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Things To Do If You Don’t Overseed

Many homeowners, communities and businesses use the time they or their landscaper would ordinarily spend on mowing winter rye to do the following:

1. Irrigation schedules.
Adjust irrigation schedules for the season. At a minimum, irrigation systems should be adjusted quarterly according to the season. Ideally this should be done monthly for best management practices. Dormant Bermuda only requires irrigation once per month in the winter. In the winter, trees should be watered to a depth of three feet once every 4 weeks. Shrubs only need to be watered once every 30 days as long as the water is soaking in to two feet.

Call your city’s Water Conservation Office for your free copy of "Landscape Watering by the Numbers" which will walk you, step by step, through programming your irrigation system. When you call also ask about our free irrigation workshops offered twice a year.

2. Irrigation systems.
Winter is a great time for irrigation maintenance. A broken sprinkler head can waste up to 20 gallons of water a minute! Check sprinkler heads and drip emitters. Replace worn sprinkler heads with the same brand and type. Emitters can become clogged with salts or sediment and may need to be replaced. . As plants grow and mature, their water needs increase requiring the addition of more emitters or ones that dispense more water.

3. Emitters.
Move emitters away from plant trunks. Typically the emitters are in the same place they were when the landscape was originally installed. Moving emitters encourages the roots to grow outward creating a better anchoring system for the plant. Plus, the feeder roots which absorb water and nutrients are located away from the trunk at or near the drip line. Moving emitters to the drip line allows the soil near the trunk to dry a bit. Dry soil is much more stable than wet soil and this can prevent plants (especially trees) from blowing over in winds.

4. Stakes and ties.
Check the ties and stakes on trees. Ties that are too tight can create wounds or weak points along the trunk. They must be checked on a regular basis to prevent restriction of the trunk's movement. Allowing your trees to move slightly in the wind, within the tie, will help to develop a strong trunk. Trees should never be permanently staked. Remove stakes if trees can stand on their own. Stakes and ties should be removed as soon as possible, usually within one year..

5. Weeds.
Apply pre or post-emergent herbicides. This is a great time to get control of those spring weeds by applying a pre-emergent herbicide that prevents weed seeds from being able to germinate. Post-emergent herbicides can work for weeds that have already germinated and are growing; look for the active ingredient “glyphosate”.

6. Pruning.
Winter is a good time to prune some landscape shrubs. Instead of continual shear pruning, an annual selective pruning will produce a more natural-looking plant and allow it to bloom to its full potential. Plants that are repeatedly shear pruned require more water and fertilizer.

Summer-blooming shrubs are best pruned in the winter or early spring and include Texas sage (Luecophyllum spp.), Red Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana), our native bunch grasses (Muhlenbergia spp.), Desert Ruellia (Ruellia peninsularis), most Salvias, and Arizona Yellow Bells (Tecoma sp.).

Frosty nights may damage tender foliage on plants like lantana and bougainvillea. Wait until new growth has emerged next February or March before you prune away frost-damaged stems. The ‘toasted’ parts actually help insulate the rest of the plant from further damage. Selective pruning with hand pruners or by-pass loppers may be more work, but the results are worth it. Check with your local Cooperative Extension office for additional resources on pruning.

7. Replace annual color beds with perennial desert-adapted plants.
Color beds are typically replanted twice each year. Perennial beds only need to be planted once and can provide year-round color with less maintenance. Penstemons (Penstemon sp.), Angelita Daisy (Hymenoxys acaulis), Katie Ruellia (Ruellia brittoniana ‘Katie’), Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata), Tufted Evening Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa), Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera), Goodding's Verbena (Verbena gooddingii), Desert Zinnia (Zinnia acerosa), Gaura (Gaura lindheimeri), Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens), Aloes (Aloe sp.), Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata), Hummingbird Trumpet (Zauschneria californica) and Fleabane Daisy (Erigeron divergens) are just a few choices.

8. Mulch around plants.
Adding a layer of organic mulch will improve your soil by adding nutrients and slowing moisture loss over your plants’ root zone. They also keep tender roots warmer during the chilly winter months and cooler in the summer. Keep mulch away from trunks or main stems to avoid suffocation. Organic mulches such as shredded bark or compost need to be added annually as they decompose rapidly each year. Organic mulches can be covered with granite if you prefer. By using trimmings from the landscape as mulch, you are saving on dumping fees and keeping green waste out of the landfill.

9. Seed a wildflower area.
October is the perfect time to put out seed for California or Mexican Gold Poppy (Eschscholtzia californica, or E. mexicana.), Desert Lupine (Lupinus arizonicus), Wild Snapdragon (Linaria texana), Scarlet Flax (Linum grandiflorum), Desert Bluebells (Phacelia campanularia), Owl’s Clover (Orthocarpus purpurascens), or Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa). Just mix the tablespoon of seed with two cups of sand for more even distribution and scatter out over crushed granite. The seeds will need to be watered the first few weeks to get them established if we do not get sufficient fall and winter rains. In the spring you will enjoy a beautiful carpet of color.

10. Planting.
Fall is the perfect time to plant new areas, replace plants that have died or remove high water use plants. Native or desert-adapted plants adjust easily to our soils and climate, and require less water and maintenance. Planting in the fall gives roots a chance to establish in the cool months before the hot summer temperatures hit. Plants should be placed in holes no deeper than the root ball. The soil should be loosened two to four times the size of the canopy. Placing a 2-3 inch layer of mulch around the plant, but away from the stems or trunk, will help those roots thrive. Contact your Water Conservation Office for a copy of the free new booklet, Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert which features over 200 colorful desert adapted plants. Visit the Arizona Municipal Water Users (AMWUA) website for details.

“We’re Not Asking You to Save the World, Just a Little Water”

If you would like to know more about Gilbert’s water resources and water conservation, contact the Water Conservation office at (480) 503-6098