Ben & Joanne’s garden in rural New Mexico

Today ’s photos are from Ben and Joanne Harris . Ben says,“I love the garden photo of the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. serial . I ’ve often recall of station photos , but the gardening we do in this position , this environs , is very unlike than the many beautiful gardens in the Northeast , the Mid - Atlantic land , the upper Mid - West , and the Pacific Northwest . I do n’t roll in the hay if this ’ll be of interestingness to everyone , but here are some moving-picture show anyway . You might care to see what it ’s like to ( attempt to ) garden in a generally non - cooperative environment .

My wife and I live near Pecos , New Mexico , in the Pecos River Valley that consist between two arms of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the north and western United States , and Rowe Mesa on the southeastern United States . We ’re at 7,000 feet altitude in the Pinon - Juniper transition zone between mellow desert to the south and the Ponderosa Pine - Spruce - Fir forests in the gamey mountains that surround us . USDA say we ’re Zone 5 , but we had a Zone 4 winter a few year ago when we had a workweek of nighttime lows at -30F. That saltation , I went around the property deplume up dead Zone 5 plants . So now we only shape with Zone 4 - give away ( or good ) plant life unless we can find a strong microclimate around the menage , such as our Dixieland - facing wall .

The ordinary annual rain is 14 inches . We begrudge all you ethnic music who get 40 inches or more : You are consecrate ! The soil is red adobe brick clay , dry and grueling , with no microbic life history that I can recognize : Debris does n’t decay here , it mummify . However , we have managed to promote the comportment of earthworms in some locations , and we take the best charge of them we can . They ’re so authoritative ! They help me make compost , too .

We had a hail tempest on June 7 with the largest hail being golf game ball size . Many things were devastated , but many are also recovering now that showery season ( “ monsoon time of year ” ) is here ( July and August ) . We rarely get a unfaltering , gentle rain ; pile rain storms tend to be acute , even crimson . We ’re make forward motion with rain catchment system , but that ’s a story for another time .

When we move to this dimension 8 years ago , we both had the desire to make the authoritative bungalow garden smell , but we ’ve commit that up . That approach does n’t work here , in our experience . We have sample and lost many species of plant that we thought would ferment here but did n’t , both aboriginal species and seemingly adjust exotics . The good tidings is that we are rarify our understanding of what plants can survive here and what approach to horticulture can succeed . We sometimes jest that we require to take heed what other masses consider to be invasive plants because they just might survive here ! At least one or two specimen !

We find that gardening WITH Nature is a good means to go , rather than prove to have neat , sizeable bed with frizzy sharpness , contain lush , water - hungry flora . Another constituent is that we have a small worry keeping up with Nature ’s planting , being in our belated 60 ’s and me with arthritis , because the unwarranted industrial plant ( “ weeds ” ) rise quicker than we can keep up with . So why not make friends with some of them , veracious ? The Nature spirits do rather well sometimes , too , with a proneness to combinations of chickenhearted and purplish that can be quite attractive .

go for you enjoy this look at a high-pitched - height , dryland garden in rural northern New Mexico . I apologize for the picture quality ; the tv camera is old , and light is vivid here ( gamey ultraviolet illumination ) , tending to wash out point in exposure . But have a look , just the same ! ”

Ben , what fun to see a garden in New Mexico , and a really nice one at that ! I ca n’t even reckon your challenge in that climate . I sometimes feel humiliated by the amount of weewee we take for granted here in the Northeast . I was especially struck by the fact that you have to correct the pH of your well water before applying it to the garden . Fascinating ! ( ton more nifty information in the captions , BTW ) astonishing Book of Job – thanks so much for sharing !

Keep sending in photos of your gardens , everyone !

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What do you do with a bare wall? Put in climbing roses, of course! An eastern exposure works fairly well here for roses. Limiting sunlight to a half-day of morning sun only ensures they won’t bake too much. (We’ve learned that 4 hours of sunlight at this altitude is equivalent to 8 hours sunlight at or near sea level, so when a plant tag says, “full sun,” we now know we must provide some shade, especially in the afternoon.) The stucco wall radiates heat for the remainder of the day so they’re warm but not too hot. We have bulbs and annuals in this bed for seasonal color. Petunias are so cheerful and bright!