Tag: palo verde tree

Fixing that neglected side yard

It’s long. It’s narrow. And a home’s side yard is usually given little attention. Perhaps the original builder or an earlier owner spread a layer of rocky mulch on the soil and added a few stepping stones along the unused passageway from the front to the back of your home. But often it is not even considered part of the garden.

I have to confess that I ignored my current home’s side yard. A previous resident had, in fact, covered the 10 foot wide strip with reddish brown rock mulch. No stepping stones, however. There are pockets of grass where baby Mourning Doves huddle together and, in another corner, one rugged, volunteer Lantana plant survives. On one side of this passageway is a 6 ft. tall wood fence and on the other, the pale, sand-colored stucco wall for my living room. No windows — thank goodness.

Then, one day this last summer when it was once again 110 degrees fahrenheit outside here in Arizona I realized how much cooler that side of my home–the south side–would be if I planted something tall and shady there–a tree that was very drought resistant and wouldn’t die in relentless 100F+ heat.

Two drought tolerant trees for shade

My first thought was to install a Palo Verde tree in late October or November, when Fall planting season starts. I love this Arizona native’s brilliant yellow blossoms in April but once the flowers are gone, it would only provide a light screen effect with its leafless branches. Not much help countering the blasting sunlight in summer.

Then, I thought, what about another favorite of mine, the long-blooming Chitalpa (Chitalpa x tashkentsis)? Its branches would be ladened with pink flowers for months on end. And Chitalpa trees have leaves to cast more shade than the Palo Verde. Better yet, they grow fast and are so tough that in Las Vegas and Tucson they’re planted as street trees.

But I had to face reality: the passageway is only 10 feet wide and both the Palo Verde and the Chitalpa should be planted a minimum of 15 feet away from the side of a house.

So, a tall, skinny tree was called for–like an Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) which I know grows in Los Angeles and the Mojave desert. I haven’t seen many of them here in Sonoran desert gardens. A friend in Vegas planted a wall of them but looking at her garden now, maybe that is not the solution–especially when I check the price for 5 or 6 trees. I’ve been told that they suffer from red mites and if not watered deeply they will die.

Thanksgiving and cooler weather arrived and I stopped thinking about shady trees for my side yard. But in that doldrum week between Christmas and New Year, I began to consider it again.

Tough shrubs are a shady solution

Shrubs, I decided. Big, leafy, drought tolerant shrubs–maybe 5,6 or 7 feet tall–planted like a wall of shade next to the house. They will never grow tall enough to shade and cool the roof, but drought tolerant shrubs could block some of the blasting sunlight heating up the stucco. (Yes, Yes, I know I wrote about shrubs to cool concrete block walls last January. I’m now following my own advice.)

lantana hedge in Pasadena

Texas rangers (Leucophyllum frutescens) and upright Lantanas (Lantana camara) immediately came to mind. Both bloom often throughout the year, usually after some rain falls.

With some strategic trimming colorful Lantanas, like the ones in a hedge in Pasadena, can be encouraged to grow to 5 feet high. The Texas Rangers, however, I plan to leave untrimmed. I hate what commercial “gardeners” do to these beautiful, loose shrubs: whacking them into a lollipop shape with most of the lovely purple flowers cut off.

I’ll plant in February when we have had more rain and the soil is beginning to warm up. Now to figure out what to do to my back yard where a neighbor’s small tree died last year. It shaded both our yards and cut off the view from two homes behind us. Maybe that’s the right place for a Palo Verde or Chitalpa. I’ll let you know.

Our 8 most popular newsletters

  1. Best and beautiful native shrubs for extreme heat
  2. Five fragrant plants for your garden
  3. Where to get free or cheap trees for your garden
  4. Six distinctively different landscapes to replace a lawn
  5. Cover up that naked wall
  6. Nine trees to combat climate change
  7. Four desert trees good for soil, 4 toxic ones
  8. Plants that bloom even in mid-summer scorching heat

Visit my author’s site to see the books I’ve published.

Best 9 trees to combat climate change in the Southwest

Here in the hot, dry region of the U.S. Southwest tree planting has become more urgent as year after year the days get hotter and drier. The driving idea behind the tree planting efforts is to create a green canopy, a natural, cooling umbrella over cities.

In Las Vegas, the Mayor’s goal is to have 60,000 new trees planted by 2050.

In Tucson, the mayor is more ambitous: she wants to see a million new trees planted by 2030. El Paso, too, has set a million tree goal.

And In Los Angeles, one volunteer group, City Plants, installs 20,000 trees for free along the city streets every year. (More about free or almost-free trees in Western cities in my next post.)

