An illustrated guide to growing plentiful fruits and vegetables in the driest of American climates Wherever you live in the desert--up to 3,500-feet elevation--this guide is for you. Enjoy plentiful fruits and vegetables from your desert garden. Desert gardening expert George Brookbank will help you with your desert garden. Two books in one . . . A tremendous reference tool you'll use all year 'round! 1. Complete how-to-do-it guide--Drip irrigation and watering --How to prepare desert soil --Which plant and tree varieties to choose --Citrus: Watering, pruning, fertilizing --New varieties for favorites: tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, melonsAnd the unusual . . . Low-chill applesOriental vegetablesYard-long beans--New chapters on hydroponics and alternatives to poisonous chemicals 2. Week-by-week desert calendar--Learn how to work with the desert's short seasons, hot weather, insects, and soils--When to plant--When to prune Over 650 photographs Great for Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas!

Everything you need to know to grow fresh, tasty vegetables, fragrant herbs, and colorful flowers is included in "Desert Gardening for Beginners." The authors, all life-long gardeners, have translated the most current horticultural information from University of Arizona researchers into easy-to-understand language new gardeners. Included are three planting calendars that provide the best months to sow hundreds of vegetables, flowers and herbs for maximum success.

Master organic vegetable gardening in 4 different low-water conditions—including high and low desert, drought, and voluntary water conservation. Features over 100 photos, maps, and diagrams—perfect for vegetable gardeners in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and more! Dedicated home gardeners will discover how to grow delicious produce in dry times with this authoritative full-color handbook. Using modern techniques, as well as tips from native traditions ranging from the southwestern United States to the Middle East, this guide offers the best of ancient wisdom and the newest innovations in conservation. Inside you’ll find over 100 color photos, maps, and diagrams, plus expert information on: • Gardening in high and low desert, drought conditions, and for voluntary water conservation • How to assess your site and climate modification • Water-wise gardening methods: in-ground, container, and raised bed gardening • Soil science, proper watering methods, and pest control • How to choose drought-tolerant and desert-hardy vegetable seeds • Recommended varieties by region, plus a seasonal crop guide • Resource list, checklist, and glossary While this guide is geared towards those who live in high desert, low desert, mountains (short season), Pacific coast, and inland valley areas of the Western United States, gardeners anywhere in the world looking to save water can find useful guidance. As more communities suffer the effects of climate change, experienced desert gardener Maureen Gilmer’s sage advice on dry gardening becomes more and more relevant.

What's the best time to plant or prune? When should you fertilize fruit trees? What's the earliest date to set out tomato plants? Gardeners in the desert Southwest can't rely on books that try to cover the whole country. Summer heat, less rain, and shorter, unreliable growing seasons are important factors in the desert. That's why The Desert Gardener's Calendar can be essential to gardening success. Whether you're raising vegetables, nursing citrus trees, or just trying to keep your front yard looking its best, you'll find that this handy book gives you a valuable month-by-month perspective on the year. It helps you to focus on necessary activities and reminds you of simple tasks you might overlook. It's especially valuable for people who've moved to the desert regions from other parts of the country and follow old gardening dates that seldom apply to their new home. The Desert Gardener's Calendar is a guide to the maintenance you need to do to keep your garden flourishing and your landscape attractive throughout the year. It combines the month-by-month gardening and landscaping activities from two separate books by George Brookbank--Desert Gardening, Fruits and Vegetables and Desert Landscaping--and was created in response to readers who have found the calendar sections of those books especially invaluable. And because not all deserts are the same, Brookbank is careful to point out differences in scheduling encountered by gardeners in low- and middle-elevation regions in California and the Southwest. "I believe," says the author, "that if you use this calendar and let your judgment become more accurate with experience, you'll soon be doing everything right." Although that might suggest a day when you don't need this book, chances are good that, if you're a desert gardener, right now you do.

The Month-By-Month series is the perfect companion to take the guesswork out of gardening. With this book, you'll know what to do each month to have gardening success all year. Written by authors in your state, the information is tailored to the issues that affect your garden the most. When is the best time to plant trees and shrubs? Should I fertilize my lawn now? Is it time to prune my roses? What should I be doing in my garden this month? You'll find the answers to these questions and much more inside. This easy-to-use book highlights each of the ten major plant categories using a monthly format. It guides you through each month of the year, telling you exactly what your garden needs. It is like having an expert in the garden with you all year long. Valuable hints are located throughout the book, and beautiful photographs will inspire you. Written just for gardeners where you live, you can be confident that the information is right for you-and your garden will show it.

This book is a comprehensive gardening book for the high desert regions with emphasis on growing vegetables. The author also discusses various aspects of fruit tree culture in the high desert and drought-tolerant perennials, shrubs and tress.

A design-focused, easy-to-use guide to colorful, eye-catching foliage and flowers for your whole yard, from the ground plane to the canopy, for homeowners and landscapers faced with replacing thirsty gardens in California and other dry regions in the Western US. If readers must reluctantly remove water-guzzling favorites from the garden, they need equally beautiful substitutes! This book is a visual treat that supports the transition to dry gardening by proving that gardeners can have all the gorgeous color and flowers they had in the past using just a fraction of the water. Maureen Gilmer provides chapters on design categories of plants—flowering shrubs, the ground plain, eye-catching accents, ephemeral flowers, perennials for color, animated plants and fine textures, canopy, and edibles—with profiles for each plant plus background info and top picks lists. The Colorful Dry Garden is unique because it features only bold plants that are also heavy bloomers despite heat and limited water. It also features more than just Western native plants by including varieties from the world's driest climates.

Explains how to grow organic foods in desert climates, with sections devoted to vegetables, fruits and nuts, and controlling extreme pests organically.

"Food Plants of the Sanoran Desert includes not only plants such as gourds and legumes but also unexpected food sources such as palms, lilies, and cattails, all of which have provided nutrition to desert peoples. Each species entry lists recorded names and describes indigenous uses, which often include nonfood therapeutic and commodity applications. The agave, for example, is cited for its use as food and for alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, syrup, fiber, cordage, clothing, sandals, nets, blankets, lances, fire hearths, musical instruments, hedgerows, soap, and medicine, and for ceremonial purposes. The agave entry includes information on harvesting, roasting, and consumption - and on distinguishing between edible and inedible varieties.".

Provides information on how to start and maintain a desert landscape, addressing concerns such as irrigation, planting wildflowers, and palm tree care; and features an almanac that offers month-by-month maintenance tips.