Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer systems. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.
QUESTION: I would like some shade tree recommendations for the west-facing part of my lot. Right now, this area on the side of my house has no landscaping. It’s just gravel and dirt and there’s no irrigation system either. But I plan to landscape and irrigate the area. What kind of tree would you recommend?
ANSWER: We’d suggest planting something deciduous like a red push pistache or Chinese elm that produce lots of foliage. They need very little care and they’re pretty bulletproof.
Q: I have a yucca glorioso plant in my yard that has been there for 15 years and has never bloomed, and I want to know why.
A: That’s a variety of yucca that has to get pretty old and mature before it blooms. Sometimes they never do. That’s the kind of thing you can find out about when you’re buying plants in a nursery, actually. As you consider different plants to buy, ask about the flowers and colors that you want and inquire about how much shade a plant will produce and how quickly it will grow. Check out the website wateruseitwisely.com for more information on plants.
Q: I have a flat roof that needs to be recoated. The roofer suggested that I remove the aluminized type of roofing and put on a white coating so that I’d save a little more money on my utility bills in summer. But doing that would be more of a hassle. I have a 2,500-square-foot house and we keep the temperature at about 78 during the day. I have utility bills in summer of $260 to $280 a month. What do you think?
A: It sounds as if you’re managing your energy consumption pretty well. So you could go with the aluminum again. If it’s done right, your roof should last another 10 to 15 years.
Q: I live in the Sahuarita area of Arizona in a stucco home that’s about 20 years old. A lot of our windows are starting to leak. Some of them are pretty bad. They’re vinyl-framed sliders that are construction-grade. What kind of windows would you recommend?
A: We’re not fans of vinyl windows; they don’t do very well in Arizona. Your windows are certainly reaching the end of their life. So, I’d recommend installing fiberglass windows this time. To fix those leaks, the installers should grind out the stucco down to the studs and then install new flashings around the windows. Then the stucco should be patched by a skilled worker. If you don’t, you could end up with a huge, ugly patch of stucco all the way around the window.
Q: I’m a maintenance man for a large company that has 60 swamp coolers that I maintain. Over time, the pads for the coolers have gotten damaged due to calcium buildup as the hard water flows through the machines. The cost of replacing the pads is always very expensive. Would it be worthwhile to install a water softening system?
A: Yes, you can use soft water in those evaporative coolers. Then there wouldn’t be any calcium and magnesium running through them. You would still have some minerals in the water though that might affect the pads.
