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!