Thoughts on moving

MKIVRYAN · Joined: 07 Dec 2010 Posts: 154 Location: Phoenix/Scottsdale

Just got the word that we have an accepted offer on a new house. This was a hard choice as we do really like our current house, but we wanted more land. My question to you all is if you were starting from scratch on your yard how would you do it? There are currently trees and some grass in this yard but I'm thinking I want a clean slate. Maybe dig the yard down 2-3 feet in the areas I will plant in with a bobcat and bring it compost? I want to go the extra mile this time to do it the right/best way the first time around.

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:56 pm Post subject:

I don't think there is much benefit in digging up the yard. Instead, have a landscaping company drop off a couple of tons of free mulch and spread it on top of your soil about 6 inches deep where you will be growing things.

As soon as the initial hot part of the decomposition is over which usually takes a month or so you are ready to plant.

MKIVRYAN · Joined: 07 Dec 2010 Posts: 154 Location: Phoenix/Scottsdale

Really? I was thinking about digging it down a way 2-3' to get rid of all this crappy soil and bring in some compost and 1/4" minus to help with drainage. I did the add compost thing at my current yard for the last 3 years and the top 12" is nice then it just turns to clay.

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:27 pm Post subject:

The clay here isn't really that bad. We just lack topsoil as far as I can tell. Also, I don't think you'll ever hit the bottom of the clay unless you run into rock. Of course, I'm not a geologist just based on my experience the best you can do is create a topsoil rich in organic matter. I don't think that starting to add your organic matter a couple feet deeper vs. just adding it on top will make much difference. It will just be a lot more expensive to haul away a bunch of dirt.

Furthermore, changing the ph is pretty much impossible. Also, don't believe all of the claims that this or that plant needs good drainage. I read somewhere the other day that citrus need good drainage. Well, my drainage here is terrible, I have clay on top of rock and the citrus still do extremely well. If you have deep clay you are lucky. Very Happy

Bkaus · Joined: 31 Jul 2012 Posts: 136 Location: North Phoenix

This is an interesting topic about Phoenix soil. My house is built on top of an old wash and 80% of my yard has clay and the other has 20% caliche right below the surface. My 80% works well by just adding much and compost to the soil. The 20% of my yard where things don’t grow requires more effort to get trees to grow like digging a deep hole and filling it with compost.

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 9:30 pm Post subject:

After years of mixing compost into the backfill when planting I have found that it is better just to backfill with the native soil and to mulch the surface.

Bkaus · Joined: 31 Jul 2012 Posts: 136 Location: North Phoenix

At one of the AZRGF meeting last year the speaker was saying that he puts down 3 feet of mulch around his planting. I want to do this but trying to work out the technical details? If I have a one foot plant how can I put 3 foot pile of mulch around it? So just start out with a one foot pile and increase it as the plant grows I guess!

Another problem I have is termites in my yard if I leave a piece of wood on the ground it will get consumed by these little bugger. So is a 3 foot pile of wood chips going to feed these guys?

After you get the ground figured out the biggest plus I found out last summer was shade cloth my stuff grew great that was covered with it.

The best plan I had this winter was putting up a green house over my tropical if I had put any of them in the ground they would have gotten frozen during our week freeze. It worked out keeping them in pots so I could move them into the green house. When they get to big for pots I’m not sure what I’ll do? Maybe sell them and buy new ones? Build a big greenhouse? But then what to do about heating?

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 7:49 pm Post subject:

Six inches of mulch is plenty. It will break down and then you can add more. As for keeping your plants warm it has a lot to do with where you live in town. Many years here in North Mesa I don't have any frost but things have been pretty rough here since 2007. Seems like we get hammered every other year. I grow everything in the ground out in the open and when it does freeze I work like crazy trying to protect everything. Stuff usually gets beaten back even with protection but I seldom have anything actually die anymore. The larger your plants get the less likely they are to be killed. Mango trees are about as hardy as Ficus Nitida trees. The only thing that makes mangoes harder to grow is that they grow a lot more slowly so they stay small and vulnerable to freezes much longer.