I am an Arizona Master Gardener, and I work at a Phoenix nursery. As a Master Gardener, I get all of the weird questions. One recurring one is a request for "just plain mint", since the customer has read that it will repel everything from ants to javelina. They usually become angry when I ask what kind of mint they want, because whatever info they're working from simply said "mint", so they insist that that is the kind they need. Things really blow up when I tell them that there is no such thing, that it's always spearmint, or peppermint, or apple mint, or etc. Am I missing something? Is there a species that is simply called "mint", without modifiers? I'm always looking to learn new things. Problem solved! Thanks, all of you, for helping me out, especially u/Fun_Detective_2003. They're most likely looking for common mint, aka spearmint, Mentha spicata, as most of you suspected, and Fun Detective knows. Thanks again! 🎆

I'm looking for shrubs or ground covers for a north-facing location that gets no sun at all in the fall/winter and does get a fair amount of sun in the summer.

We’re wanting to put in some vines or climbing plants on our south and west walls to help keep the house cooler next year. Our AC unit is undersized for the house and it was struggling to keep up this year (renting currently, otherwise we would be upgrading the unit). In order to have good coverage of the wall, when should we be putting the plants into the ground? I was thinking we could get a head start in January if this winter stays warm, but I’m not sure if we should still observe the frost date.

Also, what are some good beneficial plants to use? We were thinking of using loofah gourds, maybe some Mexican water bottle and Jasmine, but we also want to integrate other beneficial plants (beyond just looking pretty).

I planted a lime tree in early October and since then the leaves have completely curled onto themselves. I can’t quite figure out what the specific issue is though because the other citrus trees I planted are doing just fine- they seem to be thriving even.

The tree has gotten a foliar spray for nutrients, regular watering, and it is not extremely hot or cold out right now. Any thoughts on what the issue may be?

I recently, moved out of AZ and would like to start some desert plant seeds to grow indoors (under plant lights of course). Does anyone have extra seeds they'd be willing to share if I mail a self addressed stamped envelope to you? I'd love any cactus seeds, especially saguaros, totem pole cactus, boobie cactus, any kind of succulents, or fancy aloes, etc. I'm open to almost any kind of seeds, even non desert plants like hoyas or anything with a corm.

I live in an apartment in the city and have a 12’x12’ covered patio with nice big windows looking out onto it. I’d like to get some potted plants/shrubs/small trees that can handle full shade but still thrive through the hot summers and cool winter nights. Thank you in advance!

Does anything get rid of this monster??? I’ve got in my pollinator garden (gravel/sand) and cannot for the life of me get rid of it. Anyone had any luck? The former owners used landscape mesh and it does nothing to tame it. Any help appreciated!

What kind of plant can I use between pavers like this in the valley? The area is my west side yard, 4 ft wide with minimal sun due to the house and wall.

I’m looking for something that doesn’t need to be mowed and is soft underfoot. Minimal foot traffic but it is in a Catio so must be cat safe.

Thanks

I'm new to both Arizona and gardening of any kind -- I have lived mostly in apartments and condos my entire adult life, so I've done container gardening (though not very well, I admit!). But I'm now in a house in the Phoenix area and responsible for keeping the landscaping alive -- and not doing a very good job of it! The house is equipped with an irrigation system and I'd thought the bougainvillea only needed occasional watering from everything I'd read, but recently it's started to look very sad and pale and many of the blooms fell off (this was pretty soon after I watered it, too).

I thought for sure I must have overwatered it, but now I'm reading that if it looks pale and sad and the blooms are dropping, it's probably underwatered.

So... how often should I be watering it in this season?? I leave the irrigation system on for about 30 minutes each time I water, and I've been doing it probably every week or so, sometimes every two weeks. (I had read that it needed water only every month or even less, so I thought I was doing okay!)

I would love any help you can offer for readjustment to the watering schedule, before I completely destroy this poor bush. :-( Thanks in advance!

I’m in zone 9b, wanted to head to the nursery today to pick out some colorful, seasonal flowers for the pollinators this winter. Any suggestions?

Hi!

