Hi,
I'm a beginner to this so will appreciate the help I find on this forum. I am just closing on a home in La Luz New Mexico, in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains. I'm coming from the midwest, so am not at all familiar on what to plant in this area, which is mostly clay soil.
I am having a contractor out to help me with the problem of washout from the mountain, where they dug into the side to level out the area for the house. I may have to put in a retaining wall or use the many rocks I have around the backyard to help filter the clay during the rainy season, as I get quite a bit of mud on the back patio right now.
It was suggested that I also plant around the area, after the drainage problem is fixed to help with the structural integrity of the soil. Not to mention, I need some color!! Nothing has been landscaped in this backyard, so I'm starting with a fresh canvas and would like to make it look beautiful. Dont have alot of money to start with, but would appreciate any help in telling me how to start, and what kind of plants would be best. Then I could add to this as time goes on. Thanks!
New to Xeriscaping
What zone are you in? I would search around the web for a good nursery that carries alot of native plants. If there isn't one in your area, there's always mail order. Coming from the midwest, there is probably nothing that you planted there that will work in NM. Good luck.
Check out High Country Gardens, they are located in Santa Fe and even if you don't choose to order from them they are a good reference point for xeriscape plants for your area.
I always laugh when I see "drought tolerant" in most gardening catalogues and magazines...yeah, right...drought tolerant in South Carolina maybe. If High Country lists it as drought tolerant...it is.
Personally for alkaline clay soil, temperature extremes, and super dry conditions I swear by:
1. globemallow
2. Mt. Atlas daisy
3. Blackfoot daisy
4. Chocolate flower
5. Apache plume
Lots of others but those are the workhorses.
You have a good seed company in your state - www.seedsofchange.com which will have some good suggestions.
Another thing that I would do is a little bit of climbing around that mountain and see what grows there naturally - it's going to take you a while to learn how to garden in your new-and-quite-different-from-the-Midwest home and things that do well there already are likely to survive, as well as soften the transition from the mountains into your yard. I see a lot of creosote/ palo verde/ saguaro that turns into boom! green turf. Bizarre looking, to say the least.
The other thing I would look into is ornamental grasses for your area. Not only are they beautiful (not turf, by the way, but the taller, clumping things like fountain grass, etc.) but one of the better soil stabilizers by virtue of their root systems and how quickly they grow. If later on you want to try some trees and stuff, they will provide a foundation for them until they get large enough to help with the erosion. Please also look to make sure they are native or native adapted - much of the desert has a lot of problems with invasive grasses - not only do they crowd out natives but they increase fire risks exponentially.
Good luck, hope this helps!