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Q : We’ve just moved to the northern Arizona desert . It ’s very ironic and windy , with freezing nighttime in the wintertime . We could really expend some hedges , but I ’m not sure what to plant.—Clara Soto , Page , Ariz.
A : plastered winding , light rainfall , and harsh sunlight are your biggest challenge — not the frigidity . If you could add trickle irrigation to counter the dry out effects of these elements , there are lots of plants to recreate with . Steer clean of the honest-to-goodness understudy — genus Photinia , Japanese Turkish boxwood , pyracantha , and privet — that landscapist in your country routinely commend despite their need for regular pruning and constant lachrymation . Instead , try some of the more adventurous options that your comparatively mild winter permit ( you ’re in USDA cold - hardiness zone 8) . utilise plants that have naturally adapted to survive recollective period in dry soil .
For a strikingly tall , formal hedge , plant the straight and narrow Italian cypress , Cupressus sempervirens‘Stricta ’ or disconsolate - fleeceable Glauca ’ ( USDA zones 7–9 ) , or Rocky Mountain juniper , Juniperus scopulorum‘Skyrocket , ’ ‘ Gray Gleam , ’ or ‘ Blue Haven ’ ( zones 3–7 ) . All these trees outride dense and columnar without shearing , though they will eventually overshoot the 6- or 8 - foot acme that most of us have in mind when we consider hedging . A wise choice for an informal hedge that ’s easygoing to restrict to the 6- or 8 - foot limit is cliff arise , Cowania mexicana(zones 4–7 ) . Shear its sides once a year , and thin out erstwhile Natalie Wood as require to rejuvenate the industrial plant and control its height . Cliff arise never lose all of its low gray - green leaves , and it is thick with fragrant yellow flowers in spring , followed by sparser yet unfaltering efflorescence all summertime ( when it ’s trained as a hedge , this native shrub in reality blooms more profusely than it does in the wild ) . The flowers then become attractive plumes . A close relation , Apache - plumage , Fallugia paradoxa(zones 3–10 ) , has white flowers and even lusher plume , though its matured height is about 4 feet .
If you have way for a large , looser planting — more of a hedgerow than a hedge — Arizona cypress , Cupressus arizonica(zones 6–9 ) , may be just the slate . This cypress is fairly short for a tree , in the end about 18 foundation across at the base and 25 to 30 foot grandiloquent , and it mould a tough covert and shelterbelt . Pinyon true pine , Pinus edulis(zones 5–8 ) , which eventually arrive at a height of roughly 20 base , is a fine choice . growing is slow : less than 6 in a year without lacrimation .
During their first 6 months in the earth , all the plant life I ’ve recommended should be irrigated regularly with a drip line to help them square up in . From then on they will thrive with little auxiliary irrigation . Cliff arise and Apache - plumage are happiest subsisting on rain alone , but the rest of these plants will grow quicker with every additional pearl you give them .