This is my first year growing tomato plants, and they are looking really great right now. There are a lot of unripe fruit and flowers. They seemed to take off once we dropped out of the 100s. They did just fine during last week's cold snap when early mornings dipped into the high 40s, but starting Saturday, it looks like we're getting lows of low 40s. Are you guys protecting your tomato plants? If not, when do you start? Are you guys having success keeping your tomato plants alive through winter? How are you doing it? Any tips or advice would be appreciated. I'd really love to see my tomatoes ripen and survive! I live in North Phoenix btw.

Thanks gardeners!

I have a bunch of iris’ that are overcrowded. They are right next to a rose bush. I would like to dig up the irises and transplant them, gift them etc. but not sure the right time of year to do that. Is now okay or wait till spring? I also want to dig a up the whole flower bed and replace dirt due to having a Bermuda grass problem. My goal is to grow more tomatoes in that area since bucket gardening didn’t do to well on my tomatoes compared to the prior year. Any ways….irises. When can I dig these thing up? I’m in zone 9 for hardiness (if that makes a difference)

Now that it is getting colder in Gilbert AZ, how should I care for my sweet potato vine? It’s starting to look dry and sad. This is my first time having sweet potato vines and I read that they might die off in the winter.

What are my options? Can I somehow keep it through the winter here? Should I bring inside? Do I need to prune? Fertilize? Dig it up and find something else to pot?

Any advice would be super helpful! TIA.

Like many of us around here, I have lantana in my yard and it does great. I can ignore it and it still blooms along happily. Not so, however, for the lantana I'm trying to grow in a pot. The plant is plagued with problems from crunchy leaves to blooms that are incomplete or deformed.

I've been seeing random leaves pop up with spots of this black stuff on them and I don't know what I'm dealing with here. Any thoughts, friends?

Hello! I planted a peach tree last year and unfortunately it really struggled this summer in the extreme heat. As a result there are some dead branches but some new growth is looking great at the bottom of the canopy. I was reading about how and when to prune trees and am hoping to get some clarity on my specific situation.

The tree is pretty young (planted from a 5 gal.) about a year ago. It is pretty small (probably 4 ft. tall). The upper branches did not survive the summer but the bottom ones did and have new growth. As the upper branches are dead can I remove them now or should I wait until spring? Most of the branches appear to have died and only a few are doing well. Is there a limit on how much I should cut back when I do cut off the dead branches? I don't want to make it worse by cutting off too much.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Hello All,

Looking for recommendations on a skinny tree or shrubs for the north side of my house. These get morning and evening sun but are shaded all afternoon.

It’s about a 6 ft wide space between my house and the fence. The goal is to help dissipate the constant weed smell that is coming from my neighbor. He smokes weed in his side yard between our houses and the smell constantly is invading our house and backyard.

Thanks for any help.

Happy Sunday all, I recently purchased a fruitless olive from Moon Valley as I saw many of the fruitless trees bearing fruit. Is there a way I can get one of these fruitless trees to produce olives consistently? I don't really want a fruitless tree but it seems it's all that I can buy.

My landlord is actually letting me plant things in the ground beyond perennial flowers. It's basically bare dirt with a single struggling cactus against the wall that I'm now trying to nurse back to health after the heat. No weeds, even.

Summer is over, so in our backwards climate, that means it's planting season. I'm trying to get everything in the ground in the next couple weeks, hoping it'll all get established enough to survive the coming heat.

In February I planted desert honeysuckle, a couple lantana, a Palo Verde and two citrus saplings. I spread seeds for desert flowers and some grass, then kept it all damp for weeks. A few seeds sprouted, but never flowered. By July, despite careful, sometimes daily, watering, shade cloth and everything else my nursery advised, everything but the Palo Verde was fried.

But I'm trying again. This week I'm putting in some native and some decently heat and drought tolerant shrubs and trees (trying to avoid dangerously invasives, though). I've planted Texas sage, Azure Germander and a Chinese Elm.

I'm also researching native, and especially arid, grasses for ground cover; Blue Grama (bouteloua gracilis) is the front runner. Hopefully it'll keep the water in and make the "yard" less of a heat island. No porch, so it all gets thrown against the wall and windows of my kitchen and front room.

