Black Thumb of Death

Water, water, water and water your yard if you live in the Valley of the Sun. And if you live in Maricopa, fertilize, fertilize and fertilize because they built your house in the desert. I have always considered myself to have a green thumb, but since we have moved to Maricopa (aka armpit of Arizona) it is more like the black thumb of death. Every shrub I planted the first winter here died (about 20). Three orange trees – dead. Now my beloved plum trees planted in the spring of this year – dying. Five previously beautiful red flowering plums. Sadly, even my roses which usually go nuts in the summer are barely productive. The grass was brownish and slow growing as well. What I have learned the hard way is unlike where I grew up (on the west side), plants here in Maricopa need constant fertilization. I suspect the water isn’t as nourishing here as it is on the west side either. The water here is so “hard (super high mineral content)” we have to use CLR to clean our shower everyday. The water sucks, its windy, far away from everything, it stinks…sorry I am getting a little carried away. Since this posting is about the yard I won’t go into how much I don’t like Maricopa….moving on.

Now I have come to the realization plants in Maricopa need more than most and therefore I fertilize every two to three months. I fertilize the grass twice based on the seasons: winter and summer. So far this has worked out well. Our winter grass had died off initially last winter (as it had the winter before)-- unbeknownst to me it needed fertilizer. I had never fertilized a winter lawn prior to living here in lovely (sarcasm) Maricopa. We applied the fertilizer the landscaper recommended and Voila! The yard looked fantastic for the remaining two months of winter. I applied it to the ailing summer grass a few weeks ago and it is a lush thick green carpet now.

As for my ailing plum trees – I am trying everything I know (which is very little) and a product called Super Thrive the Home Depot expert recommended. According to the package each dose “packs a super punch” of vitamins and such that plants need to grow. Supposedly you will see two years growth in one year. It has been one week and two applications with no visible results with the plum trees. However, it maybe my imagination (which my husband says it is), but the other trees look like they have grown. We have six Sisso trees which are extremely water loving and have been doing quite well here. They line the perimeter of the backyard and I hope one day they will provide massive amounts of shade as the sun is even more hostile here in Maricopa (did I mention it is also very windy?).

As for the plum trees, I hope they are lying dormant due to the hostile elements and will be strengthened in the cooler months to come—if only they could last until then. Did I mention summer is longer in Maricopa?