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Preparing your Xeriscape for Winter

© Max Dalrymple

There's a little more content on the site beginning this month. I've added a book review and a poem. Because designing for water conservation is important in Xeriscaping(tm), next month I'll also add a software review of a garden design program, the first one's from Sierra.

You can use these links to navigate to the feature you're most interested in seeing:

Preparing Your Xeriscape for Winter - This month's article

The Undaunted Garden by Lauren Springer - A Review

The Last Piñon Pine, a poem

Preparing your Xeriscape for Winter
This column first will "air" the week beginning January 1, 2000, a week during which many of us will be taking our Christmas trees down. Ah, but this is the new millennium, a time of increased celebration. Let's leave our live trees up - and in the house - for a little while more. Happy Holidays!

Christmas marks the time of a former pagan holiday celebrating the winter solstice. Few of us think of winter beginning only a few days before this most important of holidays. Isn't Christmas in the middle of winter?

When I think of Christmas, I think of Christmas trees. I also think of piñon pine, my Christmas tree of choice. If you live in the southwest and did not think of inviting a piñon pine into your home this year - and into your yard next year - you can plan for Christmas 2000.

The Christmas tree reminds many of us that winter has just begun. What of the piñony outside this winter? Piñon pines are low water-use native plants, which usually don't need supplemental water as long as they are already established. If you plant one this winter you want to water it immediately, of course. You'll probably also want to water it ever month during the winter.

For the rest of your evergreens, you might want to give them a good soaking before the first freeze. After that, you'll want to water once a month. February is probably the best month to transplant. You can prune in either January or February. You might also want to use a dormant oil spray if your evergreens are bothered by insect eggs or scale.

Native sages, mountain mohogany, Apache plume and New Mexico olive need no additional water as long as they are established. If you planted them recently, you'll probably want to water them monthly.

Shade trees can be dormant sprayed in February for diseases and insects. Don't top if you can avoid it, but prune if necessary. Shade trees will also benefit from monthly water.

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