u/pluto-pistachio

Hey, r/arborists! I live in Tucson, AZ. My partner and I recently moved into a new house and we’re renting. We’d like to live in this house for a long while and the landlord is supportive of us doing some native planting. We’ve really been diving in and trying to learn about planting a xeric landscape that supports our unique local ecosystem (and can live with minimal maintenance from future tenants), but we’ve run into a tree conundrum. 

Tucson is quite a hot place and shade trees are absolutely crucial here. There are two stumps on the west end of our front yard and Google Street view shows that they were two large pines that have only been gone for a year. There is a similar pine across the street that looks completely dry, brown, and dead. There is a huge wonderful pine in our backyard to the south that is alive, but it looks like it’s seen better days. Apparently there is a pine beetle problem that is killing a lot of our old Afghan and Aleppo pines in Tucson and Phoenix. Many people suspect that increased heat and irregular seasonal rains are contributing to a rapid loss of the pines here.

Before we learned about the regional pine beetle problem, we thought it would be good to plant a Velvet Mesquite near the SW corner of the house so that the house wasn’t left exposed when the old pine’s time came. Also, that old pine doesn’t shade the house during the 4-6pm Roasting Hours. We just planted a 15gal Desert Willow on the west side of the front yard and we have a 1gal Velvet Mesquite ready to plant in the back yard. 

I started digging a basin for the mesquite (the water table here is dwindling, an awesome local native nursery encourages passive rainwater harvesting and provides great information). I started hitting some very large roots that were less than 6” deep. I was surprised because these are large roots, pretty far from the pine tree. I decided to move the planting area a few feet to the west and there were more big, shallow roots. They’re pretty much everywhere where I’d considered planting the mesquite for late afternoon shade.

So! I’m considering a number of other options for the Mesquite Placement - but all of this really brought my attention to the existing pine tree. I have so many questions. We are renting and don’t have the funds or the rights to hire a professional. I don’t think the landlord will want to hire an arborist to look at this pine unless we can give strong evidence that it’s in trouble. 

• How can we asses if it has an infestation?
• Regardless of whether it’s infested or not, is there anything we can do to support this tree?
• This seems contradictory, but how awful would it be to cut some of its roots in order to plant this mesquite? In the photos, the blue bucket is the rough location I was looking to plant the mesquite. If I move that spot just a foot or two farther from the tree, I could feasibly dig a basin without cutting more than two 1” pine roots. I am concerned about those cut roots rotting and just plain not knowing what I’m doing. There are mesquites adjacent to large pines all over this neighborhood, so it feels like there’s gotta be a way, but I do not want to hurt the pine. At the same time, three pines have recently died within 100 yards of it and I’m not sure if it’s already doomed.

 

I’m gonna keep this mesquite in its pot until I get some clarity. I’m considering planting in the front yard, but the stumps are taking the prime spots and I do want to plant for shade on the south side of the house in the future.

I am massively grateful to anyone who reads this. I welcome any thoughts!

The bucket is where I had hoped to plant the Velvet Mesquite

close up of what I believe are the pine tree's roots

Hey, AZ Landscaping!

I'm so happy to find this sub. I've just started gardening for the first time and I've really been enjoying it. I've been seeking as much information as I can about growing native plants here in Southern AZ. I've found some fantastic resources, but I always have more questions.

I might need to refine my search terms, but I haven't been able to find conversations on this sub about watering at night. I'm in Tucson and my schedule can be a little irregular. I am going to put young trees on irrigation this week, but I have some other things that are getting established (a Texas Ranger, seed-grown Ocotillo, Milkweed, Fairy Duster, Purple Prickly Pear) and it would make my life so much easier if I could sometimes water between 9-10 PM instead of 7:30-8:00 AM. Putting them all on drip irrigation is not possible right now, only the trees are going to have that this summer.

I've gathered that there's some concern about fungal growth. Is that really an issue here in the desert? I thought maybe I should avoid watering the prickly pear at night, but what about the shrubs?

Thanks for any input!

Hey, everyone!

I'm renting a house and my west-facing bedroom window absolutely roasts in the afternoon.

The landlord allowed us to plant a desert willow outside that window, but it's probably not going to provide meaningful shade until next year. In the meantime, we need a shade. I want to put up some foil, but I worry that the reflective heat would be a lot for the young tree outside since it's already getting plenty of reflective heat from the wall of the house.

SO, I'd like to hang a shade on the outside of the window. I would like to avoid ordering online if possible because I love supporting Tucson business AND everything I looked into had pretty steep shipping costs - or it was so cheap I wondered if could even stand up to our unbelievably magnificent Arizona sun.

It is worth noting that the house is brick and we are renting. I believe this thing *has* to be attached using grommets, rope/bungees, hooks in the roof beams and stakes in the ground. The window is roughly 5'X6' and most shades I've seen are way too large.

Cheap is great, but if it's like suuuper cheap, I question its ability to withstand the elements.

Local is definitely preferred, but I'm open to whatever has worked for you! Thank you for reading!

Hi, r/gardening!

I live in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona. It's a unique climate and ecosystem, so a lot of common advice doesn't necessarily work the same way here. We experience 110+ heat for a few months a year and it's incredibly dry. I grew up here and I just moved back after many years away. The reality of the dryness has been sinking in slowly over the past few weeks! I've never been thirstier and I don't even notice static electricity anymore. I love this place very deeply, but it is a different way of life! The soil is very different and the UV radiation is very intense.

All that being said, it would be especially helpful to hear from anyone who has gardened in deserts of the Southwest US.

I just moved into a new home and I do not have experience with growing trees. The people who were living here previously planted an apricot tree on the west side of the house. They did this to provide shade for the bedroom window (the heat that comes in a west window in the afternoon is absolutely unreal and it's only April). The apricot is still a sapling. It's about 6 ft tall, very twiggy looking still with very few branches. I've been reading about how to care for the tree and it sounds like the location might not be the best for it. It's only 7ft from the west wall of the house and the reflective heat is strong in the afternoon. Plenty of people grow fruit and citrus trees here, but I think "full sun" is taken with a grain of salt for non-native plants.

Many people here grow Desert Willow trees for fast-growing shade. While they are originally from Texas, they grow very well in the Sonoran desert and are well suited to the extremes. I have been considering removing the apricot tree and replacing it with a Desert Willow. It seems likely to provide shade sooner than the apricot and it is more drought tolerant.

Is there any reason I should not do this? What exactly does it take to remove a 6-7ft apricot sapling? How large should I expect the root system to be and how thoroughly would I need to remove the root system?

I know that fall planting is typically recommended for trees, but local advice suggests that those trees can be planted at any time if I am prepared to care for it daily.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!