Spring Gardening In Arizona

With spring approaching quickly, it’s the perfect time to convert your winter garden into a warm-weather haven for all your favorite plants, produce, and flowers. When gardening in hot, dry climates, knowing the best time of year to plant your produce can be a make-or-break decision for your plants—not to mention priming your soil and gardening area for planting. Gardening in Arizona can be a science all in itself, but we’re here to help with our best Arizona gardening tips and tricks to make your garden thrive.

Research And Plan Ahead

Plan For Size And Season

Before you order seeds or purchase transplants for your garden, it’s important to know which flowers and plants grow best in an arid climate. This simple starting point is an essential step in the success of growing a flourishing garden. Additionally, it’s helpful to know the size of the plants you want to grow so you can plan how big your garden needs to be. Small backyard gardens are perfect for Arizona gardening. You should aim to start on the small size so you can more easily manage your seedlings—a three or four foot garden should be plenty.

Start Indoors

Next in your research, note that it’s beneficial for many types of produce and herbs to begin growing indoors before they’re eventually moved outside. Depending on the specific plant you want to grow, plan on planting seeds indoors in late December through mid-March. Handy Arizona gardening calendars such as the Arizona Planting Calendar by The Old Farmer’s Almanac will help you determine the best time to plant certain produce and herbs in Arizona in order for them to thrive.

Prepare Your Garden

Clear Out Winter Plants

First things first, start clearing out your winter plants if your cold-weather garden isn’t perennial. Harvest any produce that is ripe and assess which plants have passed their peaks for the season. It’s perfectly okay to give your produce a little more time if it’s not quite ripe, as spring plants can be placed around winter plants, which are removed shortly after their produce has ripened.

Prime Gardening Space

After you sort out your winter plants, start to prepare your garden for new growth. Clean out your gardening space of weeds and debris before topping the soil with compost and fertilizer. In this process, it can be extremely helpful to test your soil with a simple soil-testing kit to determine the health and specific needs of your soil.

Monitor Your Soil

Once the space is prepared, pay special attention to the soil. Monitoring your soil temperature is crucial to successful growth in dry climate gardening. Many types of produce can typically thrive in a range of 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the particular produce. Late-season frosts or scorching Arizona heat waves can thwart your seedlings and ripening produce if you plant too early or too late.

Start Planting

Introduce Indoor Plants Gradually

When your garden is prepared and your soil is primed, you’re ready to begin planting (or transplanting)! If you’re transplanting indoor seedlings outdoors, be careful not to overexpose them to sunlight and heat too quickly. Rather, introduce them gradually to the outdoors over time before permanently moving them outside.

Location And Light

Feel free to plant your spring and summer plants around your remaining winter plants, as your warm-weather plants will do well with the extra space once your winter plants are ready to be harvested. After planting, be sure to monitor the amount of sunshine and shade your plants are getting per day, bearing in mind the instructions on sun and shade for each specific plant. And of course—don’t forget to water!

Reap The Benefits

All your efforts have paid off—you’ve grown a successful and thriving garden, even in the desert heat. Once your produce is ripened to your liking, you can begin to harvest and utilize your fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Throw a tomato in with your salad at lunch, or impress the neighbors with a gift of fresh home-grown produce.

Communities Built To Thrive

Christopher Todd Communities offers the perfect space to follow our spring gardening tips to grow your own produce right at home. Our luxury smart home community gives you your own private, maintenance-free backyard to relax, enjoy, and garden to your heart’s content. Picture your day-to-day life with a lush, beautiful backyard garden of produce just outside your door, bringing your manicured backyard to life and providing you with easy access to delicious fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Our communities introduce A New Way To Live® with the space and resources you need to enjoy your life. Our detached, single-story, single-family homes provide improved privacy over apartment rentals, less maintenance than owning a house, built-in smart home technology, and tons of space for entertainment and socialization. Here, you get a private, maintenance-free backyard, luxurious community amenities, in-home features that add convenience, and regular resident events for a true neighborhood atmosphere. You can view our communities here.

Written By

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Christopher Todd

Christopher Todd Communities creates neighborhoods and communities for people to enjoy, share, and live. Here, you’ll find luxury, single-story, rental homes in gated, planned communities that are professionally managed. These come complete with amenities designed for socializing, energizing, for peace of mind, and even for pets.