Great to Meet All You Southwesterners!

19 years ago

So glad I found this forum. I am a chicagoan possibly relocating to ABQ within the next few years. One of my concerns is moving from humidy/cold weather where it's green and beautiful (except in winter!), to a semi-arid climate. I will be watching this forum inthe future for possible insight into what we'll be getting into gardening-wise in ABQ. Once again, thanks for posting your info., I've already read and learned lots! Chicagohater, signing off!

Comments (5)

The_Mohave__Kid
19 years ago
Welcome ...

There is so much green back east that no one ever sees a thing but green ...

The desert has more plant diversity then an eastern forest .. the plants are showcased in the desert ... the deatail stands out ... it is a wonderful place.

Good Day ...
minet
19 years ago
I, too, will be reading this forum now, as DH and I are considering a move to the Las Vegas area, from where we are in coastal southern California. Big change, but I think it would work for us. I don't know much gardening in the desert so I hope to learn a lot from you all.
Related Professionals
Cary Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Foothill Ranch Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Manhattan Beach Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Piqua Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Milford Landscape Contractors · Broadlands Landscape Contractors · El Mirage Landscape Contractors · Kettering Landscape Contractors · Lees Summit Landscape Contractors · Lehigh Acres Landscape Contractors · New Braunfels Landscape Contractors · Wailuku Landscape Contractors · Waipahu Landscape Contractors · Reisterstown Landscape Contractors · Merrifield Landscape Contractors
Vikk
19 years ago
Hello. I moved from Vermont to El Paso and though I love Vermont dearly I really love the weather here. I've been here one year. Some things I've noticed: Not many perennial gardens, but I'm trying to grow peonies here...we shall see.

I haven't seen a snake yet, or a scorpion.
The sky seems bigger.
The summer is longer. In March I was wearing shorts. In April I'm in a tank top and readying my swamp cooler. There are swamp coolers everywhere, called "evaporative cooling."
Growing a lawn is a challenge.
Rocks, lots of rocks.
I already have a tan. And my skin is dry--just working in the yard and I have chapped hands.
The allergy season is wicked.
Oh, and there seems to be a trick to growing tomatoes.
Chitown33
19 years ago
Chicagohater, Don't worry, the summers in ABQ are nothing compared to the hot humid chicago summers. It does get hot there, warmer on average, but without the humidity it feels great. The summers in ABQ however are longer, but i think you will enjoy it.
Don't worry, youll have lots of fun in that climate!
chagrin
18 years ago
You referred to Albuquerque's climate as semi-arid. Sorry, but it's arid, arid, arid. Annual rainfall 8 inches a year in a so-called "normal" year. In the 15 years I've been around here, it's oscillated from 5 inches to 10 inches. Be prepared for a brown landscape year around. Even in the rare year when the desert blooms, as they say, the background is still brown. And whether you get rain or not depends on what cloud you're under. Your neighbor may get some, but you don't, and vice-versa. Somewhere else on this Forum someone advised that you have to water every day in summer, and if you forget to water, just forget the whole thing. Truer words were never written. This isn't to discourage you--lots of people love it and garden up a storm out here. If and when you do move here, just be sure to really check out the gardening possibilities--soil type, water availability (well, for instance)etc.--of your future property. For instance, don't get stuck with hard clay soil that you'll spend the rest of your life trying to improve.