Happy New Year to all in this new century!! What new innovations will we see in the coming year to make our lives easier? Computers have changed our society and our personal lives. The fact that you are reading this on line is just one example. Let's move forward with confidence into the new year and new century.
You may have plans for doing a little garden renovating or changing so now is the time to get started. When planning your garden and flower beds, consider using some flowers in your vegetable garden to attract pollinators and consider the many beautiful succulent plants for flower beds or those odd, out-of-the-way places. They generally have shallow roots, are hardy and need little moisture or attention.
Most of the garden catalogs have arrived as well, so get started planning what you want to order. Pay special attention to the new things being offered and the old, heirloom types. There are many old varieties of vegetables and flowers that the original inhabitants of the desert used -- they are drought resistant and hardy. For a list of web sites for gardening supplies, seeds, plants and catalogs, see the article on January Gardening In Low Desert for January 1999.
Now is the time to prune deciduous trees - fruit as well as shade trees - desert trees, roses, vines, and many dormant desert shrubs. Check a good book for help on this or your local extension service (Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Service in the Phoenix area) or local garden clubs. You can also prune citrus now to get rid of dead wood and to scale down size of plant, if necessary. Prune shrub roses for shape only and to remove crossing or dead branches. Cut back hybrid tea roses by about a third, leaving the strongest three to five canes to produce this year's flowers.
Soon the nurseries will be full of great new plants. Now is the time to plant bare root roses, they are much cheaper that the potted ones will be later on and in the cool weather they get a great start. According to Sunset Magazine, January 2000, seven award winning shrub roses are 'All That Jazz", 'Bonica', 'Carefree Delight', 'Carefree Wonder', 'First Light', 'Kaleidoscope', and 'Knock Out'. The top ground cover roses are 'Flower Carpet', a long time favorite, Meidiland roses,, which come in several colors and Towne & Country, which also comes in several colors.
Deciduous trees may also be planted this month for a good start before spring. Before planting trees, though, always consider the mature shape, size and overall appearance of the tree for suitability in your landscape. For more info see October 1999 article on Gardening in The Low Desert.
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