[Arid_gardener] RE: Arizona landscape in Quebec?

[Donald Garnett]

Hello Mary --
 
I'm not a Master Gardener but I have not seen a response to your question,
so I'll tell you as much as I know - which can be corrected by anyone who 
knows more.
 
We who live in Arizona understand your appreciation for our landscape - we
all would love to carry it around with us too. What you propose would be very
very difficult, I think - the climate differences between Quebec and the Arizona
deserts are enormous, and not just the temperature!
 
The major factors are:
 
  1) temperature - as you've noted, it can be much colder in Quebec than in 
      our deserts
  2) moisture - cacti (if that's what you desire) are adapted to low rainfall and
      low humidity. Too much water, especially in winter, can destroy their roots
      and kill the plants.
  3) sunshine - most desert plants thrive best with lots of sunshine. I lived in the 
      Great Lakes region for many years, so I know that sunshine can be a scarce
      commodity in that part of the continent.
  4) soils - our desert soils are mainly alkaline, and the native plants are adapted
      to those conditions
 
There is one Arizona habitat that has a similar temperature range - the Ponderosa
pine forests at elevations above 1500 meters. My guess is that you are not looking
to reproduce a pine forest in Canada, however!
 
There are some varieties of cacti from the genus Opuntia (prickly-pears and chollas)
that are hardy to temperatures of -20 to -15 C (0-10 F), ranging into Minnesota
and even Canada, and some mesquites are hardy to 0 F also, but I think it's safe
to say that you could never grow a saguaro as a landscape plant in Quebec. You
might be able to put together a landscape that would be a poor copy of Arizona
with not much variety, and it would likely be a headache to maintain.
 
A more promising option would be a greenhouse. You could create a mini-desert
scene with rocky mounds and a variety of small- to medium-large cacti and even
some desert shrubs and wildflowers. Watering needs would be minimal for such a 
setup, summer air conditioning would probably be unnecessary, and winter heating
only to keep temperatures above 25-30 F would suffice. (Bonus: if you don't use
AC in summer, it might even feel like you're in the desert!) This would involve 
some expense, but you would avoid the expense of trying to landscape your 
large lot with non-adapted plants that would probably die after the first winter.
 
One final suggestion would be to discuss your ideas with a horticultural agent
in your area, who would have a better idea of the local weather and soil conditions.
 
     Good luck,
     Don Garnett
     Tucson> Message: 3> Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:41:51 -0700 (MST)> From: maryangelis2006 at hotmail.com> Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page> To: <arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>> Message-ID: <200707170141.l6H1fp1V017560 at Ag.arizona.edu>> > Mary Angelis> j0k 1so> maryangelis2006 at hotmail.com> > Hi,> I was wondering if you have any suggestions on what I could use as landscaping my home-arizona style. I live in Quebec,Canada and love Arizona-so I'm trying to make an arizonian theme-but then again there's the cold climate here-my land is quite big, 45,000 sq feet-think I can do something?> Thanks,Mary> 
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