DeadheadDiaries on Nostr: Ive been trying to figure out what trees I can grow in #cochisecounty without ...

Ive been trying to figure out what trees I can grow in #cochisecounty without irrigation. I planted figs, pomegranate, blackberry, Arizona cypress, afghan pine and desert willow this spring and I watered them twice a week by hand. Then I took off at the beginning of June and was away until October. Here's what happened to the trees: all the new figsbi planted this spring died, my figs from last year are still alive but dropped their leaves and produced no fruit. My pomegranates are doing better than the figs, their leaves look healthy and I can tell they each grew quite a bit. All of my afghan pines survived and look good. All of my Arizona cypress survived and grew substantially. My blackberries died. My desert willow is the one that surprised me the most. I planted it in march under the impression it would certainly die but to my surprise it's probably doing better than all of the above. It appears to have doubled in height and canopy.
So here's my take away: figs need irrigation for a year or two before they can survive on their own. Pomegranate, Arizona cypress, afghan pine and desert willow will survive without irrigation once established. Blackberry is moot without irrigation. The trees I planted in basins did either really good or got choked out by weeds and grass.
I think from here I will be planting more desert willow, pomegranate and Arizona cypress.
#gardening #cochise #permacultive #desert