Desert life
We moved to Green Valley over three years ago, partially motivated by sunny skies, warm temperatures and “no maintenance” landscaping. Two out of three ain’t bad.
Plants and trees grow in the desert, and unless your landscape consists of gravel and rocks, there is maintenance.
We spent most of a day trimming our huge Mesquite tree. Yeah, it’s beautiful and provides us with an enormous amount of shade, but it’s messy (everything that grows here is messy) and it does require frequent trimming and pruning.
That huge green mass in the lower right hand corner of the pic is not a bush. It’s trimmings that need to be hauled away.
April 28th, 2005 at 8:06 am
Here in San Angelo, Texas we have two mesquite trees in our back yard. They have grown in rather grotesque shapes which adds a certain ambiance to the scene but……..as you say, they are messy. In the Midwest, we were accustomed to an annual leaf raking and burning celebration after which we endured the grim, bare winter awaiting the glorious awaking of nature in the spring. By contrast, the mesquite seems to shed continuously during the green season and has only a brief couple of bare months in the winter.
More than that, the mesquite is not a native of this region but has taken over with a vengence. It will take over acres and acres of uncultivated fields leaving it barely fit for animal grazing. Further, it sucks up above average quanities of water from the fields, depleting the water table and actually raising the humidity levels in what would otherwise have been a fairly dry and comfortable climate.
I might add I have nothing good to say about the live oak in the front yard. It does stay green all year around but, like the mesquite, it sheds constantly without even a brief winter nudeness. I presume the squirrels appreciate the acorns.
May 4th, 2005 at 3:39 pm
Your mesquite tree looks beautiful. But I will admit that our mesquite needs constant maintenance. Right now it is buzzing with bees.