Listen here:
Native plants are having a comeback. It’s one of those “easy sell” ideas – it’s a small investment with big payoffs. Landscaping your home with plants that have probably already lived there at some point is an easy way to create more shade, hold soil during the murder winds and just create natural beauty on your property. Most areas of the Morongo Basin are at an altitude that will support most plants, cactus and other native species you can find in Joshua Tree National Park or native gardens here in hi-desert.
At the recent opening of the Mojave Desert Land Trust’s Desert Discovery Garden, Joint Executive Director Kelly Herbinson talked about the idea of rewilding your yard – which supports native animals and insects – and the best time to put native plants in the ground:
Kelly Herbinson: “It’s supposed to be a wet winter. We’ve had a really wet year… this is an excellent time to plant. Water is obviously the biggest limiting resource for most plants, so if you can get them in and have a nice rainy winter they will have a way better chance of doing well in the spring.”
The County has been preparing for a potential repeat of last winter’s snowbound mountain towns by adding front-end loaders to their fleet of plows. And as tropical storm hilary taught some in the hi desert and many in the low – excessive wet weather can come quickly. But so far, El Nino has failed to deliver on the much hyped wet winter.
According to the LA Times, California has had less than 2.7 inches of precipitation statewide between Oct. 1st and Dec. 14th – less than half the state’s historical average. In that same report, they say the odds are starting to tilt in favor of this year’s El Niño actually delivering. But we’re talking about the weather here, nothing is guaranteed.
Getting native plants in the ground during winter – no matter how wet – is a good way to make them survive into hotter months. Cooler daytime temperatures and the eventual rainfall will help create strong root systems that make native plants so easy to take care of as they are growing where they naturally thrive.
Two examples of desert gardens are the recently opened Mojave Desert Land Trust Desert Discovery Garden, and the Joshua Basin Water District’s water-wise demonstration garden. Both are free to tour and are excellent ways to see plants you can use to rewild your yard.
Gardens:
Mojave Desert Land Trust Desert Discovery Garden
Joshua Basin Water District Waterwise Demonstrations Garden
Gardening and Planting in the Desert
The Unique Garden Show with Mike Branning
Desert Gardening at MDLT
Native Seeds:
Mojave Desert Land Trust Shop – Seeds
