Managing Shrubs
By: Jeff Penney, President and CEO, DLC Resources

During the summer growing season, shrubs around the Valley are lush, healthy and blooming. When cool fall and winter temperatures set in, our desert shrubs slow their growth dramatically. During roughly November through April, the shrubs on our properties are seasonally pruned to reduce their size before the next year´s growing season.

Some landscape management providers choose to shear shrubs into shapes such as cones, balls, flat tops and beer kegs, throughout the growing season. The advantage to the landscape provider is that employees need little training, knowledge or supervision to simply shear every plant on the property each time they are in an area. This practice is detrimental to the health of the plant as the plant requires more water to recover the lost foliage.

Proper Pruning
DLC Resources, Inc.'s approach is different. Seasonal pruning and shrub renovation consist of trimming shrubs back to roughly half their size. On some species, like the Red Bird of Paradise, even more pruning is needed.  This type of pruning permits plants to grow back into their space during the following growing season. Shrub renovation allows residents to enjoy the seasonal color of common area plants because they are not being trimmed during their flowering season. Shrubs that encroach on streets or sidewalks, or obstruct lines of sight at intersections and near road signs, are pruned as necessary to ensure safety.

For a schedule on the best months to prune a variety of shrubs, please contact Karen Angelo at  and she will be happy to email one to you. 

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Homeowners Guide to NAOS Rights: Defensible Zones
By: Jeff Penney, President and CEO, DLC Resources

DLC Resources has been grateful to provide Landscape Management Services for Desert Mountain’s common areas since 2003. With the recent addition of our entry gardening staff, we created a plan with the goal to bring in more color around the villages entrances by cultivating native wildflowers. Hopefully, you have noticed this change, as we have received many compliments. Utilizing our expertise and resources is an example of using our landscape management services within the community to keep the living desert vibrant and fresh. 

Maintaining Natural Area Open Space
Surrounded by the beauty of the high Sonoran Desert, Desert Mountain is a striking community and boasts a distinguished landscape palette. The City of Scottsdale Environment Sensitive Land Ordinance (ESLO) has requirements for providing open space on each parcel. Natural Area Open Space (NAOS) areas are either natural desert areas that have been undisturbed by development activity or where development has restored the desert terrain and vegetation to its natural condition. We recognize the importance of protecting and maintaining the natural beauty of the NAOS areas. Desert Mountain is recognized and renowned for the preservation of its natural desert surroundings. Respecting the NAOS guidelines and restrictions sustains the prestige of the community and property values.

Protecting Your Home (and the NAOS)
Scottsdale Fire Officials are anticipating a significant potential for wildland fires, which are fed by dry grasses and flash fuels. The Scottsdale Planning and Fire Departments are in agreement that preventative actions must be taken while protecting the NAOS. Therefore, homeowners are requested to create a “Defensible Space” to prevent structural damage in the event of a wildland fire.

Creating and maintaining a “Defensible Space” within 30 feet of your home will protect your home. This can be accomplished by creating a well-maintained, live vegetation zone, which will prevent damage in case of wildland fires and should contain only small brush, cacti and trees to prevent a continuous path of flammable materials leading to your home. Be sure to thin dead and fallen vegetation, perennial grasses and overgrown bushes and to remove dead branches or branches touching the ground. Preventative measures like these will help protect your home from wildland fires.

Please see the charts to the right and below for guidelines and specifications to assist you in creating your “Defensible Space.” To schedule a wild land safety inspection, call the Scottsdale Fire Department at 480-312-FIRE.

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Butterfly Gardening

This month, with spring fast approaching, we offer some tips to attract butterflies to your private outdoor space. The goal of butterfly gardening is to introduce plants and create suitable conditions that will attract and encourage more butterflies to live there. If conditions are right, butterflies will appear on flowering plants starting in late spring through the summer. With some simple planning, you can create a garden that provides for a butterfly's entire life cycle. There are just a few basics required to create a personal butterfly garden:

Sunshine and Protection: Place the garden in a sunny location that is protected from the wind. Butterflies tend to be most active on sunny, calm days when temperatures range from 65 to 95 degrees. Planting trees or shrubs nearby provides the needed protection from the wind while butterflies are feeding. Butterflies also need to warm their bodies in order to fly. By placing some rocks around the garden, it provides added areas for the butterflies to heat themselves before flight.

Moisture: Butterflies not only feed on nectar, but also on water provided by streams and morning dew. Create depressions in your garden where water can pool providing a water supply between irrigation cycles. 

Flowers: In a butterfly garden, you should provide both nectar sources and larval food plants. Adult butterflies feed on the nectar of certain flowers, while caterpillars feed on specific plants. Therefore, it is important to have an adequate mix of plants that will support larvae and other plants available for adults.

