Happy March from Desert Rose! In this month's blog we are going to discuss something Santa Fe has been seeing a lot more recently…gophers. Gophers are very problematic in a landscape and can cause serious damage in a very short amount of time. Gophers create tunnels underground that can be fairly shallow. These tunnels can collapse when a pet or a person walks on them, which can cause injury, like sprained ankles or torn ligaments. Gophers also leave behind mounds of dirt aro

Q: Is there anything I can do to prevent weeds? I don’t want to spray herbicide because I'm worried it will get on the new growth of the plants. A: There are several products that help prevent weeds on the market right now. These work differently from herbicides since they do not directly attack living plants; rather they create a barrier to prevent germination of seeds. Most are safe to apply around and even on established plants without harming them. They are usually granul

Claret Cup Hedgehog Cactus Echinocereus triglochidiatus Zone 4-8 A clumping cactus that slowly grows 2 feet tall and 18 inches wide. Beautiful bright red flowers appear in spring and are followed by sweet, edible pods. Doesn’t need water, grows best when soil is amended with sand to improve drainage. Needles on cactus are thick and do not attach to skin easily like other cacti (prickly pear or cholla). Plant in full sun. Looks best when planted among other cacti in a rock f

Here's your weekly Spring Tip! Be aware that older rose wood will be brown or flaky-barked instead of the green of newer wood, but this older wood is often still alive and can be important to the central framework of the plant. Don’t mistake old brown wood for dead wood. You can test if wood is alive by tracing: lightly scratching it with your pruners. Green or bright white on the inside means it’s alive; brown all through means it’s dead.