Cacti in Landscaping



Cacti indoor landscape at Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah

 When it comes to using cactus there is no better way to make your yard, apartment, or even office a better place when it comes to introducing cactus into your landscape.  Cacti, yucca, and other desert plants make great landscaping plants because they require so litter maintenance. They also can go about anywhere.

If you have little kids they will quickly learn that cacti landscaping is not for play. Having raised three boys and no a little girl she knows that the cactus says "ouch."

Cacti can be arranged like any other house plant inside. They need a good source of light, usually a window that faces the sun, and regular maintenance.  Using cacti inside may require slightly and I underscore, slightly, more water. Air inside homes usually tends to be dryer.  There is also more heat generated by windows, central heating, space heaters, etc.

Cacti, even during the winter, require light. They still carry on photosynthesis all year round. They tend to go "dormant" during the winter months even inside. This means major growth stops and metabolism slows down. But like all plants during a winter season "dormant" is a loosely used word. Even trees with leaves that are lost in the fall will carry on photosynthesis, just to a lesser degree.

Cacti are good for indoors because they clean the air, replenish oxygen, and can produce nice flowers.  Many if potted and you have a true four season climate in northern regions can be moved to outside between April and October. Cold hardy cacti are good year round in USDA Zones 5 and above due to the fact they are buried in deep snow during the winter and can be very high in altitude, 8,000 feet in elevation.

Warm desert cacti should be brought in to a nice mild spot with light. You can add plant lighting as well if windows are not sufficient.  While outside cacti can be arranged in pots, put into the ground for the season, or left above it. Make sure they continue to be well drained wherever they are.

Microclimates are great for some borderline cold hardy cacti. The sun facing side of the house near a foundation is great due to radiating heat and can raise temps both day and night. So a cacti that would succumb to cold out in the open could easily survive in the right microclimate.

Cacti gardens outside are beautiful, even to cactus haters, when the flowers bloom on the plant. Good flowering cacti such as barrels or prickly pear can produce a number of beautiful colored flowers over the July weeks, earlier in some cases depending on heat and season.

For example I had a large barrel that in the Mojave would have flowered in late April or early May. Instead, it flowered in June or July and did produce seeds.  Prickly pears flower anywhere from May to August depending on the species and location.  Cholla are excellent for landscaping.

Fast growing cacti should be trimmed back like cholla and prickly pear. Throw away extra pads, but always leave new growth as well. Soil should be a mixture of soil, rocks, and sand. This is true if you live in clay soil areas where water retention is greater.


Flowering cacti in Lehi, Utah



Also the soil should be stirred up once a year to put nutrients on top of the soil down under and aeration purposes, just as with any other plants. If you have kids, teach them that cacti are pretty, but not to play with them. Many barbs can be a nightmare to your kids, let alone you. 

Treat your cacti nice and they will produce great flowers. Some species produce edible fruit as well that can be harvested for eating or making jams or jelly.  Enjoy the show and have fun!

The Tale of Mr. Whiskers

"Mr Whiskers" came into my life during a trip to stay with some friends at a time share in Palm Desert, California.  It was the summer of 2005, which I remember well.  The temp was a cool 115 degrees F during the day. Quite comfy I would say, NOT. No worries it was a vacation just the same.

Upon arriving in California land of many cacti and desert type plants I stumbled across golden barrel cacti. Native to further south in the Sonoran Desert, these cacti were like a big barrel I had back home, but were huge!  They made for a pretty landscape.  So a trip to the local Walmart and $5.50 later I was the owner of  a barrel cacti.  Now these cacti ARE NOT cold hardy.  Nonetheless, I was going to take this specimen back home bring it out during the late spring to early fall and keep it in my basement during the winter.

A name came to me while taking it back to the condo. "Mr. Whiskers" also being a cat lover at that time. Well Mr. Whiskers was potted and the journey began.  He spent time with us in California and then travelled back to Lehi, Utah with my family where we were living at the time.  Mr. Whiskers grew slow and steady.

Golden Barrel Cacti

Over the years Mr. Whiskers battled root rot, some time being in my outdoor garden of very poor draining clay soil, fungus, and some other problems. But this was the bounce back cactus. Mr. Whiskers even survived some cold snaps supposed to kill this type of cacti.  When I moved north in Utah and eventually when my marriage went splat! see previous post, I was a lone man living at his parent's house with some of my cacti and palms.  It was late February 2012.  Miserable time for a non cold hardy cacti to live outside. My other barrel was there too along with some Washingtonias grown from seed and a date palm.

Late spring storms were relentless with cold and wet on Mr.Whiskers. He suffered cold burn that turned him white.  He did scar very well.  Well I finally got an apartment where I am now.  Some cacti were not going to make it.  My other golden barrel had fought the onslaught of late winter and early spring, but death was near. Finally, rot took my other unnamed barrel out.  Several other cold hardy cacti survived, others I couldn't take.

Finally it was my cycad that was burned, fried, toast, on life support and Mr. Whiskers burned almost every where, but not rotting.  White from cold burn, but still retained some green.  Spring did come and only Mr. Whiskers and my Cycad remained.  All my other cacti were dead or casualties of me hoarding the things.

Mr Whiskers slowly began to grow. The scarring gave way to green flesh and new needles formed on the crown.  Mr. Whiskers came back making a full recovery!  My cycad was dead, but still was green in the trunk. It was ugly! But I decided to see if that green meant anything. I gave it the best sun I could.  One day arriving home from work I discovered new fronds coming out of the trunk and the burned ones moving out of the way for the new ones. My other stick cholla from the Mojave is cold hardy, but it survived and is now also growing gangbusters.

Mr Whiskers should have died, but he lives! He still bares the scars of the cold winter months he spent outside. Other golden barrels I have owned have almost made it before succumbing to rot and disease.

Mr. Whiskers is a trooper and dispels the myth that one of the most beautiful cacti around cannot take harsh conditions and survive. Same with my cycad, an extremely tropical plant. Today Mr. Whiskers is fat and happy and golden as ever!

The "Walking Stick" Cholla

When I was last in Colorado staying with the other Desert Rat on this blog, he decided to work instead of take his buddy on a sight seeing tour. So I took myself.

About an 1.5 hours south on 1-25 from Denver is a forest of tree like chollas, but different in some ways from their Mojave counterparts.  They are called "walking sticks."

Now please don't ask me why they are called walking sticks. I would not know. I suppose it could mean it looks like they move or something.

I would prefer a good old cane to these walking sticks. I love cacti, not that much though. Anyway, the Walking Stick Cholla occurs just south of Colorado Springs and Just north of Pueblo.

The hills and plains around the area are covered with these lovely specimens. They extend down into New Mexico from what I hear.

These are the first plains based cholla, cold hard type that I have seen outside the Mojave. Now one grows in a pot on my patio.

Kirk the other desert rat has them all over his yard. It could be said that this picture is a fake and actually Kirk's front yard.  Hardly a lie now "wink wink."

So if you like chollas and lots of them give the walking stick a look. Just don't actually walk with one.

Dave

Tags: Walking Stick, Cholla, cacti