Gardening Tips

Tips submitted by our members:

Trash your Pots!
A large rolling trash container with a removable lid can make potting less messy. Roll you trash can out to your potting area, take off the lid and flip it upside down, lid back on the trash can. Place your pot on top of the lid and proceed to plant, letting the trash and excess soil fall onto the lid. When finished, lift off the pot, lift up the lid and throw away all your trashy stuff.

Make Container Pots Lighter
Lighten your container pots by using Styrofoam packing peanuts in your pot for drainage. Place the packing peanuts in a mesh bag, like you might get onions, grapes, or bulbs in. Tie the loose end and place in the bottom of your pot before adding soil. At the end of the season, remove the packing peanut-filled bag, clean with a quick spray from the hose, and you're ready for next year.

Recommended Reading

Recommendations are submitted by our members. They in no way infer an endorsement by the Las Cruces Tour of Gardens.

70 Common Cacti of the Southwest by Pierre C. Fischer

100 Desert Wildflowers of the Southwest by Janice Emily Bowers

Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart

Flowers of the Southwest Deserts by Natt N Dodge

Hortus Miscellaneous by Lorene Edwards Forkner & Linda Plato

Landscape and Memory by Simon Schama

New Mexico Gardener's Guide by Judith Phillips

Notes from the Garden by Ruth Petrie

Sunset Western Garden Book by the Editors of Sunset Magazine