Did you know that April is National Lawn and Garden Month?

Seems fitting since we have probably spent more time outside this month than in January through March combined. Our gardens, lawns, and landscapes have been keeping us busy these past few weeks and it’s a great thing! Not only is it good for us to spend some time outside getting some fresh air, but it’s good to spend time taking care of our yards too. Click here for more ways to celebrate this April.

At Moon Valley Nurseries, we encourage routinely taking care of your yard and keeping all your landscape materials as cleaned up, watered, and trimmed as they should be any time of the year. Whether you do the yard work yourself or have a professional come out and do it for you, consistent care of your yard provides important benefits every homeowner would want to capitalize on.

Three Benefits of Taking Care of Your Home’s Landscape

Your Home Will have Massive Curb Appeal

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of curb appeal is probably a gorgeous house that immediately catches your attention as you drive by it. This is certainly a big reason that it is so significant when you are considering selling or renting your homes.

The house with the green, cut grass is probably going to look more inviting than a house with an overgrown lawn.

Taking care of the exterior of your home is not always for how other people might view your property. Many of us take immense pride in our homes and our landscapes and see them more as our personal retreats.

Regular Yard Maintenance makes for a Healthy Yard

I am sure we all know that in order for things to look nice and last for a long time, we have to take care of them on a regular basis. Our cars need an oil change every few months, our air conditions need tune-ups at least once a year, and our yard needs monthly care. Without it, avoidable problems start to appear and cause a lot of financial mayhem.

Staying on top of a schedule for a yard helps you better understand what your landscape needs season by season and you will be able to start taking care of things before they are ever serious problems.

Adds Financial Value to Your Home and Neighborhood

The last and most common reason people want new landscape designs or new landscape materials is because of the increased financial value that comes with the upgrade to your yard.

A whole new landscape will have the most effect on increasing the value of your home but even small changes such as colorful shrubs, new mulch, flower containers, or trimmed trees can help make a positive difference.

It is obvious when a yard has been meticulously taken care for over the years and the payoff is large. Not only does it increase your property value, but it can also boost the homes around you!

When to Call in a Landscape Professional for Your Home

For homeowners that do all their landscape maintenance themselves, cheers to you! For the most part, many of the tasks that need to be completed when doing your own yard are manageable for 1-2 people. However, there will be times when you run into issues and you don’t have time to figure out yourself.

Some issues include damaged trees or plants from heavy storms, dying trees or plants due to sudden frost or sudden heatwave, and major pest damage. Not every homeowner will be able to catch these issues while they are still small and will need the help of a professional service to fix them.

Why You Should Let the Landscape Pros Handle Your Yard

Using a landscape service consistently has extreme benefits for your yards. A landscape professional has experience and knowledge about your specific lawn, trees, and plants and also a good understanding of our region and how it affects the plant materials in your landscape year-round.

With the assistance of a professional, your landscape will get consistent and thorough attention. This extra TLC will keep all your trees and plants in top health as they will be trimmed and pruned, fertilized, and properly watered.

Consistent Trimming Stimulates Consistent New Growth

When a landscape pro is monitoring and taking care of your landscape on a regular basis, those trees and plants are getting trimmed and manicured for visual appeal and to help stimulate newer growth from the plant.

Constant Observation Means Your Landscape Pro Won’t Miss a Thing

Constant observation also allows them to see any discoloration in the leaves, issues with the bark, or holes in the foliage that obviously came from some hungry pests. Noticing these types of issues sooner creates a speedy recovery from the plant.

It is extremely important to make sure that everything in your landscape is being watered properly. Depending on what type of landscape you have, this alone could be a daunting task full of trial and error. (By the time you start to figure out what works, the weather has probably started to drastically change again.)

A landscape professional will be able to handle this without a problem and you won’t have to worry about it at all!

Moon Valley Professional Tree Care Services

Giving your trees a trim or fertilizer injections that go straight to the root will have them ready and healthy when the heat skyrockets in these next few months.

Click below to receive a special offer on all tree care services.

Call our tree care team today and ask about which of your trees should be trimmed and fertilized now!

Moon Valley Nurseries Featured Tree

STONE FRUIT TREES

Stone fruit trees can produce some of the loveliest flowers and are excellent landscape trees for privacy screens or for merely adding beauty to your landscape. Moon Valley Nurseries sells low-chill variety stone fruit trees that have great fruit production in our climate. Below are some of our recommended stone fruit trees for Arizona.

Nectarine Tree

These easy-to-grow trees can bloom a lovely sight of light pink flowers, creating a lovely backyard scene through the spring season. Nectarine trees are small deciduous trees that are ideally suited for growing in a small yard or patio garden. Their smaller size also makes them ideal for group and row planting in larger yards.

Peach Tree

These peach trees love to grow in the Phoenix area! They can bloom showy, light pink flower bouquets before bearing mouth-watering, juicy fruit! In addition to the tasty fruit and their beautiful flowers, we also like to use them to create a screen that can block unwanted views.

Plum Tree

These low-chill fruit trees are easy to grow and can enhance the look of any landscape, with or without fruit! Plum trees are self-fruitful and have a stunning show of white flowers. These flowers will create an extra allure to your trees while they are blooming in the months of spring. Plant them in full sun and watch this tree flourish in fruit and flowers for years.

Not sure what to do for your landscape in April or where to get started?

The April landscaping chores are a lot like what you were (hopefully) doing last month, except you may have noticed more growth in your yard, good (flowers) and bad (weeds)!

If you have been keeping up with your yard as we went into spring than you are doing great! If you have not, you should definitely jump on it now and get control of your landscape.

Not only will your yard look better, it will be healthier. Spring is the time for all your trees and shrubs to be at optimal health to have a great summer growing season.

