Other than our driveway, you will also be hard-pressed to find a lick of gravel in our yard. We are mulching fools. We mulch our vegetable garden with straw and our perennial beds and rose garden with cedar mulch. Since many of us who live in the desert are challenged with water and soil issues, mulching with quality products like cedar, cypress and pecan shells help to deter bugs, enrich the soil and retain water.
Some people really missed the mark concerning xeric gardening, and many moons ago decided gravel was the answer to a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant yard. I call this phenomenon moonscaping. And while this may seem reasonable let s discuss what s wrong with this picture. Not only is this look unsightly, it also adds to the overall temperature around your home requiring much more energy just to keep your home cool. This retained heat can also cause stress to newly planted plants, making it difficult for them to establish.
Ah… but gravel mean no maintenance, right? That s a big no. All of your deciduous plants losing their leaves in your gravel equal ugly, dirty gravel and hubby becoming one with a blower for a weekend. The one nice plus to using a gravel product is color. There are several colors to choose from which can really change the look of a space. So if gravel is to be used, I find the best answer is crushed fines. They compact with water, retain more water that a standard gravel, are not nearly as hot and allow you to rake it so leaf clean-up is much easier.
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Where are you getting cedar and cypress. I want to get rid of all of my rocks and mulch. If I had to buy a bag at a time it would cost too much. I guess cedar and cypress repel insects? I got pecan mulch from soilutions but don’t think it is an insect repellant. Any suggestions?
Audie,
Yes, cypress and cedar are natural repellents but where to get good quality products in bulk is a good question. One suggestion I have is mixing bagged material with bulk product like the mulch at the Village Mercantile in Corrales. This mulch is forest based and breaks down nicely. If you were to mix this with some bagged product, you would get the bug resistance and ultimately an excellent product working its way into your soil.
Jennifer
Hi, We live out in the sand in north Rio Rancho and would like a recommendation for a privacy hedge to keep the road noise as well as the blowing sand down. We have a lot of rabbits so it would need to be either resistant or we’d have to put a “fence” around them. We have a drip line and have tried a hybrid willows that didn’t work.
thanks!
Greetings Margaret,
If you don’t mind a deciduous shrub, Purple-leaf Sand Cherry (Prunus cistena) is a great choice because of the deep purple and dark green leaves. If you’re looking for a brighter green-gray leaf try Western Sand Cherry (Prunus besseyi) or “Pawnee Buttes” Western Sand Cherry, this is a smaller variety.
The plants will fair well in the wind of Rio Rancho, are quite drought tolerant once established and all bloom beautifully in the spring. The two latter varieties also provide a nice small fruit that is attractive to many birds and can be used for making jams and jellies.