October Planting and Maintenance Guide for Desert Gardens

Plant

Winter-blooming succulent aloes go in the ground now. Try the large cape aloe (Aloe ferox) or the lower-growing blue elf (A. × 'Blue Elf').

Grow Greek germander (Teucrium aroanium) for a dense, silver groundcover that thrives from Albuquerque to Tucson. Each plant reaches six inches tall and spreads 2–3 feet wide, producing a mat of purple flowers next spring.

Sow seeds of cool-season herbs—cilantro, dill, and parsley—and plant seedlings of lavender and sage.

Plant cold-hardy desert trees such as mesquites, palo verde, and most acacias, plus higher-elevation species like oaks.

For a green lawn year-round, overseed Bermuda turf with perennial ryegrass once nighttime temperatures drop below 65°F.

Maintain

Cut back and shape Mediterranean plants—olive, rosemary, and santolina—toward month's end.

Do not prune or fertilize frost-tender trees and woody shrubs; doing so encourages sensitive new growth right before winter freezes.

Give

Separate agave offsets and pot them in small ceramic containers filled with cactus potting soil. Place the pups in a sunny spot and they'll be ready as holiday gifts.