Pull Those Weeds

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have time to pull every weed that emerges from the ground, so our yards have been taken over by all different types of weeds. Some might even be getting so mature they are blooming into tiny flowers and giving you mixed feelings about ripping them out of the ground. Don’t be fooled, they are the worst!

Nobody wants to be pulling weeds in the summer with the sun beating down on them or in the dark, trying to avoid the sun. Using pre-emergent products that we carry at all nurseries will keep your yard weed-free. Be sure to ask our experts about how to use them and which product is best for your landscape.

We know it’s not fun, but it only gets worse from here!

Fun suggestion: If you have kids (or can borrow some kids), pay them a quarter for each weed they pull out (root and all).

Problem solved!

Plant! Plant! Plant!

With new seasons coming in and more focus on your landscape in the last few months, now is a great time to take a look around and see what might be missing in your yard. Look for areas that might need more shade during the day. This could be a great place to plant a tree with a large canopy. Pay attention to rooms in your home that might be hotter than other rooms. The sun is probably shining on those walls longer throughout the day. Some extra cover from trees and plants just outside the wall will make a noticeable difference!

This time of the year creates perfect conditions for planting from healthy soil that is just the right temperature to healthy trees that can handle being transplanted and adapt to their new environment at a much quicker pace.

Always be Watering

You will need to keep watching your plants and trees to know if you should adjust your watering schedules this season. The weather is constantly changing in the springtime and the temperatures can rise quickly here so you should also be checking and changing your watering schedule every few weeks.

We cannot stress how important it is to look at the temperatures. You might need to water for longer intervals soon but in just a few weeks you might also need to start watering an extra day out of the week.

When watering, allow the hose or drip system to apply the water slowly over a longer period of time. This allows the water to penetrate beneath and reach all areas of the roots. For more information, check out our watering guide.

Feed with Fertilizer

We know we say this a lot but that should show just how important it is to fertilize and stay on top of a fertilizing schedule for all your landscape materials. Fertilizer is food for your plants. It is the difference of surviving another season malnourished or thriving in it like a champ!

Fertilize the material in your landscape to give your trees and shrubs a boost and capitalize on the prime growing season.

Moon Valley Nurseries has developed highly specialized blends of fertilizer like Super Charged Moon Juice and Super Palm Juice, which are designed to trigger and stimulate growth responses. These fertilizers also supplement the essential micro and macro nutrients that plants need to thrive in our climate.

Trim and Prune

You will want to give your trees and plants a nice trim before it gets too hot outside. Pruning not only helps develop strong crowns and branches but also promotes strong root growth.

After pruning, be sure to fertilize with Moon Juice to get much-needed nutrients into the tree. Because when you prune, you're essentially wounding the tree, so feeding it with fertilizer is a great way to make sure the tree will bounce back sooner and stronger.

Now is still the best time for tree care services for your yard. The weather is perfect for your trees to get taken care of and be strong for the summer.

Featured Tree - Purple Leaf Plum

The Purple Leaf Plum tree is a great addition to a yard for its many qualities. Their dark red/purple foliage, whiteish/pink flowers and medium-sized growth rate makes this tree an awesome ornamental choice for front and back yards.

With full sun, the leaves will turn a rich purple throughout the seasons, but the leaves may grow green when planted in the shade.

For design purposes, the unique coloring will add exciting contrast to a greener yard. Keep this tree in mind when you are planning a Japanese or contemporary design.

Let Moon Valley Nurseries help you with your Yard!

Landscape Consultations

Click here to check out what our team can do for your landscape.

Call the designer for your area or fill out the form at the link so we can reach out to you.

Let us do all the hard work! 

Moon Valley Nurseries Yard March To-Do List

It is kind of hard to believe that it is already March, especially since Arizona was hit with lots of rain, and even snow! From Flagstaff to Scottsdale to Tucson and many other areas of Arizona - we either saw the snow with our own eyes or saw plenty of pictures all over Instagram!

None the less, spring is just a few weeks away and warm days are on the way. This is usually the time of the year where we recommend putting in a bit more effort toward your yard now. We are especially excited because all the rain that dropped on our yards is a bonus for helping our yards succeed sooner and stronger.

(As we recommend using our SuperCharged Moon Juice after a rain storm, I personally can’t wait to use it in my yard!  Anybody else excited? You will be! More on Moon Juice later in the post.)

Below are a few tips and tricks every yard can benefit from this month…

Landscape Clean-Up

Weeding

While you may not have seen too many weeds growing in your yard during the winter, the warmer weather (and all that rain) will give them the boost they need to pop out of your soil and grow inches overnight.

When weeds are young, it is a smart idea to remove them before they become established. Once they have grown, they can start dropping seeds and that leads to more weeds! Most people do NOT want to pull weeds ever, but I am sure they would rather pull them now, while it is still cool outside, than later.

When you pull all the visible weeds in your yard, using pre-emergent products will help keep your yard weed-free. Consistently using pre-emergent herbicides will make your yard a piece of cake to take care of, which you will be thankful for as the temperatures hit triple digits.

Every Moon Valley Nursery has pre-emergent products available for you to purchase and nursery pros that can help you pick the right products for your specific needs.

Pruning/Trimming

This time of the year is the best time to prune your trees for shape and shade before they experience spring growth. Pruning not only helps develop strong crowns but also promotes strong root growth. After pruning, be sure to fertilize with Moon Juice to get much-needed nutrients into the tree as it recovers from its haircut.

Arizona Tree Care Service

If you are looking for some tree care advice, suggestions, or need some professional tree care help, check out our Tree Care page.

Right now, we are even offering a discount off any of our tree care services such as trimming, removal, soil fertilizer injections, and more!

Recover and Regrow

Our certified Tree Care team can help your landscape recover from the recent storms and any frost damage your trees may have sustained in the last few weeks. This is the best time of year to focus on your trees, so they are healthy and booming this spring! Click below for more information.

