The Effects of Weather in your Phoenix Landscaping Project
Phoenix landscaping
Should you be thinking about landscaping your house (either new plantings or replacing existing ones that did not measure up to Phoenix's harsh weather and climate), you'll want to think seriously about weather and climate first.
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Anyone who lives in the Phoenix area recognizes that they live in a desert. Meaning rainfall is sparse and unreliable. In most years (e.g., 1905 which has a record 19.73 inches), annual rainfall at Sky Harbor Airport exceeds 15 inches. Typically, under 10 inches falls, having a record low of two.82 inches in the 1956 and 2002. Average annual rainfall is a scant 8.29 inches.
Monsoon season (summer time rainy period) provides similar unreliability and limited rainfall. The typical summer rainfall (July-September) averages 2.77 inches. Yet, back in 1984, 9.56 inches fell, whilst in 1924, only 0.35 inches landed above Harbor Airport's rain gauge.
Rainfall (and snowfall) amounts increase together heads up into higher terrain towards the north and east of Phoenix.
Another good point is the high evaporation and transpiration rates in our sunny, warm area. Just like you have to drink a lot of water to keep your body hydrated, so, too, do plants.
Which means that anything you plant will likely require some supplemental watering at some point during the year.
With this background, it is important that any landscaping project address seasonal colors, plant size and, views and integration of home activities, and, especially, each plant's unique water needs. Without considering water needs, your plants will, without doubt not look of the same quality once wintry coolness shifts into summer heat.
A good landscape designer will consider most of these aspects as they create a unique landscape for your yard or swimming pool area.
They can also build a water efficient landscape (generally known as xerigraphy) that lowers water needs as a result of decreased turf areas, appropriate drought-resistant plantings, mulches and soil coverings and use of drip irrigation or soaker hoses; improves soil composition; and reduces maintenance. There are lots of native Arizona plants that can be used in such landscape designs. And, it's also possible to use different plants in many sunny locales compared to shadier sides of your home.
Your landscape designer can also set up an irrigation timer system to actually water plants during morning hours hours, water different plant groupings for different time periods and even eliminate watering when rainfall to the preceding 24-hour period exceeds a particular threshold value.
And, remember to have your landscape designer think about the use of water barrels and other water harvesting techniques while you develop your landscaping plans. These allow you to collect excess water during rainy periods and employ the water for irrigation purposes if the weather turns dry.
Understand that it is so much easier, attractive and cheaper to address all of these factors during the landscaping design process rather than doing them piecemeal afterwards.
So, don't merely landscape, landscape design. The operation is so much more than just putting plants in to the dry desert ground. And will also be as glad during winter as you are in summer and as glad next year simply because this year, thanks to some planning and dedication to a landscape-designed home.