Digging Big Holes For Little Desert Plants

Let's say you bought a few plants and are eager to get these desert beauties into your landscape. How big of a hole do you need to dig? The label on the plant will give you a suggestion, but chances are that label is for a plant that came from sunny, temperate Southern California and has nothing to do with the extreme weather and soil conditions your new plant is about to endure.

I did a lot of research on this very topic and the best advice I've found so far is from the Godfather of Urban Desert Horticulture, George Brookbank. Here is what he suggests:

For a shrub, dig a hole 3 feet across and 3 feet deep. For a tree, dig a hole 5 feet across and 5 feet deep.

After reading this you are probably thinking there is no way I have enough room in the garden to dig a hole that big. If that's the case, you might want to reconsider planting in that spot. Why? Because your shrub is going to get at least that size, probably bigger. If you can't even dig a hole that wide how is your new plant or tree going to survive? You will end up cutting and trimming it so much it will eventually become overtaken by the environment, sun, pests, etc. and live a very short life. Take the time to dig the hole. You will remove any large rocks in the soil, replace some of it with better soil and most importantly, find your layer of caliche. More often than not once you dig that deep you will discover caliche and it must be removed. Nothing can grow below it.

If you dig a large enough hole, plant the bush, tree or succulent and backfill it you are giving the plant a great foundation for which to grow. Its roots will flourish, making it more tolerant of wind, intense heat and a very arid environment.

It might seem like a lot of work but trust me, it's a lot more work to clean up an uprooted 10-year-old mesquite tree that was blown over by the wind.