Landscape Prep

Fertilizing

Fertilize your landscape to give your trees and shrubs a boost and capitalize on the spring growing season. I am sure you have already started to notice the changes in your yard, or you will be seeing them very soon!  

Moon Valley Nursery has developed highly specialized blends of fertilizer like SuperCharged Moon Juice and Super Palm Juice which are designed to trigger growth responses and supplement the essential micro and macro nutrients that plants need to thrive in the Western United States.

(Print coupon and bring to your nearest nursery)

Check out all our fertilizer products here and learn more about which ones are right for your yard.

Planting

With all the rain that has fallen across Arizona, it is a great time to plant new trees and shrubs. The soil is hydrated and enriched from the recent rains, which makes planting easier and creates a calmer transition and less shock for your plants as it grows accustom to its new home and becomes established in your soil.

Landscape Maintenance

Watering

This time of the year usually kicks off the start of longer and warmer days. It is important to keep an eye on your current watering schedule and start to transition from winter to spring as everything on your landscape will probably need more water soon, if not already! 

For specific information on watering schedules, click here to learn more about the watering needs for your new and mature trees.

Lawn Care Tips for your Yard

If you let your grass go dormant through winter, you have probably noticed it is slowly coming back. If you haven’t seen any new growth, there is still time! If you planted winter grass, you might be noticing that it is starting to die away and that is okay! The transition in your lawn is starting, whether it’s visible yet or not, and the little things we do now will make a big difference (and save you lots of work later) in the long run. It will also give you more time to enjoy your yard and entertain more this year. We have put together a few tips to help you focus some attention on your lawn this month.

• Removing and preventing weeds from your lawn is the first step to bringing it back to perfect health.
• Remove any thatch on your lawn that you can see to help get water and nutrients deeper in the soil and grass roots.
• Aerate your grass to loosen the soil and allow for water, nutrients, additional grass seed, and fertilizer to get all the way to the roots.
• Fertilize your lawn with our Moon Royale Turf Fertilizer to bring back that healthy green lawn that has been dormant all winter.
• Water your lawn, as needed for your yard. Be sure to start paying attention to your lawn this time of year so you can adjust the watering schedule depending on how quickly the weather starts to change.

Suggestions for Trees to Plant in March

Flowering Pear

This vigorous tree can add fantastic color to any type of landscape. This tree produces white flowers in late winter and early spring and grows as a small to medium tree, so it can be planted almost anywhere. Even without blooming flowers, this tree has a unique look that everybody will notice. 

Palms

Almost every palm is ready to go and get planted this time of year. Our Mexican Fan Palm and Date Palm trees are perfect examples of palms ready for planting now! These palms are easy to care for all year and add instant tropical vibes to your landscape, especially if you have a pool! While it is not illegal to own a pool with no palms, it’s just not fair to the pool.

Majestic Ash

This highly sought-after shade tree is easy to maintain and grows fast, so you will be covered in shade in no time! Our Majestic Ash trees are grown specially by Moon Valley Nurseries as a seedless variety, which means no mess! This will definitely impress your neighbors that have to deal with seeds all over the driveway.

Citrus and Fruit Trees

Ready to start growing your own food? Planting citrus or stone fruit is the best way to start. These trees are easy to take care of and yet they give you so much! Citrus and Stone fruits handle March planting like champs. Some of our favorite citrus and stone fruits to plant now are oranges, lemons, peaches, plums, and apples. I can go on and on, but we recommend just coming to a nursery and seeing all the varieties with your own eyes. We will even let you pick some and taste it yourself!

Purple Leaf Plum

This deciduous tree produces an abundance of showy light pink flowers in spring. It also features dark purple foliage that helps to make it an ideal accent tree. We like to plant them in front yards, where they are sure to attract all the right attention, or in rows as an eclectic border option. These ornamental trees can make a bold and beautiful color statement no matter how we choose to plant them!

THE MOON VALLEY DIFFERENCE

We love that we can offer our customers a one-of-a-kind experience at our nurseries. We truly do it all from growing the trees to helping you create the best landscape to making sure that landscape stays in perfect shape for you to enjoy for years to come.

Visit us this weekend to check out all the trees we have to offer and find the best fit for you.

SPRING LANDSCAPING     

As much as it feels like the year has just barely begun, the weather is getting warmer every day and the outdoors is calling your name. Now is the time of year to start taking a good look at your yard and check on how well your lawn, trees, and other plants are doing and if they need some extra help getting back to optimal health.  

Because of the stress that the winter puts our plants under, spring is an important time to make sure your landscape is ready to transition into the warmer months ahead and the even warmer months after that!

Now is the time of year when everything on your landscape will need the essential nutrients to help them thrive all year long in our native soils. It doesn't matter what types of plants or trees you have on your landscape as palm trees, tropical plants, fruit and citrus, shrubs, and evergreen trees all need these nutrients to grow healthy and strong.

MOON VALLEY NURSERIES - FERTILIZERS/SUPPLEMENTS

With so many fertilizers on the market, it can be overwhelming trying to find the right one for your landscape. Fortunately, the nursery pros at Moon Valley Nurseries have eliminated the headaches and struggle for you. We have developed highly specialized blends of fertilizer and supplements designed to trigger growth responses for our native soils.

These fertilizers have been tested time and time again. Our pros have been growing and planting trees and shrubs in our region for more than 30 years. We use all our fertilizer and supplement products on all our trees and plants in our nurseries, grow yards, and our hundreds of acres of tree farms. We have seen the amazing transformation our plants went through once we developed these products and are proud to be able to offer them to our customers at all nursery locations and online. Keep reading to see which products will work best for your yard!

Be sure to click above and get your coupon for big savings on all our fertilizing products today! 

