The Desert Gardeners, Club History

WOW ! Here we are, on a BLOG ! Our low desert garden club was started about seven years ago in the sleepy village of Borrego Springs, California (92004 ). People move here for many reasons - mostly to escape the frenzied activities on the other side of the mountains. Our tranquil small town, surrounded by the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, is inhabited by people who love the solitude, the inky star- studded night sky, golf courses which often require no starting times, and often by people who love to garden but don't have a clue as to gardening in this arid low desert area ( zone 13 ).

Several of us were discussing this over lunch one noon at Kendall's...laughing at our first attempts at gardening here. We kicked around the idea of forming a club to help new residents and others who wanted to learn about proven techniques that worked in the desert region. Each of the four of us had been active in some of the many volunteer groups found in Borrego and really didn't like the idea of any oranizational structure...so we just went ahead and formed a club without any dues, officers, minutes or any other formal structure! Each year, the four of us talk things over and, decide, with input from the other gardeners, and put together the agenda for the next season. We have one meeting, October thru March on the second Friday of the month at 10 a.m. People bring their own chairs, dress for the outside, bring their own water and are sure the meeting will end by 11:30 a.m. - just in time to get home for lunch! People are notified of the meetings by e-mail and the local paper. Our e-mail list now includes over 150 names!

We have had several field trips...to a worm farm, to the Living Desert, to the Dry Land Gardens, to other places of interest, but most of our meetings have been held at local private gardens, local nurseries and growing grounds, citrus groves, golf courses, the Nature Store, vegetable patches or any place else we can think of. Professionals have talked to us about irrigation, landscaping, pruning, native plants, mulching, fertilizing, water conservation, water requirement of plants, use of native plants and many other topics.

Last year, our first meeing was a joint luncheon, show-and-tell meeting with the Art Guild showing off how creative gardeners and artists are thinking up gifts for the holidays. It was a lot of fun and well attended. I guess it is now a tradition and a good one, too, because summer in the desert gives everyone time to be creative and plan great things! In fact, during summer, you can often look down the length of Palm Canyon Drive, ( our main street ) and not see another car! Like the desert animals and plants, summer is a time to hunker down, read, write, reflect on great things or enjoy doing exaclty what you want to do.


As you might guess, members of both sexes are equally interested in our club. If you live here or near-by and want to learn something about gardening in the desert, plan to attend one of our meetings - but DON'T FORGET YOUR CHAIR!

Triple Calamity

  Borrego Springs is a place of extremes - the past few weeks being a perfect example:  First was the earthquake, a 5.4 tremblor.  We experience many earthquakes in Borrego and usually don't get too excited.  Small quakes are a regular occurrence here and are most often not felt, but heard.  If we hear a small "boom" we know it identifies an earthquake.  Possibly, this phenomenon is due to our proximity to the San Ysidro Mountains and is some sort of echo effect.  We did feel the Mexicali 7.2 earthquake, however.  Our house rocked and rolled, water slurped out of the swimming pool and the tremblor lasted a while.  The Borrego quake was different- we knew we were close to the epicenter.  The "boom" we experienced was a deafening explosive noise as if dynamite had been set off right under the slab!  The noise was humongous but the shake immediate and quick. No water sloshed out of the pool...instead, upright waves formed.  A picture fell off the wall, small items toppled, the dog got excited...we checked propane tank and water pipes...everything was  O. K.

A few days later, during the early morning hours, I heard a soft cry which sounded like it came from our sizeable ( over 65 pound ) chocolate lab, who was eating breakfast in the walled garden.  We put her dish outside every morning , since she seems to like to dine al fresco!  I opened the sliding door and called her name, then watched in amazement as she chased three coyotes through the yard to the back wall, which they jumped with ease then disappeared in a cloud of dust.  A few others jumped over the east wall, hit the bronze watering valves below the irrigation station.  One valve broke off at the PVC fitting and water gushed from the broken pipe.  There is probably a very sore coyote somewhere in Borrego Springs.  Our dog had been nipped on a back leg, about a two inch abrasion, but was otherwise untouched.  I had seen coyotes within the walls only two other times during our twenty years in Borrego.  If you have a pet in the desert, it is important to protect him.  Coyotes can jump over or dig under barriers.  Our walls are about six feet high.  Coyote parents are teaching their young how to hunt during this season and perhaps my ripening melons lured them to our yard...who knows?

