When it’s Planting Season, Clear Your Calendar to Help Cool Our Cities
When the weather is fantastic in the springtime, all I want to do is be outside. When I look at the Catalina or Rincon Mountains, visible almost anywhere in Tucson, they are calling me to play, explore, and recharge. My bike commute has been pure joy, the birds are chirping, the wildflowers are popping, and the clouds seem fluffier than usual. Abundant winter rains have brought more clouds, humidity, and a carpet of green annuals, softening the desert.
What does this perfect, mild weather also mean? That it’s a great time to plant trees and build native rain gardens. In the Sonoran desert, there are a couple opportune times to plant – March and April and mid-Sept through November, when the temperatures aren’t too hot and there’s minimal chance of frost or freezing. Some planting can also happen during the monsoon rains in July and August, though with more variable rainfall and hotter temperatures from climate change, planting at this time requires lots more attention.
When that ideal planting season arrives, have we blocked out time to play in the earth and plant? Or do we continue with our routines and miss this opportune window? Remember the Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” So don’t let now pass you by!
Find a friend or neighbor, brother or cousin, and get out and plant together. And plan a way to capture rainwater and stormwater to nourish your new plants, right in the surrounding soil. If you can’t dig and plant yourself, perhaps you can help by organizing others or providing funding.
Plant trees. Plant native trees. And also, plant everything else – shrubs, groundcovers, bunch grasses, wildflowers, vines! Trees are excellent for providing shade and soaking up carbon, but what we really want is to maximize native plants in the same way nature does, creating a cooling ecosystem, just like a forest.
So clear your calendar, pick a special day, and plant!
Lisa Shipek
Executive Director