TOP FERTILIZING PRODUCTS FOR YOUR YARD

SuperCharged Moon Juice

Our SuperCharged Moon Juice is a growth-enhancer that utilizes a patented Furst liquid technologies mixture, which includes an exclusive blend of organic enzymes and amino acids that stimulate growth signals within the plant. Environmental signals regulate plant and tree growth cycles. Applying Moon Juice will help stimulate these signals in your plants and trees – helping to boost growth at any time of the year and lending a hand to a speedy recovery from seasonal stresses caused by extreme heat, freeze, wind damage,  and transplanting.

There are other great benefits when using Moon Juice, including new root hair growth and its ability to help plants ward off diseases, and possible infestation or infections from outside sources.

Moon Juice also makes watering more effective because it helps open the plant roots to uptake more water and nutrients. This can help reduce the amount of water your plants will need making them more waterwise.

Used as directed, Supercharged Moon Juice is extremely easy to use – all you have to do is mix the appropriate water amount and apply to the root area. With Moon Juice – a little goes a long way!

When to Use:

• New transplants
• Weather stresses such as heat, freeze, wind damage

How to Use: Recommend monthly applications. At minimum, apply once per season: Spring, Summer & Fall.

TREES & PALMS - Mix 5 tablespoons per gallon of water. Saturate entire root area with mixture. (Max. 5 gals)

SHRUBS & VINES - Mix 4 tablespoons per gallon of water. Saturate entire root area with mixture. (Max. 2 gals)

BEDDING PLANTS - Mix 3 tablespoons per gallon of water. Saturate planted area with mixture. (Max. 1 gal. per sq. yard)

POTTED PLANTS -  Mix 3 tablespoons per gal. of water. Saturate potted soil until medium wet. (Do not over saturate potted soil)

Moon Dust

All trees and plants need Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium as their primary nutrients for healthy living.  Moon Dust provides the essential elements in a perfect ratio that will benefit virtually every plant in your landscape. Just spread it on top of the soil, water thoroughly and it will feed your plants for months!

Feed all your trees and plants no matter how big or small they are! Citrus and Fruit trees love Moon Dust, producing larger, juicier and tastier crops after application. It also helps flowering shrubs achieve longer and more abundant bloom cycles.

It is easy to see why this custom organic blended Moon Dust is one of our top sellers for an all-purpose fertilizer. Not only does it supply plants with needed nutrients, it also helps stabilize the soil your plants grow in. This makes sure that your trees and plants are taken care of in every way.
When to Use:

• Vigorous root growth
• Rich green leaves
• Strong new growth

Super Palm Juice

The best way to keep your tropical landscape looking lush and healthy is by using Super Palm Juice. Palms have special nutrient requirement needs compared to other trees that may be in your yard. Palms use a variety of different macro and micronutrients including Potassium, Manganese, Iron, Sulfur, Zinc, Copper & Boron.

Super Palm Juice is a super easy-to-use liquid formula containing all these essential nutrients. It can enhance the appearance of your palms, keep them healthy and able to thrive in intense summer heat and make them much cold hardier than weak, malnourished palms.

Using as directed will produce thicker, stronger trunks while maintaining the healthy, dark green appearance that results in lush, dense crowns. Just give the juice a good shake, mix the appropriate water amount (varies by palm), give the palm a good amount of water after you pour the mixture, and you are done!

When to Use:

• Transplanted palms
• Stressed or yellowing palms
• Weather stresses

How to Use: Shake well before mixing with water. Mix Super Palm Juice with water at the rate of 1 Cup (8fl. ounces) of Super Palm Juice per 1 Gallon of water. Thoroughly water each palm after applying the mixture.

FOR YOUNGER & DWARF PALMS - Apply 1 to 2 gallons of mixture evenly around the entire area where the palm gets watered.

FOR MATURE PALMS - Apply 2 to 4 gallons of mixture evenly around the entire area where the palm gets watered.

Moon Green

Our Moon Green is a liquid iron and soil acidifier. It was created as a super easy and safe solution for correcting yellowing trees and plants. Iron Chlorosis is what causes the yellowing of plants and is a problem for many homeowners in our region. Moon Green helps reduce soil alkalinity, neutralizes tight clay type soils, and promotes darker and greener leaves and grass.

Infusing Moon Green with Furst liquid brings the critical organic enzymes and amino acids to the tree and plant that helps stimulate growth signals from the roots. These nutrients help stimulate root hair growth and stronger cell development, allowing water and essential micronutrients to pass through to stems and leaves much more efficiently.

When to Use:

• Reduce soil alkalinity
• Neutralize tight clay soil
• Create fuller hedge plants
• Correct yellowing foliage

How to Use: Shake well before mixing with water. Mix Moon Green with water at a rate of 4 ounces per 1 gallon of water. Best to mix in a large bucket or watering container. Water thoroughly after applying the mixture and be sure to wash any of the mixture that may have splashed on to the foliage.

FOR SHRUBS - Apply 1 to 2 gallons of mixture to the root area.

FOR LAWN/GARDEN PREP - With sprayer, apply mixture evenly at a rate of 1 gallon per 500 sq. ft.

FOR TREES & PALMS - Apply 3 to 6 gallons of mixture to the root area.

 
Soil & Water Conditioner  

One of the most challenging aspects of growing trees and plants is trying to grow them in hard, compact soil and the high pH imbalance often found in soil and water in our region. Our Soil & Water Conditioner is used to help break up the hard clay/alkaline soil present in our area.

This conditioner contains sulfur and gypsum which counteract salt buildups and helps to loosen tough, hard soil. Sulfur can reduce the high pH and allows excess salt buildup to be flushed out of the root system, creating a soil base that converts nutrition easier. Gypsum can work its way into hard, compact clay, loosening the soil, which leads to better drainage and healthier soils! We recommend several applications per year.

When to Use:

• Reduce effects of salt present in water and soil
• Encourage deeper root growth
• Loosen the tight/heavy soil

How to Use: Spread the fertilizer evenly underneath the entire tree or plant. Do not allow fertilizer to pile up against the trunk or branches near ground level.

