Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
newtoucan

Is reforestation of the Valley possible?

newtoucan
10 years ago

Is reforestation of our desert possible, practical? I mean it gets so hot here it's unbearable. What if we stopped spraying everything to kill all the weeds and every living thing that tries to grow where we don't want it. What if we used all the water we waste on grass and grow trees? Couldn't it help it be more live able?

Comments (15)

  • ChasingCenturies (Arizona 9b)
    10 years ago

    Huh? You want to destroy the Sonoran Desert?! How about the Amazon Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, while we're at it?

    If you don't like it here, GTFO.

  • campv 8b AZ
    10 years ago

    Wow GS that was pretty harsh! Shame!
    Toucan- you do have a point, with all the cement/black top, buildings and such I am sure we create more heat. Some old timers say it use to be a little cooler.
    This is the desert and I don't see any practical or possible way of cooling it down, it is what it is.
    Toucan if you want a little more cooler area consider moving up to the Verde Valley, we love it here.
    PS it also smells good here w/o traffic

    This post was edited by campv on Tue, Mar 25, 14 at 10:50

  • v8vega
    10 years ago

    Permaculture.

  • campv 8b AZ
    10 years ago

    V8 I had to goggle that Permaculture. Never new about it.
    All the pictures looked so cool and green. Very pretty

  • jaspermplants
    10 years ago

    I second permaculture. Some call it " harvesting shade". Great stuff. Check out the website for Brad Lancaster in Tucson. Sorry I don't have the link because typing on the Ipad is torture, but you can Google it.

  • v8vega
    10 years ago

    I'm using Permaculture technics on my property. I've yet to take a course, but I'm starting my food forest with Jujube, Pomegranates, & many Legumes.
    I have Apples, Nanking Cherries, Ckickasaw Plums, & more Legumes going in this fall for the next level/zone.
    These two levels will be wrapped on the N., S., & W., sides with Black Locust, Honey Locust, Oaks (I Hope), Mesquite, & Mulberry to distract the birds.
    If you get a chance, check out Geoff Lawton's videos. The guy is great when it comes to "Greening The Desert."

    This post was edited by V8Vega on Wed, Mar 26, 14 at 10:31

  • lazy_gardens
    10 years ago

    The Salt River valley hasn't been "forested" since when mammoths were walking around.

  • v8vega
    10 years ago

    I'm just doing a small piece of my 12.5 acres in Cochise county.

    I know some people have strong feelings about using nonnative plants & I don't want to step on any toes here. I did a LOT of soul-searching before making the decision to plant one Black Locust & one (thicket forming) Chicksaw plum. I have four other hybrid Chickasaws that don't create thickets as well. I'm going to plant the "standard Chickasaw" near the wash for wildlife. I will be a Hawk when it comes to watching these plants.

  • campv 8b AZ
    10 years ago

    V8 sounds great and you are not stepping on my toes one bit. Please post some pictures. This site is meant to help others, be informative and creative that's how we all learn.
    I for one will be looking forward to a post from you.
    If you get static from old grouchy people just keep on keeping on.

  • v8vega
    10 years ago

    OK, here is an older pic of some of my "Pioneer" Jujube trees & my wife last winter. We will be planting in between the Jujube trees this fall. We must establish plants before moving on to the next variety. We are basically creating the forest edge if you know what I mean.
    Old pic, but you see the area. Those are the Chiricahua mountains on the right.

  • campv 8b AZ
    10 years ago

    Wow those trees are pretty good size. It must have been pretty cold
    When they leaf out I like to see another pic

  • v8vega
    10 years ago

    Will do. I'm going down there this weekend to mulch & prepare some ground for future plants. They might be growing out.
    It gets real weedy when the monsoon hits.

  • ernie85017, zn 9, phx
    10 years ago

    I'm one of those old-timers and it truly was cooler here when I was a kid. we also had big monsoons in the center of the city. They don't make it to the center now, due to the heat dome we have created.
    I second using grass water to grow trees. And food. Why water it if you can't eat it? All those trees would work to clean the air a bit as well.
    Let's do it.

  • fabaceae_native
    9 years ago

    The Sonoran Desert is gorgeous on its own, but some places have become more desert over the past 100 years or so. Places like the Salt River valley WERE forested, just look at old photos of the cottonwood, mesquite, and willow bosques.

    I'm another big advocate of using water to grow trees instead of grass... You can create an oasis from desert, and permaculture provides lots of the tools to do it.

  • quotetheraven
    9 years ago

    Actually, yes, to some degree. We have urban changes that have caused the heat to rise..buildings, roads, and of course, cut down the green to put them there. Last I heard, the city planners were talking over covering about 25-30 percent of Phoenix in shade trees. The Sonoran is beautiful, but so was the Sahara..once..without water and with increasing heat, that will go as well. Very possibly as soon as in the next 50 years. You can at least, reforest your property to some extent, I guess some have HOA's that limit trees (go figure) but if not, it will add better air and will decrease your electric bill, even if it's just around your home.The more green you have, the more the earth holds the water you do give it.. It's taken about 12 years for us, but our yard, is cooler and bills much lower. This is not my opinion but scientific fact. There are lots of low water trees here, and they do fine for shade and cooling. Hope I didn't offend anyone, I have a degree in environmental science and this was my area of study.

Sponsored