If you have a lawn or a garden in our Arizona desert, you might need a little assistance with what to expect in your garden, and what to do in your garden at certain times of the year. Here are some basic tips for caring for your desert plants, flowers, vegetables, and trees.

Find your Phoenix area garden checklist for other months.

Your Desert Garden - Monthly Do List for October

Grass

• Apply potassium on Bermuda to help it to come out of dormancy in the spring with greater vigor.

• Conserve water, and consider not planting a winter lawn.
• The second week of October to beginning of November is the average window for planting winter lawns.
• Perennial Rye will provide a deep green lawn. Mow existing Bermuda lawns to about one half inch. Sow at the rate of 10 to 15 pounds per l,000 square feet.
• After initial soaking, water three or four times a day for 3-5 minutes to keep the seeds moist. Keep moist for about two weeks until the seed germinates and then water once a day.
• You should be able to mow the third week after sowing. Mow 1 1/2 to 2 inches in height and water once a week.

Trees/Shrubs

• With the exception of palms, October is the best month for planting trees and shrubs. Dig a hole three times the size of the root ball. Plant the tree or shrub so the top of the root ball is slightly higher than ground level. Backfill with the native soil, phosphate and Ironite, and twelve fertilizer briquettes - three under the root ball and three in three levels as you back fill. Now you won't have to fertilize for a year. Run the hose in the hole as you back fill to settle the native soil and drive out air pockets.

• Water newly planted shrubs and trees once per week.
• Cut back watering of all trees and shrubs by about one-third as weather cools, but continue to water deep. Don't over water or fungus will grow. For example, if you're watering your citrus every week, stretch this out to every two weeks.
• Clean dead branches out trees and shrubs.
• Trim unwanted sprouts from the interior of your citrus trees. This makes it easier to harvest fruit.

Flowers

• This is the season for planting flowers, and local nurseries will have plenty.
• Dianthus, geraniums and petunias bloom continuously.
• Lobelia (bright blue) and alyssum borders are popular. They come in white, lavender, pink, or Easter bonnet, which is a white-lavender mix.
• If you want to plant bulbs, plant them the first of November. Freesias and paper white Narcissus will come up year after year without much maintenance, as will Anomoe, Crocus, Gladiolus, Iris, or Ranunculus. Hyacinths and Tulips need to be put into a paper sack and chilled in your refrigerator for 4-6 weeks or they probably won't bloom. For a nicer look plant bulbs in groups or clusters instead of rows.
• Resume full fertilizing of established roses as the weather cools.
• Keep spent rose blooms pruned.
• Plant wildflowers now for a late spring exhibition. Mexican gold poppies, California poppies, desert bluebells, desert marigold, desert lupine, aroyo lupine, dyssodia, firewheel, red flax, Mexican hat, spreading fleabane, desert senna, verbena and sunflowers. Water the flowerbed daily until the seeds germinate, and once a week thereafter if there is no rain.

Vegetables

• Plant your winter vegetables in October, both the leafy kinds and root producers. Plant so that seedlings will be about 1-1/2 inches from one another.
• Plant from seeds: beets, bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, card, collard greens, endive, kale, lettuce, leeks, mustard, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, rutabagas, spinach, turnips
• Transplants: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, garlic, lettuce

Your Desert Garden - Monthly Don't List for October

1. Don't fertilize established trees and shrubs now. Save fertilizing until February.
2. Don't water the lawn when it's dark.
3. Don't dethatch Bermuda in the Fall.
4. Don't overwater grass. Allow the soil to dry out between watering.
5. Don't use pre-emergent herbicides where you will be planting seeds.

Information contained herein was obtained from the The University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and John Chapman's Southwest Gardening with their permission. Keep in mind that soil and conditions vary from location to location. Check with a local yard or landscape expert for specific issues with your garden.