Xeriscape

When you live in the desert it’s hard to keep anything looking green, especially lawns.  Ours looks pretty bad.  We’d love to have a bit of lawn but have decided to take it out and xeriscape the whole area with rocks and desert friendly plants.  I’ll leave a small space for seasonal flowers to add some color. 

We haven’t started this project yet because we have to rent equipment to remove the dead lawn.  We haven’t had time to do this job.  Hopefully it won’t get to hot before we can tackle this, or it might be this fall before anything happens.

As it is we got two days off in a row so we could cut back bushes and take out dead plants.  We filled up three trash cans with stuff, got sunburned in the process, and scratched all over by twigs and wayward branches.  We were a sight at work the next few days.

The good news is once we can do this project we’ll save on the water bill.

Look who happened by

Living in the desert the way we do, one can get up close and personal with the critters around here and see things you may not normally see, especially if you’re an urban dweller.  I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I haven’t taken at least a dozen pictures, many times its way more than that.

I thought I’d share a couple more desert inhabitants with you. 

 Coming into the yard from the desert

 

This is a jackrabbit.  We had them in the fields in Texas too, but we never saw one this close.  These guys come in the front yard all the time.  They munch on what’s left of my lawn, or find shade under the trees.

 Finding a spot under a tree

Preparing to stay a while

 

This looks like a young one.  They can’t get in the backyard because the whole area is walled and we have “poodle pickets” in the gates.  The smaller rabbits can still squeeze through around the hinges, or come in through the Y-block we have installed.  But that block is a life saver during rainy season.  Any excess water drains down the natural riverbed, we worked into the landscaping, and out into the desert.  Following the natural slope of the land is necessary if you live in the desert where possible flooding could occur.

 Desert toad on my patio

 

This next guy has to stay out of the heat, so these toads are nocturnal.  They can come out after sunset, but it’s usually later at night that I spot one or two on the patio.  They eat bugs and use the water dish as their private pool.  They’ll stay in there an hour at a time soaking up the water.  These frogs will dry up if they’re caught out in the sun.  Desert toads will spend most of their time in underground boroughs, or they’ll find a sanctuary under rocks.

I have neighbors who actually build toad houses for them.  The frogs have been known to move in and stay there for years, if they like it.  I’ve thought of doing this too because these toads are good for the environment, as they keep the bugs at bay.

Desert toad on my patio

You can make a toad house out of rocks, or an old terra cotta pot.  The important thing is to remember to leave the opening in a sheltered area (away from people and weather).  The “house” needs to be big enough for the frog to crawl in and out of comfortably.  It’s good to leave the bottom dirt, so digging a small indentation in the earth is ideal.  If using a terra cotta pot, cut it in half and then sink it into the sandy soil.  If this isn’t possible, bury part of the pot so only half of it is exposed.

If anyone is interested in building a toad house for your garden, click here for more information and instructions.

Okay, after writing this post to schedule, I got inspired and decided to go in search of the broken terra cotta pot we had lying around.  My husband more than likely threw it away because I couldn’t find it.  I keep more than he does, always looking at some discarded item as a possible craft project for later.

I was lucky enough to find a broken water pan so I decided to use that.  The problem I faced was the fact it was too shallow.  The red dirt here is hard to dig out, so I used some broken cement blocks and rocks as risers to lift the water pan up.  I still had to dig down some to make a nice damp spot for the frog to reside.

The next thing to do was deciding where to put the “house.”  Near a source of water is ideal, so my choice was under a honeysuckle vine that grows next to a wall and is about eight feet away from the water dish on my patio.  This spot is shielded by the wall and the vine and doesn’t face north.  In fact, it’s in the shade most of the time and is protected from winter snow and intense summer heat.  Perfect.

 My toad house

 

So I got on my garden gloves, took my knee pad and a small garden shovel and went to work.  It isn’t the coolest day in the world at 97 degrees here, making me thankful when the sun went behind a cloud for a moment or two.

As I worked, I heard the bells of the wind chime above my head bringing thoughts of my sister-in-law who would love to be here with me doing this.  She loved all animals and creatures.

My toad house

I robbed a few rocks from the riverbed in my backyard to put on top of my creation and on the sides so the entrance isn’t too exposed.  Now we’ll see if a frog finds it.  That’s the purpose, right?  I know they come to my patio all the time and go around the side of the house and under the gate to the front yard.  This house is just inside the gate, so they will have to pass it on their night excursions. 

 My toad house

 

Today is August 10 and I’m scheduling this to post on August 19.  I’ll let you know if I have a resident frog by then.  Stay tuned.

For me, it’s off to the shower now that I’m a sweaty pig.

Useful Products

This one is to make cleaning easier.  I recently found this product and I’m amazed with what it can do.  I’m not very domestic and hate cleaning and cooking, which is an oddity, I guess, because I’m female.  I’m always looking for something to make the job quicker so I can get back to doing what I’d really like to do, writing, reading, sewing, crafting, playing with the cats, etc.

Unfortunately, I live in a dust bowl called the desert.  Red sand surrounds me.  I can dust and in two days, the red sand is back.  I still like to leave my windows open because there aren’t that many days you can do that in the desert.  Face it I love fresh air, but usually it’s too cold or too hot around here for open windows.  Regardless, the sand finds a way into the house.

This is a new dusting cloth by Clorox.  Don’t worry it isn’t smelly like bleach and is safe to use on just about any surface, including electronics.  It’s a dry duster similar to the refill cloths for the swifter, but this is thinner and a bit stickier (not the sticky you’re thinking of.) 

This cloth is about 8” by 8” and is designed for dry dusting.  Unbelievably, one cloth can dust an entire room.  That’s what the company advertizes and they don’t lie.  I tried it in the dustiest spot in the entire house, my husband’s office.  I wanted to put this to the test and I wasn’t disappointed.

The wipe picks up dust and cat hair (I have plenty of that) and it stays on the cloth because of the tacky texture.  You actually remove it and not just move it around as you dust.  When finished you just toss the rag in the trash.  The dust cloth starts out as a light yellow color.  By the time you’re finished, it will be brown.

Handy dispenser box

It only took me about an hour to dust the entire house, which is 3300 square feet.  If you need to do a quick job, this is for you.  On the days I use this new product, I can eliminate my use of glass cleaner and furniture polish.  Yes, these wipes will clean glass too. 

Normally I carry around a cleaning basket loaded with paper towels, half a dozen different cleaners, dust rags, scrubbing sponges, etc.  I think Clorox Dust Cloths is a marvelous find.

Sometimes Life Just Hands you Crap!

Or at least that was what I thought when I got up to face a dusty house that needs cleaning, a cat throw up and piles of paper and stuff everywhere to be picked up.  But do you think I could get to that?  No way!  I had to delve into a dull manuscript I’m editing that is full of medical jargon that entails looking up every other word to see if it is indeed even a word.  That’s when Google is my best friend.  Big sigh!  At least I have all the tax stuff added up and written on a worksheet to be delivered to the accountant.  But my office floor is still filled with stacks of papers.  Oh well……..it will be there when I get to it.

Its times like these that you have to keep the old positive attitude and fall back on the saying that was engrained in us as kids “things could always be worse.”