Water all trees and plants immediately after fertilizing. Using a hose to saturate the entire fertilized area is recommended to improve fertilizer efficiency.

FOR LAWN APPLICATION - Apply directly over the top of existing lawns or mix into soil before installing new lawns at a rate of 10 to 20 pounds per 100 square feet. Thoroughly water after application.

FOR TREES & SHRUBS - Spread over entire root area and lightly mix into the soil. Thoroughly water after application. 

• Trees – 2 to 4 cups every other month
• Shrubs – ¼ to 1 cup every other month 

Not seeing a product for your landscape needs?

For Desert landscapes, lawns, and additional palm supplements check out these products below! 

• Desert Juice – Perfect for succulents, agave, cacti, and more
• Moon Valley Palm Supplement – Best for palm trees in need of nutrients
• Moon Royale Turf Fertilizer – Great for bringing all lawn types back to health

Moon Valley Nurseries Tree Care Division

Moon Valley Nurseries is one of the biggest tree nurseries in the country and we offer many services to help you keep your Moon Valley trees in the perfect condition for years of enjoyment. Our tree care team can help you with trimming, removing, fertilizing, and more.

For a limited time, we are offering an amazing deal for our tree trimming services just for you, Phoenix residents! Contact us now to set up a free estimate on your trees today! Click the button above to get your coupon now. Print it out or save it to your phone!

For the best trees on Earth, go straight to the Moon

Moon Valley Nurseries does it all. You name it, we got you covered. We are the growers of thousands of varieties of tree and plants. We are the nursery with the biggest and best trees. We design landscapes and make it come to life when we deliver, plant, and set up your perfect yard! We even offer free in-store design and free planting! Come by your nearest nursery and see why we are the best on Earth!  

The Month of Love….ing to Work on Your Yard

It is officially February, and if you have lived in Arizona long enough you should be familiar with the fact that the “Arizona Spring” is right around the corner. The last month brought us some cold temperatures, even a few freezing nights, but the days are getting warmer as the sun stays out a bit longer each day.

There is no better time than now to start getting your landscape ready for spring. This is also the beginning of another great planting season for new additions to your yard. Taking care of your yard now with weeding, pruning, and fertilizing will ensure a healthy and full landscape for the rest of the year. Our nursery experts have shared a few tips, tasks, and ideas for your landscape this month. Continue reading below…

Weeding

With grass and plants starting to come back to life after a few cold months, it also means that weeds are going to start popping up. The sooner you can handle any weed infestation, the better. As weeds grow, they drop more seeds that will turn into their own weeds within days. We recommend taking care of them before they are even an issue. Using pre-emergents now will keep your yard free of weeds.  Keeping weeds from showing up is important so that you aren’t spending the next few months pulling weeds while the temperatures soar into triple digits!

Fertilizing

With everything in the landscape about to enter back into growing season, this is the right time to give those trees, shrubs, palms, and other plants a boost with an all-purpose fertilizer from Moon Valley Nurseries, like our SUPERCHARGED Moon Juice.

Our fertilizers are formulated to promote vigorous growth and can help your landscape recover from any stresses that may have occurred over the winter season. You can purchase our Moon Juice and other fertilizer products, such as our Landscape Soil Conditioner and Moon Royale Turf Fertilizer at all Moon Valley Nurseries locations.

We recommend using our custom blended fertilizers for your landscape needs as they are specifically formatted for Arizona soil and weather conditions.

Watering

As the temperature starts to slowly get higher, it is important to monitor your landscape for proper water usage. In the winter, cooler temperatures and less sunlight allow the soil to stay moist for a longer period of time, so watering schedules could be stretched out by a few days. Now that the sun is out longer, your soil may dry out faster, which means you will need to update your watering schedule.

Click here for a more detailed water guide:

Good Rule of Thumb: Check the soil up to 3 inches deep. If it is dry, then it is time to water.

Planting 

Luckily, we live in an area where it is planting season all year, depending on what you indent to plant! Winter is often a slower time of year for landscapes as most things go dormant. Over this time, many homeowners start to think about how to improve their yard.

Those landscape plans you have been saving for the spring can finally become a reality. Planting just before spring season is ideal because it will give your trees and shrubs plenty of time to establish their root system before the spring and summer months!

What to Plant before Spring Arrives

Brazilian Pepper

This vibrant evergreen is certain to give any landscape year-round attractiveness. The silky, dark green leaves create a wide-spread awning that creates an abundance of shade. This is a perfect choice for the Arizona desert environment due to its love of heat and its drought tolerance. Available in both single or multi-trunk varieties, Brazilian Pepper trees are water-wise and require little water once established.  The Brazilian Pepper tree attracts butterflies and hummingbirds looking for a snack, so sit back in the shade of your Brazilian Pepper and appreciate these incredible visitors.

Ficus Columns

Indian Laurel Columns are an excellent choice for creating a living wall no matter the reason. Need privacy or shade? Look no further. These drought-tolerant Ficus Columns have dense evergreen foliage that works well for blocking unwanted sights and sounds as well keeping your yard and home cooler, thanks to these fast-growing trees. They are easy to prune, so you can keep them on the smaller side for topiary purposes or tall and majestic – whichever fits your style and landscape needs. Grown to thrive in desert environments, Ficus Nitida Columns are sure to add greenery to our arid Arizona landscapes and get attention from your neighbors.

Queen Palm

Specially grown at our tree farms, the Piru Queen Palm is unlike other Queen Palms around. Our Piru Queen Palms feature thicker and hardier trunks, denser and greener fronds, and produce fuller crowns. Our Queen Palms can handle hot summers, cold winters, and windy days. The palm is supported by a thick trunk which makes it ideal in tight spaces around your pool, but it does require overhead space as the palm grows to statuesque heights.

