Growing native plants in Tucson
From the Your Tucson garden and the changing climate series
- Updated
Native plants are underutilized in our gardens in the Sonoran Desert. Many nurseries sell plants from Mediterranean climates or from deserts in South Africa and South America. But our native trees, cacti, shrubs and flowers make for great garden plants, too.
As a bonus, native plants also provide food and habitat for animals of varying sizes, and particularly for small mammals, birds and insects which are critical to healthy food chains and ecosystems. With native habitats shrinking, planting native plants in our gardens can help reduce the ecological damage wrought by overdevelopment.
Here are some articles you can read to find out more about your native plant options. The video below shows some examples of beautiful native plants.
Want to grow food but don't have the patience for vegetable beds? Here are some low-maintenance native desert food plants to try out like mesquite, palo verde, hackberry, wolfberry, prickly pear and more.
Keep your pollinators happy year-round and your Tucson garden looking beautiful with these winter flowering plants.
Watch now: These beautiful native plants will be a great addition to your Tucson garden. Video by Dominika Heusinkveld/Arizona Daily Star.
Tired of seeing the same plants in every yard? Want to help local wildlife? Find six native plant alternatives here.
Groundcovers in your garden can help shade the soil, prevent erosion, and act as a living mulch. Take a look at these 7 options for Tucson gardens.
Do you have a spot in your Tucson yard with lots of sun and reflected heat? Here are some plants that will thrive there.
If you have kids, you're probably tired of dealing with scratches and thorns. But you can still have native and near-native desert plants.
In this Series
Your Tucson garden and the changing climate
1
Updated article
Future-proofing your Tucson garden
2
Updated article
Helping your plants get through Tucson's summer heat
3
Updated article
Composting tips for your Tucson garden
14 updates
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