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3 Questions to ask before Fertilizing Plants in Phoenix

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3 Questions to ask before Fertilizing Plants in Phoenix

What is fertilizing?

If you’re going to keep non-desert plants in your Arizona backyard, and want them to look good and healthy, then you’ll need to help them out by properly fertilizing them.

Fertilizing your plants is a process that propagates and encourages your plants to grow. In other non-desert climates, plants defoliate (lose their leaves). Those leaves decompose and create their own mulch and nitrates that enrich the soil. The enriched soil then aids in healthy plant growth.

 Here in the desert, most of our plants and trees have tiny leaves, so there is not much soil enrichment that happens naturally. Instead, Arizona soil is made up of three primary components–clay, sand, and silt. Add one more challenge to the mix, that is the high salinity (salt) in our soil. If plants are forced to tolerate our soil, then they need some extra help to grow properly.

 Fertilizing aids plant growth in these harsh Arizona desert conditions, and the timing, plant-type, and type of fertilizer you use are all very important things to consider. So if you want the best-looking plants there are a couple of general rules to follow.


What is the best time to fertilize my plants in Phoenix?

When fertilizing your plants in Phoenix, you want to avoid the seasons with extreme weather. That means you should fertilize your plants in the fall or spring. Avoid fertilizing in the winter and summer. 

Fertilizing in the winter causes the plants to be exposed to frost. Because leaves and flowers hold so much water, the frost during the winter will freeze the plant’s tenders and burns them. This places their survival at high risk. Best to cover them when freeze warnings are called for.  

Fertilizing in the summer causes dehydration in the plants. The process of growth requires a lot of water, but because of the extreme heat, plants lose water about 3 times more quickly than they normally would. Plants transpire too quickly and can’t recover fast enough, which ends up stressing your plant, again putting it at risk to die.


Where should I buy fertilizer in Phoenix?

When it comes to buying fertilizer, every plant is different and the type of fertilizer that you’ll want to purchase depends on the type of plant and the location that you plant in your yard.

Instead of hopping in your car and going to the nearest home goods store, we recommend shopping for fertilizer in places that have more of a horticultural background. Here are some of the best places we recommend purchasing fertilizer.


Choose Wildflower Desert Design as Your Backyard Design Professional

We hope you feel more confident in fertilizing your Arizona plants. If you want to bring your landscaping dreams to life, we can help by creating a professional landscape design and install plan.  

Here’s how it works:

  1. You Dream – Think Big! Let us show you your dreams.

  2. We Design – Our 3D rendering provides a true realm of reality.

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For more questions about your landscaping needs, contact us at Wildflower Desert Design. Call us today for a FREE consultation!