ARIZONA GARDEN TOUR: Summer Survivors & Fall Garden Prep
Tour my Arizona fall garden after a long, hot summer. See what survived, what struggled, and how I’m resetting beds for fall with cover crops, worm castings, and smarter watering. I garden in Mesa, Arizona (low desert, Zone 9b/10a).
00:00 Introduction
00:21 Summer Survivors
04:45 Struggling Plants
06:35 When to take down shade
07:01 Soil Prep, Worm Bins & Cover Crops
09:21 Adjust watering for cooler temperatures
10:02 Fertilizing & Pruning Plants
11:20 Clean up summer damage
In this tour you’ll see:
• The “sweet spot” bed with okra, gomphrena, and cowpeas used as green manure
• Maximilian sunflowers coming into bloom and how they spread
• Sweet potato strategy and harvest timing for Thanksgiving
• Marigolds and zinnias that held through summer, plus Armenian cucumber on a trellis
• Containers with Armenian cucumber, luffa, roselle, and how I handled aphids by targeting ants
• Chiltepin and other peppers setting a fall crop
• Cantaloupe still producing
• Texas ageratum for queen butterflies and why I want more survivor plants
• Summer-proof container flowers: vinca, angelonia, gomphrena, sweet potato vine, lisianthus
• Peanuts flowering and when to harvest
• What struggled: roses, a few Shasta daisies, and heat-stressed peppers in an elevated bed
• Fall prep: take down tall sunflower shade, keep shade cloth until highs are below 90°F
• Cover crops I’m growing now: black-eyed peas and sunn hemp to “grow” fertilizer
• Refreshing worm bins and harvesting fresh castings
• What I’m planting next month: brassicas, snapdragons, campanula, delphinium
• Bed prep timeline and the raised bed mix I use
• Watering adjustments with Garden Grids and why asparagus fronds stay for now
• Fall tomato tips and feeding plan to speed recovery
• Planting I’itoi onions and spacing
• What I prune now and what I leave until it cools
Credit to : Growing In The Garden