Listed below are just a few common plants that will attract butterflies in your garden. Make sure to refer to the approved plant list in your community's residential design guidelines to see what specific plants are permitted in your landscape.

Index: GC = Groundcover  SH = Shrub TR = Tree WF = Wildflower

Nectar Plants

• Red Bird of Paradise (SH)
• Desert Willow (TR)
• Desert Orchid (WF)
• Evening Primose (GC)
• Ruellia (SH)

Larval Plants

• Sage Varieties (SH)
• Penstemon (GC)
• Arizona Sycamore (TR)

Nectar and Larval Plants

• Desert Milkweed (SH)
• Baja Fairy Duster (SH)
• Trailing Lantana (GC)
• Texas Honey Mesquite (TR)

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Weed Control

Soaking rains bring much-needed water to our desert environment, including plants. Rainwater is especially beneficial to plant material as rainwater is less alkaline than irrigation water. While rain is a positive thing for our plants and irrigation water bills, it also helps weeds grow. For effective weed control in your yard, manual removal is the easiest way to get rid of a small number of weeds. The Weed Identification Chart on the right provides some helpful information on weeds and the seasons in which you can expect them to grow on your property. To print a copy of this chart, please click here.

To control weeds over a large area, herbicides are the most efficient tools available. There are two categories of herbicides for weed control: Pre-Emergent and Post-Emergent. In Desert Mountain's common areas, post-emergent herbicides are used in all areas except in the Haciendas. Pre-emergent herbicides will not be used to encourage the growth of wildflowers, which will bring much-desired color to the common areas and Village entrances.  

Pre-Emergent Herbicides
Pre-emergent herbicides are designed to prevent seeds from germinating in the soil. They are most effective when applied during the rainy season. In Arizona, that means either during the summer monsoon or from November through January to take advantage of the winter rains. A timely application of pre-emergent can greatly reduce the number of weeds that germinate since it inhibits the weeds' roots and does not allow them to grow.

Post-Emergent for Winter Weeds
Post-emergent herbicides kill weeds that have germinated and are visible in the landscape. To kill weeds in winter months, you need use a herbicide containing Diquat. Spectracide products, which contain Diquat, are available for personal use at most home improvement stores or nurseries.

Post-Emergent for Summer Weeds
Spring and summer are the best times to use Roundup concentrate. Be careful not to spray weed killer on plants or turf as the weed chemical is absorbed by the leaves and travels through the plant. These products cannot differentiate between plants and weeds. Additionally, this type of weed killer does not instantly kill the plant. If you spray the weed and then remove it, any remaining roots may not have time to absorb the weed control spray.

Owners are advised that no license is needed to apply most herbicides on your own property. DLC trains and maintains a crew of applicators to safely transport and apply these herbicides in the community's common areas. DLC's spray applicators are Licensed Pest Applicators by the State of Arizona Office of Pest Management. When dealing with any chemical, make sure to read the label and follow instructions carefully.

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Caring for Your Ocotillo

Ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens, is a slow-growing plant native to the Southwest region. Boasting tall slender cane stalks that bloom with bright red-orange, trumpet shaped flowers, the Ocotillo is a popular desert landscape plant requiring little maintenance.

Ocotillo Characteristics
�         A mature plant typically reaches 12 feet high and 10 feet wide, but can grow much larger
�         Thrive in full sunlight and attract hummingbirds
�         They shed their leaves through the winter months and leaf out after periods of sufficient soil moisture
�         Can tolerate low temperatures down to 10� F before suffering serious injury or damage
�         Red-orange flowers blossom in the Spring

Planting Your Ocotillo
According to the University of Arizona's Cooperative Extension, transplanting is best done March through May.  Plant a bare-root Ocotillo in dry, loose, sandy soil with light to moderate amounts of organic content to ensure root development. To help the ocotillo from falling over or blowing down in a storm, large stones may be placed over the root area (2-4 inches from the trunk). Ocotillos need full sunlight in open areas where surface water does not collect. As you will see on the photo at the left, the soil line on the root of the Ocotillo should be level with the ground when planting.

Little Maintenance Required
The Ocotillo is highly drought tolerant and considered a low-water-use plant. It will require irrigation after it has been planted. Avoid over watering the soil, as too much groundwater will cause the roots of the plant to rot. Instead, water by spraying the cane of the plant and keep the soil moist. Water newly planted Ocotillos once a day (typically for 10 minutes) and established Ocotillos every month or so.

The Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA) recommends the "Do No Harm" pruning method. Essentially, the best method of care for your Ocotillos is to only remove dead or diseased wood. This is particularly true for Ocotillos in the ground for less than three years.

Some degree of growth set-back is expected after planting. Wait patiently - these plants often look like they are dead, especially in periods of drought. With minimal care and watering, most Ocotillos will develop into attractive and healthy plants when left alone.