I'm wondering what others have done to improve the odds and actually gave those first plants a fighting chance. What else can I do to get things going? Maybe even keep birds from eating all the grass and Sonoran wildflower seeds? I'm hoping that if these work, next fall I can really get planting.

I'm in Maricopa, just a few minutes outside Phoenix.

My new yard is a dirt lot facing south with no shade or shelter. Everything I've planted since February, excepting the Palo Verde, has fried, even the citrus saplings despite careful watering and shade cloth. So I'm trying putting in some more hardy trees and shrubs before anything else.

I bought a 7' Chinese Elm sapping on Monday, and while I'd hoped to get it in the ground by Tuesday, further reading (and triple checking where the water lines were) said I needed to put it farther from the house to avoid foundation damage. Which meant a few more days of prepping a new spot.

I usual method, which I've done to generally positive results elsewhere is dig until the soil gets hard packed, fill with water, let it soak in and repeat, sometimes for days before and after work until the hole is 2 1/2 to 3 times as wide & as deep as the pot. I like to add some loose soil to the bottom of the hole as well so the roots have something loose to start burrowing into down as well as out.

I watered the pot a few times, but it's still more dried out then I like and I've just gotten it planted. The hole was filled with water, then tree, then filled with soil; in an hour or so when it's settled, I'll add more soil on top (but not pack it) a small collection hole for watering and stab the non-rootball parts of hole a few times for aeration.

What else should I do to help it along? Some websites say leave it alone, some say water 3 times a day for the first 8 months, some say weekly the first year. There's also no consensus on feeding, soil additives, etc.

Help! First time gardener so please be kind. I planted zucchini seeds and the plants are growing ok I think but my zucchinis are not. See pics what could be wrong? There's bees in the garden for pollination and I did find ants and aphids so I'm trying to take care of that. Could that be why my zucchinis are so small and turning yellow on the end? Picture one is what it looks like first, second pic is after a few days.

If you’re already registered, early voting ends on November 1st, but you can still vote on Election Day. It’s too late to register for this election, so here’s what you need to bring when voting:

1.	Option 1: One Photo ID with your name and address, such as:
•	Arizona driver’s license
•	Arizona non-operating ID
•	Tribal ID
•	U.S. federal, state, or local government ID

2.	Option 2: Two Non-Photo IDs with your name and address, like:
•	Utility bill, bank statement (dated within 90 days)
•	Arizona vehicle registration
•	Property tax statement, voter registration card
•	Official Election Material mailing

3.	Option 3: Combination of one photo ID without a matching address (e.g., U.S. passport, military ID) plus one non-photo ID from Option 2 with your matching address.

For details on ID requirements, visit https://www.vote.org/state/arizona/

Find your polling place here, https://my.arizona.vote/WhereToVote.aspx?s=address

See you at the Polls!

In Spring, I hired a gardener to add plants to my backyard. I told them that Sunmertime is full sun (north/south) and winter has shade from our walls. I request plants that could survive this and that didnt leave a huge mess. They planted two types of Lavender, common myrtle, wax leaf privet, purple ruellia, and white ruellia.

Now that summer has passed, all of the wax leaf privet are dead. Most of the Lavender are dead. The ruellias and myrtles are hanging on for dear life.

As I would like to replace the dead items, I'm looking for suggestions on what can survive the heat/full sun during the summer and the shade during the winter. I only have one irrigation line so I need plants with similar watering schedules. The irrigation system is also tied into the water softener system.

I'm in south Phoenix area (east valley).

I appreciate any suggestions as I'll probably do the replacement myself.

Greeting all, We are getting a Ficus tree from Whitfill scheduled for next week planting. They had white flys on them and while they may treat them before they get here, I want to spray it with an insecticidal soap. Does anyone here have a recipe to make my own? I saw one that used a 2:5 mix of rubbing alcohol and water with dish soap added as a surfactant. Any other suggestions?

I had a load of mulch delivered and it smells strongly of ammonia. I tested it with a home kit and the test shows neutral PH. Is it good to use or do you think it will kill my plants and lawn?