i'm debra lee baldwin and i am so privileged to be with woody woodruff who is the estate manager for
one of the finest estates in paradise valley to the north east is that correct in phoenix woody is
going to show us around the grounds here and talk about how he keeps multiple specimens not only of
cacti but also woody perennial woody perennials that that add color and interest and texture
that's archer archer is an elderly lab who likes attention see the ball is in woody's pocket the
ball that archer chases so so archer is very keen for us to get on with it but anyway we're
gonna walk around you are gonna get some fabulous tips on growing these desert plants if you can
grow them here woody you can grow them anywhere there you go it's a legacy garden and i would
turn over in my grave if someone came in bought the property and took this garden away because
too much love and too much interest in it yeah 15 years ago when i was hired as the estate manager
this property looked like others in paradise valley confused with the sonoran desert
and palm springs you know they want geometric bushes the bermuda grass overseed rye we stripped
this thing all the way down to the dirt nine years ago left the trees and then brought in all of this
and it's it's turned into a little mini botanical garden
the full estate is just under seven acres everything outside the gate and the wall on the
north side of the property is indigenous sonoran desert nothing out there that you would not find
in this area of the country i try to look after everything try to keep everything clean and plump
and healthy a lot of the species not being indigenous to this area is tough you know richard
can vouch for that we'll be joined by succulent and cactus expert Rich Zeh whom woody consults
on how to keep the estate's plants perfect be sure to see my video of rich's own garden nearby
and his 30-year cactus and succulent collection and the owners are they here part-time they're
full-time residents oh they are well many thanks to them for letting us come i have seven different
species of crested the knots that you see richard probably has his theory i have my theory on why
it happens and i understand there's three approved theories and i think all three of them are correct
there's one of the examples of requested see high knots up on the end you'll notice
this one very rarely blooms yes they they're not happy i know it's just not a happy plant
beautiful kind of sad i might always die out really i haven't yet to have one die out on me
i think maybe because it's in the shade me personally i think it's genetic what
do you think i think it's damage either from genetic anomaly or insect damage sometimes
what have you got everywhere the mexican fence post that's the tall one but that's what rich
says doesn't really work here no they don't they want too much water oh my my spanish sword
bloomed double this year had two it was beautiful i think i may have a picture of it but i think the
rain this year really helped no he did he did just flourish this year because of the water
great the brake lights are the hesperalow yeah because they put them in the mediums all over town
and the flower matches brake lights it's like yeah it's like a pair of pants it keeps it keeps
that trunk from getting sunburned it keeps the insects away disease uh it could trap moisture
that's rising from the ground i mean it does a lot of good i mean it keeps the plants healthy
and i'll show you an example like this one right here that was trimmed and look at the top of
it and look at the difference between these two see the heads how beautiful and big they
are and healthy looking yeah and this one's got two little heads on it it lost two arms
and it's because it was stripped it's a fungus i think yeah richard verified it i sprayed it a
couple times hydrogen peroxide about 75-25 water uh 75 hydrogen peroxide and the new growth that
you know it hadn't spread to the new yet but who knows typical swirl cactus looks for nitrogen
only twice a year and it looks at in its growing cycle and it's storing cycle
so if you throw a nitrogen on it all year the the plant will it'll die because it's getting too much
so you have to kind of be careful how much nitrogen you put on cactus because they look for
it at different times of the year they look first they're like the human body they look for sugars
at certain times of the year and then certain bacteria that you want to feed that's in the
soil algae that grows in dg and it produces natural nitrogen it's alive on one end and then
the decaying in actually produces nitrogen for the soil so that's how nature provides nitrogen
okay that's one example the solar desert is dg you know it gets together like this and there's
very very very few algaes that can survive in that oh that makes sense and the heat will kill
it because ground temperature can get up to 140 150 degrees just in the ground yeah and then you
get radiant heat the driveway can go 180 190. good heavens and so you get blister burn from
the side of houses from driveways and everything else you have to pay attention to reflective heat
not just heat but light really the heat more than anything it's all about real close there's still
a lot of damage on them yeah but i brought them all here put them made one big happy family and
said please work because they didn't work anywhere else and now look i mean they're coming back the
damage is almost gone and i'm so excited to have this little this little piece of heaven right
here that people say that doesn't work in sonoran yeah it will it's all about microclimate honestly
it's the only place on the whole property that they work you can still see with the image on
them oh yeah it's trying it's hanging in there there's red peach and down by the garage white
we kind of trim them a little not much just let them kind of do what they want to do
these are mediterranean trailing vincas that i do during the summer and by the end of summer that'll
look like one pot they were just planted last week during the winter we do geraniums fluctuate
to red and white geranium for christmas it's the only cactus you can grab and hug
because it doesn't have spines on it and it feels like rubber but it's a it's a common totem pole
but i think they're fascinating these are available back home in southern california
but hard to come by and here oh here the place is lousy with them it it it is i feel honored
they were scattered all over the property just brought them all in here so what was
here when you started bermuda grass and jojobas and hedges palm springs you know fort lauderdale
landscape fertilizer as a general rule uh for the whole garden uh two times a year 20 20 20 granular
time release is usually enough tall cactus looking for nitrogen twice a year in the early fall
late summer which starts a growing period then again in the spring about six seven
months later just before they go into their blooming season and they're dormant when it
gets extremely hot most cactus are dormant their feeding period is during the monsoon
which is late summer early fall and then during the winter rains again i used to use liquid but
i've gotten away from that i finally weaned most of the plants off the nursery diet so to speak
and now it's just pretty much straight water i do use well water i do not use city water um because
i don't want to put chlorine and pot ash in the soil because i don't think that's good for plants
that's me personally the plants at a nursery are not natural they're overfed and over watered
to make them more attractive you take it home and it starts to shrink and it changes
color and you're thinking it's dying no it's reverting back to its natural state
i'll bring in a shade cloth and stretch shade cloth over a lot of different areas
just to keep them from getting sunburned end of may june is when i start covering and you
leave the covers on until um october november great practical advice woody thank you i'm sure
there are a lot of arizona homeowners who had no idea and appreciated a lot well you talk about a
legacy you know yeah labor of love yeah you know these are these are my babies yeah well it shows
thank you and what do you think archer archer what do you think what do you think no i'm not
gonna throw the ball this is what you get when you have a quote-unquote master qualified retriever
where i come from all dogs have jobs they don't just lay around the house can't wait to be fed
uh he's a master qualified uh hunter retriever uh both upland and waterfowl picks up ducks
and doves and pheasants and chuckers chuckers oh not chuckwallas a table fare
who are those ladies at the end in white is my friend and helper pat
roach and in black ceramic artist janet orr whose paradise valley garden we also toured
get more tips on desert gardening and find the names of the estate's main plants on the
corresponding page of my site i hope you found this video helpful and entertaining
my goal is to inspire you to enjoy using cacti and succulents in beautiful and creative ways in
your own garden and outdoor living spaces please know that woody and i appreciate your comments
and do subscribe and hit the like button i'm debra lee baldwin thank you for joining me