If you want to do your part, but on a personal, residential scale, consider planting one or more of these trees–plus one shrub, the Chaste tree. Many are as wide as they are tall. They are all drought-tolerant and cast shade to cool your home and garden. I’ve added information about how tall the tree should grow, how fast it will grow and how long the tree should live. (Hint: All but one should outlive you!)

Trees that bloom in the Spring and Summer

Sweet Acacia (Vachellia farnesiana) is a species of thorny shrub or small tree. Brilliant yellow ball-like flowers, which are used in perfume industry. Will grow to 20 feet tall x 20 wide, moderate to fast grower. Lives 20 to 30 years.

Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida) is a native to the Sonoran desert and is recognizable by the green color of its trunk and branches. Almost leafless most of the year, so it casts only a light shade. It bursts into brilliant yellow bloom in April. Grows 2 or 3 feet a year to 15 to 30 feet tall with an umbrella-like canopy. Lives 100+ years.

Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) can be grown as a small, messy tree or multi-trunk shrub 30 feet tall. Grows 2 to 3 feet a year. Lives from 40 to over 100 years, if planted no higher than an elevation of 5,000 feet. As a desert native it needs little care but, I repeat, it is a messy tree dropping those long, brown seed pods for you to clean up.

But read about the next tree, a tidier hybrid of the Desert Willow…

Chitalpa trees (Chitalpa tashkentensis) can grow as large, multi-stemmed shrub or a single-trunk tree. Unlike its cousin the Desert Willow, Chitalpa trees were created to be sterile and do not drop those long, pointy seed pods. For that reason the chitalpa is often planted as a street tree that blooms for months on end. Loves the endless sun shine and grows very fast to 30 feet tall. And is said to live up to 150 years.

Trees that turn color in Fall

Fan Tex Rio Grande ash has leaves that turn to a brilliant gold in fall, unlike it’s cousin, the ordinary Arizona Ash (Fraxinus velutina) that lacks the golden yellow fall color. Both ash varieties are adapted for a desert climate with low water usage. It is moderately fast-growing tree that will grow to a height of 30 to 50 ft and may survive 50 years with proper care.

memoir writing guide ebook paperback

Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis) is a pistachio hybrid that produces no nuts. In Fall the leaves on the male tree turn from green to gold to brilliant red then loses those leaves in winter. The female tree simply turns golden — not vibrant red. Grows 12 to 15 inches per year to a mature height of 25 to 40 feet tall and as wide. Should be planted in full sun; if planted in partial shade the result will be a lopsided tree.

Trees that need little maintenance

Mesquite (Prosopis velutina) commonly known as velvet mesquite, grows 12 to 24 inches per year to a mature height of 40 feet tall. Needs almost no care. It’s advisable not to plant it in a lawn that is regularly watered. Too much water or fertilizer weakens the roots of the mesquite which may then tip over during high winds. It will live for as long as 200 years. Equally durable in a desert garden are the Honey mesquite, the messy Screwbean mesquite and Chilean mesquite which has fewer thorns.

Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia). Capable of adding 12 to 36 inches of height per season, the drought-tolerant Chinese elm is a very rapidly growing tree with a weeping shape and deep shade underneath. Some lose their leaves in winter and others do not and it is not clear why this happens. This tree can grow to a height of 40 to 50 feet within 15 years. Lives 50 to 100 years.

A tree that produces fruit

Fig tree (Ficus carica) The common fig tree is a deciduous tree that can also be grown as a shrub or espaliered on a trellis. Produces fruit in 3 to 5 years. Grows 12 inches a year up to 30 feet tall and in its tree form ends up much wider than taller. Its large leaves cast very dark, cooling shade and a fig tree lives 50 to 200 years. For other fruit trees for the desert go here.

And my favorite shrub, the fragrant Chaste tree

Chaste (Vitex agnus-castus) is a hardy, fast-growing flowering shrub that produces bloom spikes of light purple, white, or blue flowers in mid-summer. If seeds and faded blooms are removed it will continue to flower. It has very fragrant leaves. Grows rapidly to a height of 20 feet — the size of a small tree–and lives for 15 to 20 years.

Our 8 most popular newsletters

  1. Best and beautiful native shrubs for extreme heat
  2. Five fragrant plants for your garden
  3. Where to get free or cheap trees for your garden
  4. Six distinctively different landscapes to replace a lawn
  5. Cover up that naked wall
  6. Nine trees to combat climate change
  7. Four desert trees good for soil, 4 toxic ones
  8. Plants that bloom even in mid-summer scorching heat