Tag Archives: irrigation

redirecting

This week, I’ve been redirecting things. I’ll start with this recently purchased Ocotillo. I couldn’t resist it because it was actively growing in a pot which meant a higher likelihood that it would survive. See the green plant tape? It’s my attempt at coaxing the stalks to relax from vertical to a more natural position. Not very professional looking, I know 🙂

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If you’ve ever bought an Ocotillo, you know the stalks are typically tied tightly together with wire and have probably been tied for some time. With dry bare root stalks, it can take a long time before they start to relax. However, in the case of this actively growing specimen with green stalks, I think my Bonsai-esque technique might just work to redirect them!

Another redirection job this week has been of water lines. Many had been put right next to plants and trees which has caused roots to wrap around them. Not good. By far, the most valuable thing I learned in Desert Landscape School was that you should move the water source out from a tree as needed to keep it just under the canopy edge. If you’re using spaghetti lines, all you need to do is just shorten it as needed. If water is only getting to the root ball, roots have no need to venture out so it’s probably not going to grow in a healthy manner. This explained why a couple of my trees have grown very little in two years.

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Digging was not fun! Soaking the ground first really helps.
Digging was not fun! Soaking the ground first really helps.

cardinal rule and critters

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The cardinal rule of Landscapers is “locate all utilities and water lines before digging”. As it turns out, I broke that rule when I put in the fence posts. I was SO sure I knew exactly where all the irrigation lines were that I didn’t uncover many areas before hammering in the posts. Thankfully I only made one mistake but it cost me the whole morning because I had to go to the irrigation store and buy a connector. (I bought 3 just in case).

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Besides my irrigation photos, I got some critter shots yesterday. The first is a Pygmy Blue Butterfly (fairly sure). Dozens were swarming around the water soaked ground. They would land momentarily to get a drink but they’re SO tiny (less than half inch) that it’s tough to focus on them. My little Canon SX10 did a great job, I think!

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The grab shot below is of one of our many resident Harris Ground Squirrels. It was probably one of their faces peeking out at me last week when I uncovered its burrow. They are often mistaken for chipmunks because of their stripe.

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helping thirsty trees

This past week, I implemented another technique I learned in landscaping school. It’s a way to direct water from a drip line straight down to the roots of a tree. This Sweet Acacia has struggled since I planted it two years ago so it was high time to help it out. This technique will also solve the problem of the other plants getting too much water.

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I started by digging 9 holes about 1 foot deep and let the water run for a few hours.
I could almost hear the tree roots sighing with relief as they were slurping up the water 🙂

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Then I gathered up nine 1 gallon pots (save everything!) and cut off the bottoms.

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Next I positioned the pots in the holes so the tops were just above ground level and held them in place while filling with small rocks. This let the rocks fall deeper so the pots were then sitting on the rocks.

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The last step is to put a drip line into each pot and then cover them with decomposed granite.

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I should add that I put in about twice as many holes than were needed but this was to give the tree a boost. As it recovers, I will plug up about half of the drip lines.

By the way, this area has the best soil on the property so my plan is to continue to plant flowering cactus and succulents there. I call it my Macro garden. Unfortunately, it’s also known as Javelina Cafe 🙂

Next on the agenda? Fencing.