in Vegas, only 4 inches of rainfall annually. Since I loved having a beautiful garden, I began by planting Mediterranean plants that I knew were drought tolerant from my years of living in Southern California. With considerable soil improvement, some care and water, most of them thrived in my enclosed patio garden. And I continued experiments with plants that could create the illusion of a lush garden with very little water.
For years I wrote a monthly newsletter about techniques and tips for best gardening results in a hot, dry garden. And hot, dry climates are expanding these days as the earth experiences climate change.The readership for the Hot Gardens site now includes gardeners from Australia, India, South Africa and the countries on the Arabian Peninsula as well as Spain, Canada and the U.K. So I decided to start giving gardening advice again and will be posting to this blog every so often.
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