How to start a garden in the desert
How to start a garden in the desert
Would you like to have a beautiful food forest but the drought is keeping you awake at night? Have you fallen in love with a deserted area but you would like to make it prettier by planting some cool trees? No worries, we got you.
Published on 11 March 2024 by Sara Disconzi.
As a lot of you may know, our animal sanctuary and community is located in the south of Tenerife, next to rocks and rocks and sand and rocks. But, thanks to our gardening volunteers, we are growing a beautiful oasis in the desert (literally). Peter is a biologist specialised in Tropical Ecology and has spent two years growing our beautiful garden in conditions that require, to say the least, patience. Not only are we in the desert, but this area is also facing a serious drought in this period after one of the driest winters on record. Peter studied the environmental conditions of this zone and for this very reason he is able to grow a garden here in a sustainable way. Here are some tips from him to help you grow a garden too!
Care about the seasons
The simplest rule is to plant at the beginning of the rainy season and to maintain what you have during the dry season.
Change the way you plant
Desert soil is so hot and dry that it rejects water. In fact if you water on dry soil, the water runs only 3-4 mm down and then it flows on the surface. In this situation you need to adapt the way you plant to make sure that the plant gets enough water, especially after a transplant. How? Dig the hole, fill it with water, put the plant inside the hole (in the water) and then put soil in the hole. In this way the roots will have water for 3-4 days and the plant will appreciate this easy trick.
Cover the soil
That’s the most important thing for your garden. Plant a lot of ground covering plants that spread in all directions but don't grow high. In this way you will have a cooler soil and some shadow, both of these factors allowing for less evaporation and more condensation, so the water stays on the ground and plants have more time to drink it. It also helps climate change, because in this way more CO2 is captured, and it prevents erosion of the soil. With your soil covered you can plant some big trees in the middle. But which plants are ground covering ones?
Delospermum sp.
This is the toughest ground covering plant you can grow in a desert. It’s perfect for a windy, dry and hot area, especially on a southern slope.
Delospermum sp.
Carpobrotus edulis
This is the fastest plant to grow, but during the summer it might dry out so it’s less tough than the Delospermum sp. If you need to cover the ground quickly this is the plant for you. Better if you plant it on a west or east slope.
For some areas we planted Carpobrotus edulis as the first plant because we needed to get the soil green fast, then we left the plant dry out in the dry season. We left the dry cover on the ground to keep the soil protected and then we made some holes in this cover and planted Delospermum sp. in there. When the last one grows, we will plant trees. It’s like following an ecological successio
Carpobrotus edulis (L.) N.E.Br.
Plectranthus amboinicus (cuban origano)
Perfect to cover the soil, but only if combined with big plants/trees, because it overgrows everything. For example, we used this plant to cover the wall of the food storage, so the storage stays cold and the kitchen team can use the leaves to cook.
Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng
Aptenia cordifolia
This is the most sensitive of these ground covering plants. It has beautiful small red flowers and it’s flat so it doesn't overgrow. It needs shade and regular water.
Aptenia cordifolia (L. f.) Schwantes
Plant even on gravel
You can still plant your ground covering plant even if you just have gravel and not soil. Just make a hole between the gravel, plant the pot in which the ground covering plant is contained and then it will also spread between the gravel.
Plant bigger plants
The easiest plants to have in a dry environment are succulents: plants with parts that are thickened and fleshy in order to retain water. Succulents of the genus Euphorbia are perfect, but also Aloe vera, Agave and cacti. We have planted some fruit trees too: moringa trees, papaya trees and dragon fruit cactus. Sustainable and economic tips: when you buy a fruit from the market, collect the seeds and use them to grow your plants; you can also make cuttings to propagate plants.
Agave sp.; Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f.; Euphorbia canariensis L.
Watch out for the wind.
Wind causes bigger problems than the hot sun, in fact it takes more water than the plant takes water from the soil. For this very reason, it’s not so weird to find dry plants and wet soil in the evening. But this problem can be solved by surrounding the plant with big rocks, and it’s also a nice way to decorate your garden.
Care about the compost and the type of soil
Yes, we do our own compost and then we use it combined with ashes, used coffee grounds, local sand, horse manure and gravel in different percentages depending on the plant. For example, if a plant needs a fat soil (such as melon and pumpkin) we use pure compost. If a plant needs fluffy soil (as a pineapple plant does) we mix the compost with gravel and sand.
Growing your garden in the desert can be challenging, but it’s possible and if you follow these tips for sure you will be able to have a greener place. Look at what we managed to grow in two years. You can do it too!
The same place in 2022, 2023, 2024.
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