The Nevada State Nursery is providing tree seedlings for Arbor Day events and I just reserved 60 seedlings at $2.50 a piece.   Our April gardening club meeting is on Thursday 4/24/14 (the day before the official Arbor Day) and we will be celebrating with Mimosa, Arizona Cypress, and Honey Locust seedlings from the Nevada State Nursery.  Location TBA, please subscribe to our email list for updates).

Every member will get a free tree seedling!

To reserve additional tree seedlings at cost, please contact me ASAP.

We will probably meet at our place and we’ll talk about how and where to plant trees so they will be off to a good start.  Evergreens are great for places where you want shade and windbreaks year-round, but around your garden and house, you might want deciduous trees so that you get that winter sun.

We’ve had great success with polyline irrigation ($10 for 100 ft, simply punch holes in the poly, no attachments needed and nothing plugs up) and we’ll talk about gravity v. pressurized irrigation.  After 5 years of gardening in the high desert, we learned how incredibly important trees and shrubs are to a successful and affordable garden.  While they have to be watered regularly during the first summer, they will greatly REDUCE the requirement for cooling houses and gardens once they are established and it is well worth the cost of the water.  Aside from providing shade, windbreaks are extremely important for food crops and some trees and shrubs like locusts and bird of paradise even take the nitrogen from the air and add it to the soil.

We are in the process of assembling a listing of plants suitable for our harsh climate and appreciate your input!