Readers—especially long-time readers—of my garden blog may have noticed a name change here. I’ve been hesitant about changing the URL, but I have gone ahead and named this still-new garden, A Thornscrub Garden.
So, why the change? Well, partly in order to help myself rethink my plans and plantings.
When I moved here and began thinking out the new garden, I began under the extremely naive idea that conditions would be relatively similar to my garden outside Phoenix… only a bit colder in winter. Reader, that was an error, and it has taken me the better part of three gardening years to reset my expectations.
By now, I’ve begun to realize it is time to let the new garden flourish with an entirely new name and concept.
And why “thornscrub”? This is a celebration of the basic plants that predominate here, and of their importance in the new garden.
These are plants of the moister, eastern borderland of the Sonoran Desert, an ecosystem defined as “Sonoran thornscrub”. Its better-known southern counterpart region blends on into deciduous tropical forests in Mexico, while in this area the thornscrub climbs upward into montane flora.
This “thronscrub” comprises the small trees and large shrubs that make this part of the Sonoran ecosystem feel lush and sometimes even densely grown. They are the mesquites (Prosopis velutina), the palo verdes (Parkinsonia microphylla), and the assorted acacia relatives, from whitethorn (Vachellia constricta) to catclaw (Senegalia greggii). Thorny they are indeed, and often scrubby in the wild, though most when grown well can reach the top of a two-story house or so.
Curiously, all of these plants are legumes. They feed the soil, the wild creatures, and many can even supply good food for humans. I used the fresh “peas” from some of our palo verde trees last summer, and I can vouch that they are delicious! In short, they create a rich living space all around them.
Rather than remake the basic plant composition in my garden, I’ve decided to go with the nature of the place. I’m encouraging palo verde and mesquite seedlings to grow upward into small trees for the necessary shade. I’m carefully collecting the occasional spare native perennials from around the property: Sphaeralcea laxa, Encelia farinosa, Nicotiana obtusifolia, as well as introducing others that can naturally grow here.
By great good fortune, I can do this because the two acre property has been left mostly wild over the years. A rough and heavy-handed clearing was done in the garden area itself before we moved in. But at least many of the green, growing things were left more or less untouched there as well. And many of the core plants are fairly free with self-seeding.
In addition to these native elements, yes, of course there are roses and lavenders and my little collection of historic irises.
There are the Mediterranean herbs and bulbs.
And there are the nearly-native stalwarts from next door (in other words the Chihuahuan Desert). Not to mention my favorite Australian natives, which grow so well in a dry-country garden. But these are being planted into a framework that is directly from the site itself.
There is so little to see of all this intended structure so far! Plants are still quite small—it’s not like I’m buying them in fifteen gallon containers! I have to take them as they come; they must sprout and grow. And if I am transplanting them, they are, of course, best moved while still quite small.
But the thornscrub garden has begun to take on its basic character, even if I have to stand on tiptoe and squint to see the trees!
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Yes, it made for an interesting read - please continue to share the wider picture with us when you can
It's interesting to hear about your new garden Amy, and I will look forward to seeing it grow!