Date Palm

These palms will create a luxurious feel to any property! Not only do they look great, but they are able to handle any weather conditions without any problem. Around pools, the Date Palm provides excellent shade due to its wide large umbrella-shape, fronds and extremely minimal litter. The Date Palm looks great when planted in clusters of 3 to 5 palms and is hardy to cold, heat and drought tolerant. Date palms will add a resort-style feel wherever they are planted!

Majestic Ash

This Majestic Ash tree is an evergreen seedless variety that stays greener than other ash varieties. They feature large, glossy green leaves and its narrow, upright shape makes it an ideal shade tree for any potential planting locations. Because these trees are low-maintenance and virtually pest-free, it makes them ideal for a yard or street plantings.  If you are expecting and hoping for a large canopy of shade to provide a play area for your children or for a way to escape the afternoon sun you will not be disappointed in the Majestic Ash.

Moon Valley Difference

Moon Valley Nurseries is your one-stop shop for all your landscape needs. Our experts have decades worth of experience and they will be able to assist you with any projects or questions you may have regarding trees, shrubs, design, and more! Come by and check out the amazing trees and deals we have to offer our Arizona community.

For the best trees on Earth, Go straight to the Moon.

Apply Pre-Emergent Herbicides

Pre-emergent herbicide works by putting a chemical barrier down, in granular or liquid form, over the top of the soil. This will stop the weeds from germinating above the soil line. To reduce the number of weeds or eliminate them completely, a pre-emergent should be applied at least twice a year. We recommend applying in the beginning of spring and fall.

Applying a pre-emergent herbicide is an easy way to spend less time working in your yard and more time enjoying it! Keeping your weeds in control not only ensures an attractive landscape but creates a much healthier environment for the rest of your plants and gardens.

COUPON ALERT  

Save $$$ on all Pre-Emergent products in stock at any Moon Valley Nurseries near you! 

COUPON ALERT

Below are pre-emergent herbicides we recommend and sell at all our Moon Valley Nurseries locations. Come in and get yourself ready to fight those intrusive weeds once and for all!

AMAZE Grass & Weed Preventer

Recommended as our top choice for granular grass & weed prevention. It's easy to apply and extremely effective against the common unwanted weeds and grasses in Southwestern gardens. Easy-to-follow instructions are found on the bag.

Weed Impede - RTU

This RTU (Ready-to-use) herbicide is a pre-mixed concentrate that can be applied straight from the bottle through the attached nozzle. Weed Impede is our top choice for liquid herbicides, as they work great against common weeds and grasses.

Weed Impede Concentrate

This is the concentrated form of the Weed Impede RTU - this contains a full-strength concentrate. So, while it's not ready to use right out of the bottle, you will get a more potent concentration of herbicide. We recommend the concentrated form for large yards with a massive weeds issue.

Weed Impede 2 in 1

Unlike other pre-emergent, this not only kills existing weeds, it prevents new ones from forming for up to 6 months. This means you can apply this product before having to pull out the weeds yourself and is by far the easiest solution to weed control.

Come in to your nearest Moon Valley Nurseries location and save up to 20% on all pre-emergent herbicide products. Bring in the coupon below for this amazing in-store only savings!

Remove Existing Weeds

Every second you let a weed stay in your yard, is a second that more seeds could be falling into the ground, ready to become its own weed and take up more space in your yard. So, what’s the best way to gain control of your landscape? Spray regularly at peak growing times to be pro-active against the infestation.

This is never how you want to spend a weekend morning (or the full weekend, depending on how many weeds have crept in). However, it does need to get done and the sooner you do it the better. Each day allows the weeds root system to grow deeper and stronger, while the flowers have more time to pollinate and spread EVEN MORE weeds around the yard.

All you need is a pair of gloves, a bin/bucket for all the weeds you pull, some knee pads/towel to give your knees a bit of protection, and, if you ask nicely, a friend to help you out!  Remember to remove the entire root from the ground. For additional assistance, a hoe or shovel can help remove the roots that have gone deep enough to withstand being pulled by hand.

Additional Ways to Keep Weeds Far, Far Away

Mulching

Weeds, like every other plant, need sunlight to survive. The mulch acts as a barrier to keep the weeds seeds from getting any sunlight, essentially smothering them. If using mulch to suppress weed growth, be sure that the mulch is at least 2 inches deep. Replenish the mulch, as needed. For added protection, cover the ground with newspaper or cardboard before adding the mulch. 

Close Planting

Close planting is exactly what it sounds like - It’s the concept of planting shrubs, ground cover, or grass materials close to each other. Some people enjoy close planting due to the overall aesthetic. This is also a great way to keep weeds from growing since they will not have the space or sunlight to succeed.

Moon Valley Nurseries Weed Prevention

Weed prevention with pre-emergent herbicides will keep your landscape looking healthy and beautiful and may inspire you to plant more things that can add more beauty to your landscape! Visit your nearest Moon Valley Nurseries location. We have got you covered for all your landscape needs!

What a Lovely Thing a Rose is...

...And with the weather changing yet again, it is time to see how well our roses survived the winter and help them get back to prime shape for the fullest blooms in 2019! At Moon Valley Nurseries, we support our roses-loving community in Arizona and make sure to always have the best, and most variety of, roses. Now is the time to start getting ready to plant new roses and getting your existing roses ready to start producing in abundance any time now!

January Rose Care Guide  

Pruning

Make sure to prune all the roses back about one half of its current growth and remove foliage. Clean up all debris, including leaves and petals and discard them in the trash. If you have roses that are the climbing variety, pruning will not be needed.

Watering

While this might vary depending on what type of weather we are experiencing this month, we recommend deep watering your roses at least once a week. Continue to monitor the temperature and pay attention to your plants.

Weeding

Examine the area where your roses are planted, or will be planted, to make sure there are no weeds around the roses. Remove all weeds that you can see, no matter how small they might be.

