251 replies to this topic

[Quezo]

here's what i'm struggling with when it comes to landscaping in az
why the fuck are we planting and maintaining plants/bushes/trees
that have no fucking business in our yards in the first place?
my ficus took a shit too but i'm willing to let it go because it doesn't belong here.
i don't know of anybody in maine covering up their saguaros when winter comes around.
i don't understand why i'm trying to go out of my way to keep my "shrubbery in exile" alive.

cuz they're pretty. And lets face it, no one wants a yard full of cacti.

AZ state bird the Cactus Wren says: "Hey, I live in cacti!"

[jeremx]

oh shit it is pouring up in north snottsdale right now!
and i just realized i left my laundry out on the clothesline today. fuck shit.

aaaaand that's what you get for crapping on my love of my ficus in the desert. ha!

and "fuck shit" to this:

10: If frost gets to your plant, don't remove the damaged parts. They might not look great for a couple of months, but those dead branches and leaves provide protection for the part of the plant that is still alive. You can prune frost damaged plants in the spring.

i spent part of this saturday shaking off the dead leaves. aaaaand that's what i get for not researching first.

[Quezo]

There's a ficus tree outside my cubicle that gets plenty of sun and personalized pruning and water perfection.

It is still a fickle ficus.

not meant to live here

[fatguyaz]

here's what i'm struggling with when it comes to landscaping in az
why the fuck are we planting and maintaining plants/bushes/trees
that have no fucking business in our yards in the first place?
my ficus took a shit too but i'm willing to let it go because it doesn't belong here.
i don't know of anybody in maine covering up their saguaros when winter comes around.
i don't understand why i'm trying to go out of my way to keep my "shrubbery in exile" alive.

cuz they're pretty. And lets face it, no one wants a yard full of cacti.

AZ state bird the Cactus Wren says: "Hey, I live in cacti!"

Chad the resident at Martin Farms says: "Hey Cactus Wren... go live out in the desert. You're a desert bird."

[differently biotic]

you can have beautiful landscaping w/ only desert plant life. I LOVE the way mesquite trees look. Especially when you train them to fan out perfectly. There are these desert bushes that have beautiful pruple flowers (desert ruellia) on them. Also oleanders and bougainvillea are awesome too, not to mention great security plants since they have thorns. There are all kinds of pretty desert wild flowers. Desert bird of paradise. Rosemary and desert sage.

my first house I did all the landscaping myself. Planted a mesquite tree, did the whole flagstone w/ wild flowers growing in between and lots of bushes like I listed above for color all around along w/ a flagstone, dye cement ponds w/ ice plants in strawberry pots.

[Jacki O.]

oh shit it is pouring up in north snottsdale right now!
and i just realized i left my laundry out on the clothesline today. fuck shit.

aaaaand that's what you get for crapping on my love of my ficus in the desert. ha!

and "fuck shit" to this:

10: If frost gets to your plant, don't remove the damaged parts. They might not look great for a couple of months, but those dead branches and leaves provide protection for the part of the plant that is still alive. You can prune frost damaged plants in the spring.

i spent part of this saturday shaking off the dead leaves. aaaaand that's what i get for not researching first.

touche

good to know about pruning the leaves on frost bitten plants though. i was gonna prune off all the dead on my hibiscus but i'll wait.

[Tony]

here's what i'm struggling with when it comes to landscaping in az
why the fuck are we planting and maintaining plants/bushes/trees
that have no fucking business in our yards in the first place?
my ficus took a shit too but i'm willing to let it go because it doesn't belong here.
i don't know of anybody in maine covering up their saguaros when winter comes around.
i don't understand why i'm trying to go out of my way to keep my "shrubbery in exile" alive.

just because it's not native doesn't mean it doesn't belong here. sorry for the double negative (triple negative?). ficus are typically able to withstand the heat and can actually thrive here (frost injuries notwithstanding). a more established ficus is going to cast a pretty big shadow and not consume a ton of water. and it's a reasonably "clean" tree as well - it's never going to shed leaves or flowers. if planted in the right spot it can shade the side of your house and decrease energy bills, or provide shade for a garden where you could grow all manner of foods not native to arizona.

but if you want to extend the "it doesn't belong here" analogy, then neither do we. this place is inhospitable. shit, palm trees don't belong here. or eucalyptus or oak or pecans. i don't think any of that stuff is native. just rocks, cactus, and mesquite.

also, i'll bet there's some dumb motherfucker in maine trying to grow cactus in his yard. there's bound to be at least one.

[capharnaum]

but if you want to extend the "it doesn't belong here" analogy, then neither do we. this place is inhospitable.

couldn't agree with you more

[jeremx]

also, i'll bet there's some dumb motherfucker in maine trying to grow cactus in his yard. there's bound to be at least one.

ha ha

[Jacki O.]

but if you want to extend the "it doesn't belong here" analogy, then neither do we. this place is inhospitable.

couldn't agree with you more

disagree

people have inhabited the sonoran desert for thousands of years. The people of the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Patayan did it before it was even called the Sonoran desert.

we're just not doing it right

[jeremx]

i spent $20 on 14 sheets at the goodwill yesterday and bought 2 packs of 50-count clothes pins. sewing those fuckers up when i get home today!

[skeksis]

but if you want to extend the "it doesn't belong here" analogy, then neither do we. this place is inhospitable.

couldn't agree with you more

disagree

people have inhabited the sonoran desert for thousands of years. The people of the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Patayan did it before it was even called the Sonoran desert.

we're just not doing it right

Nice Jacki - I was pretty much giving this lecture in a class today :-)

gonna have to go cover the garden again tonight. damn it.

[Tony]

but if you want to extend the "it doesn't belong here" analogy, then neither do we. this place is inhospitable.

couldn't agree with you more

disagree

people have inhabited the sonoran desert for thousands of years. The people of the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Patayan did it before it was even called the Sonoran desert.

we're just not doing it right

they would have been happier in san diego.

[jeremx]

i spent $20 on 14 sheets at the goodwill yesterday and bought 2 packs of 50-count clothes pins. sewing those fuckers up when i get home today!

welp the sheets are way too small to cover the trees from top to bottom. and it's windy as fuck and i'm not sure the clothes pins will hold. fuck it, i did my best with what i had. from the looks of weather.com, tonight might not be as bad as tomorrow night so i can grab some more sheets and some safety pins if necessary. oh, and i did run some xmas lights around the bases of the trees. for whatever that's worth.

[Quezo]

but if you want to extend the "it doesn't belong here" analogy, then neither do we. this place is inhospitable.

couldn't agree with you more

disagree

people have inhabited the sonoran desert for thousands of years. The people of the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Patayan did it before it was even called the Sonoran desert.

we're just not doing it right

they would have been happier in san diego.

Nah, too many European Christians.