The third incident occurred the next day.  As usual, I checked the humidity on Weather Underground to see if we needed swamps or the air conditioner.  It was high, with a twenty per cent chance of rain.  By afternoon, lightening was flashing and thunder rumbling.  To the south, streaks of heavy rain could be seen, moving in our direction.  We hurried to put things under the porches and made sure our rain water tubs were under the rain spouts.  We needed not bother;  the rain fell so hard the roof drains looked like a fire hose spewing water in giant arcs.  Fifty-five MPH winds pushed the downpour sidewise and under the porches until everything was wet.  The monsoon had certainly arrived in all its' glory...the thing flash floods are made of!  It was over within an hour, leaving a splintered eight foot back garden gate.  Everything blew away and the gaping hole it left has let in a multitude of rabbits, who are feasting on Mexican primrose ground cover.  ( I hope they eat all of those pink flowered plants - once planted , almost impossible to get rid of...)  The vegetables are safe in the raised planters - the gate will have to be replaced - the dog will have to stay in the house and I hope we will finally get around to securing our heavy wooden chest to the wall.

This is just an example of what the summer season might offer to a low desert gardener !

An Enhanced Native Landscape

Still harvesting vegetables, melons, zuccini, yellow squash, last of limas.  Am pulling out tomatoes ( they won't produce fruit after night temperatures warm up...and they have! ) Two nights ago, we had our first over 80 degree night.  It's time to say good-by to the pole beans and tomatoes. The melons are getting bigger and bigger and ripening fast.  Found our first white flies, but not to worry, the harvest will be over before they can do their damage.  Thought summer would be a good time to talk about native landscape.

Outside our  garden walls are about two acres of enhanced native landscape. Enhanced, in this instance, meaning some areas with irrigation and others with non-irrigated native vegetation.  Building sites in Borrego vary greatly in make-up of soils and plants. In our area, around 800' elevation and very close to the foot of the San Ysidro mountain range, the soil is granitic, coarse and rocky- a part of Hellhole Canyon alluvial fan.  Native plants on our plot included cheese weed, burro bush, cholla, indigo, ocotillo, creosote, coyote gourd, desert lavender, beavertail cactus and chuparosa. None of these require any irrigation.  To these, we added other natives to the region, including barrel cacti, fish hook cacti, brittle bush, an ironwood tree, filifera palm trees, desert agave, yucca, teddybear cholla, prickly pear, santa rita, cow's tongue, (opuntias), blue palo verdes, baja palo verdes, mesquite trees, Sonoran palo verdes and a desert willow. .  Of these, only the trees require some irrigation.  The other plants, once established, require no irrigation.

Outside our area, to the east, the soil differs greatly.  There, you find sandy soil, brought to the area over time - deposits from from Coyote Creek...especially during flood stages.  This soil is richer in composition, as evidenced by the many citrus groves , nurseries and tree farms below Coyote Canyon.  Roadrunner Country Club, on Palm Canyon Drive, at about 600 ft. elevation has this sandy soil .  The residents grow beautiful vegetables in the community plot. Gardens in this lower elevation are more likely to experience freezing during cold snaps.  As you can see, there are microclimes within the greater Zone 13!
The Borrego sink is the lowest part of the Borrego basin at 455 ft.  Storm water run-off collects there.  A basin truly describes Borrego, surrounded by higher elevations,with the sink being the drain ! If you realize where you are situated within the various areas, you will be able to plant your garden accordingly. Over the years, I have seen many bouganvillas die of frost at the lower elevations, where the cold seems to collect.

The sink:  455 ft.
Air Ranch:  575 ft.
Montesoro: 700 ft.
Park Visitor Center:  around 800 feet

Sunset Garden Book defindes low desert, zone 13 as ranging from below sea level to 1,100 feet.  As you can see, from the above elevations, we are definitely in that category!

When our construction site was chosen, only one plant had to be moved, an ocotillo. Only the house site had to be bulldozed.  The driveway was laid out with native plants left intact as much as possible.  We removed deadwood from the curbside and replaced it with native agave and mesquite trees. We put in PVC underground water lines along the perimeters of the lot...across the front, along each side and across the back.  From these, laterals were put in as we added other low water use plants. 

If you notice native vegetation, you will see that it arranges itself  with lots of space between plants.  If you follow this pattern on your own land you will be following nature's clues resulting in a garden that belongs and thrives in an arrid environment !  Try to keep the native plants you find ...they are adapted to the area and offer shelter, food, and nesting sites to native wildlife...another reason to think carefully before removing any plant from your lot.