Planting

Because we live in a warmer region than the rest of the country, we can start planting roses as early as January. Be sure to keep newly planted roses moist while they are transitioning into their new location.

Moon Valley Nurseries Roses Selection

We take roses seriously because we know how serious our customers are about their roses. At Moon Valley Nurseries, we make sure to have a large selection at every location. We carry 100’s of different varieties of roses for customers to choose from whether you are looking for a unique informal hedge, plants to climb all over trellis’, or just to have a beautiful section of roses to enjoy in your yard, we can help you!

Build Your Private Oasis Before it’s Too Late to Plant 

Hedges are one of the best ways to add value to your home and create a classic look to your landscape. With so many options to choose from, it gives you the opportunity to decide between a formal or informal look that could vary in height, size, color, and shape!

Some of the biggest reasons for a homeowner to want to add hedges into their landscape include:

• Making a sound and weather barrier
• Creating a dramatic entryway
• Adding a wall of color
• Forming a living border

The number one reason should be no surprise (hint: it’s in the title!) to anybody. The biggest reason most people decide to add hedges in their yard is for the amazing privacy it creates around their home. We have compiled some of our favorite hedges to plant for our current fall season. Keep reading and see which hedge is right for you and your yard!

Indian Laurel Columns (Ficus nitida columns)

One of the most ideal, and best, hedges you will find anywhere is our Indian Laurel Columns, sometimes known as the Ficus Nitida. We like to plant the Indian Laurel Columns to create a living wall of privacy- the ultimate Hollywood-Style Hedge. These evergreen trees can create an immediate privacy screen for your landscape and are the ideal choice to create a perfect yard with a classic look. They thrive in desert environments and are require little water, so they are well-suited for our Arizona weather and landscapes. As a bonus, we love them for the massive amount of shade that they can add! Relax, unwind, have fun, and do it in the shade, without nosy neighbors getting into your business. Plant these Indian Laurel Columns in your yard and take in the dense green foliage that adds some nice colors to our desert surroundings.

Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus)

It is easy to see why these hedges are a common sight throughout the Valley. They can bloom showy bottlebrush-like flower spikes that can paint a landscape with bright red and blue-green colors. The Bottlebrush plant can easily add a splash of color to our arid environment, and attract hummingbirds and butterflies, too. These evergreen shrubs are a great way to create a colorful privacy screen when several are lined up along a property border. Another hedge option idea for the Bottlebrush shrub is to create small hedges around a backyard garden or a focal point in the yard. The Bottlebrush blooms in spring with some off-season blooms in the fall.  This shrub does fine in partial to full sun. We recommend fertilizing consistently from spring through fall to gain the darkest green foliage and reddest flowers from our Bottlebrush.

Oleander (Nerium oleander)

Hopseed (Dedonea)

The Hopseed bush is a perfect shrub to add to any Arizona yard. While not the most traditional looking plant to be considered hedge material, it does the job perfectly. At Moon Valley Nurseries, we offer both the Green Hopseed and the Purple Hopseed bush for you to choose from based on your landscaping needs. Both varieties are quite similar except for one major difference – their coloring. When creating a privacy hedge, the Purple Hopseed will create a unique wall of color that contrasts well with surrounding foliage. These fast-growing shrubs grow upright, which makes them easy to install in almost any location.

Feel free to stop by your local Moon Valley Nurseries, speak with our nursery professionals, and schedule a landscape design consultation. Let us do the work for you from planning, designing, delivering, and #freeplanting.

Get to Planting Now for Some Delicious Fruit Right in Your Yard

If you couldn’t tell, we love the fall season! Not only is it finally cool enough to enjoy the weather in Arizona, but it’s the best time of year to plant new trees and shrubs in your yard. Some of the best trees we love planting right now are fruit trees. These trees can grow beautiful fragrant flowers, create great summer shade, and bring you tasty fruit right in your yard!

Pomegranate

The first tree on this list is one of the best and easiest to grow in our Arizona climate. The deciduous Pomegranate tree is just as amazing once it is established due to how low maintenance it is compared to other trees. It only requires low to moderate water, is drought tolerant, and flourishes in full and partial sun. Since it only grows to be a small tree, the Pomegranate tree can be planted anywhere.

Plum

Fruit trees are a great choice for the Phoenix-area and Plum trees are a popular addition for local yards. Like other fruit trees, this one is easy to grow in our area too! It should be planted somewhere that gets full or partial sun and benefits from fertilizer right before the new growth starts in Spring. Another cool feature of this tree that shows up in the spring time is the abundance of white flowers that appear. On top of growing your own food, Plum trees can be used as a stunning focal point in a large yard or small garden.

Peach

Just the idea of having a Peach tree in your yard should cause you to start craving one. If you don’t, then maybe you don’t like peaches at all (and that’s okay- kind of weird, but totally okay, no judgement). This is an easy growing, deciduous tree that grows small with a wide-spread canopy of dense foliage. It also produces colorful showy flowers throughout the spring season creating an attractive landscape. The beauty of this tree makes it perfect for any sized yard!

Five Fall Tips for Tree Care

Now that we have an idea of what we are going to plant, it is time to prepare ourselves for what we should be doing to make sure we have the best tree. Tree care is especially important when it comes to fruit trees because you will literally be able to taste the work and effort you put in to it.

For specific questions or concerns, please reach out to our Tree Care team and one of our I.S.A. Certified Arborists will be ready to help!

Plant New Trees

We’re quite lucky to be living in Phoenix as we have two amazing planting seasons. Even though the spring season is a good time to plant, the fall season creates the perfect growing environment to plant new trees and shrubs. In the colder months, newly planted trees and shrubs convert their energy to root growth. Planting in the fall allows up to five months of root development.

Once spring arrives, the tree or shrub that was planted in the fall will have a very established root system and be better prepared for the incoming heat. With the root system established, the tree or shrub will focus its energy on top growth to bring back healthy foliage. Trees and shrubs planted now in Phoenix will have plenty of time to grow a shade canopy before the summer high temps arrives next year. 

Add Fall Annual Colors

While the rest of the country is not looking forward to the cold winter days, residents in Phoenix are spending more time outside working hard on their landscape. Fall annuals are a fantastic and easy way to add striking color to accent areas, garden beds, and eye-catching borders. For more abundant bloom cycles this fall, pick up a bag of our Moon Dust Organic Blend which creates great results because it was developed especially for our tough, compact, and alkaline soils. 

Check Watering Systems

Whenever the seasons change, you need to check your watering system and most likely, readjust some or all the settings. At this time of the year, the biggest change will probably need to be how often you water certain areas of your yard. Make sure that you check each sprinkler head and any emitters you have installed are still working properly and replace any that are not. Now that the temperatures are cooler, less water is needed but make sure you adjust properly for each individual plant. Your Peach tree and shrubs probably won’t survive on the same schedule!

Trim Your Trees

Now that the monsoon season is over, it’s time to check on the status and health of the trees in your landscape. Staking your trees after the strong winds and heavy rain during the monsoon season is extremely important as the adverse weather conditions may have damaged the foundation of your tree. After planting, the single stake will be enough for three to six months of growth. We recommend switching to double stake harness for the next year. If your tree was planted in the spring, we highly recommend double staking this fall. 

You can safely prune a tree in the fall, and you’re going to want to do it before the winter cold sets in. If the temperature shows early indications of cold weather, be careful when pruning your tree. You do not want to hack your tree as this will affect the health of your tree, and it will leave it exposed and susceptible to any potential frost damage. 

Reach out to our Tree Care team for any questions or assistance!

Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize

The best and most ideal time to fertilize your landscape is in the fall because trees and shrubs are still growing underneath the soil. Colder temperatures are a signal to trees that they should stop top growth and focus on root development. Fertilizing with Moon Valley Nurseries’ Super Charged Moon Juice and Moon Dust Organic Blend allows organic enzymes and amino acids to stimulate new root system growth and stronger cell development while helping the tree grow faster and recover quicker from stressful events (such as an Arizona summer).

These essential nutrients will be absorbed by the root system of your tree. Your tree will then use these nutrients to grow its root system and ward off any disease in the fall. Excess nutrients are then stored in the roots and will be available for vital top growth once spring arrives.

For questions about watering, trimming, and fertilizing, feel free to ask any of Nursery Professionals! Call your nearest Nursery today!

Fall is here and it's time to plant some trees! 

The fall season is here, school is back in session, football is back on Sundays, and your excuses for working out in the yard are quickly fading away! It's getting cooler and nature is slowly but surely turning bright and in a variety of colors! Many of our trees at Moon Valley Nurseries have the outstanding fall reds, purples, yellows, and oranges that we have come to expect and love this time of year. Not only is this the best time to add some fall color to your yard but the cooler weather is an excellent time to plant new trees and plants (for you and your plants!)

A popular choice when landscaping your yard in the Arizona desert is the Raywood Ash Tree. It is known for its extraordinary display of dark red to deep reddish-purple foliage in the fall that gives any landscape a unique look for the season. The leaves of the Raywood Ash drop off soon after the fall season, allowing for an easy clean up just once a year. During the summer, the Raywood Ash offers a much-needed service with the shade that it brings to a yard! When the leaves come back, it becomes a perfect shade tree that grows upright more than it grows wide. It has dark green foliage that provides a sharp distinction to any landscape and looks great when it is planted as a single specimen, such as a focal point for a yard, where it's brilliant beauty and color can be admired.

Arizona Ash (Fraxinus velutina)

The Arizona Ash is a deciduous tree that has striking, smooth bright green leaves and can cover a lot of area in your yard with shade in the summer. Once winter shows up, the leaves drop and lets in the warmth of the sun! Native to Arizona and other southwestern states, this tree loves the sun. It is cold hardy and heat resistant, so they are ideal for planting in our desert climate. If you’re looking for a fast-growing shade tree, you’ll love the Arizona Ash Tree. We find the Arizona Ash to be very adaptable for all uses such as being planted for shade, which keeps your house cool in the summer. Because it is a deciduous tree and the leaves drop by late fall, it will also help keep your house warm in the winter!

Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii)

Another awesome fall choice to include in your landscape for ultimate shade is the Shumard Oak Tree. This oak tree is a medium to large sized tree and grows into a canopy with a wide spreading reach, which creates a large area of shade all around it. This tree is a fast-growing species of oak that is very tough and long-living, so it will be part of the family for generations! This tree is known for its antique look with large dark green leaves that can grow up to eight inches long. Another benefit of having the Shumard Oak is the beautiful vibrant red orange colors that take over tree during the fall season that will get you into the holiday festivities!

Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia)

Adding some splash of color to their landscapes is a common reason our customers start looking for new plants and trees. With so many choices of plants and varieties of each plant to choose from, preparation can be difficult! One of the best choices for striking bursts of color throughout your yard is the Crape Myrtle Tree. These trees bloom from the spring through the fall months and are the perfect addition to any front or back yard. In the fall season, the Crape Myrtle Tree produces exquisite flowers that come out in many colors such as pink, purple, red, and white. The colorful flowers contrast with the fall foliage. Because the Crape Myrtle stays small to medium in size, they can be planted almost anywhere. They will look lovely if they are planted in clusters or in an accent location in your yard. For ultimate blooming potential, we recommend pruning in the winter while the tree is dormant.  

What do you think of our favorite trees of fall? Share your favorite with us below!

Find a Moon Valley Nurseries location near you and come check these trees out soon and you will see the colors in full vibrant action! Our trees come with #freeplanting, so you don't have to do all the hard work! So, check out these fall favorites and one of our experts will help you get the perfect plants in your yard!