Well it's that time of year again........

This might seem odd coming from a blog about landscape design in the Mojave Desert of Southern California but it's true.....it's time to break out the advise regarding winter care of the landscape. If you aren't to familiar with the high desert of the Mojave here's a quick overview. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter! Yet, the heat isn't all that bad come to think about it. I mean in our area we only have about 3 months of temps that reach triple digits and it's usually quite dry - kinda like an oven! Yet these temps aren't as bad as they get "down the hill" as we locals like to say.

Case in point. Some days here in the high desert it may reach in the low 100's. In the low desert, the Palm Springs area, however it could be 10 maybe even 15 degrees warmer. So why am I talking about the heat when I'm really writing about the winter? Well, let's just say I miss it already!

This part of the Mojave Desert as some fairly unique and interesting weather where wide temperature swings of 30 sometimes even 40 degrees between daytime and nighttime are typical. Winter is no different - just reversed! Starting now in the late fall until just about mid spring this area can get quite cold with the aforementioned wide temperature swings. It's not unusual to have daytime temps pushing close to 70 degrees with nighttime lows below freezing. This type of environment can be extremely stressful for many plants. Couple that with days where the wind can gust up to 50 miles an hour and you have a recipe for tough growing conditions.

So here are just a few practical tips for shoring up your landscape for the coming winter:

Adjust your automatic sprinkler system - Set times for watering and watering days to account for shorter days and longer nights. Cut back on actual watering days simply because there isn't a need. Where you may have had the system run at 7 o'clock at night for 20 minutes during the summer set it to start at 4pm for ten minutes. Adjusting the run times for each valve in the system and cutting back on the watering days will definitely save money. These simple steps will prevent ice from forming.

Wrap all out door exposed pipes - It just makes good sense at this time of year to wrap all exposed out plumbing with insulation tubes and duct tape. Works wonders and will save the hassle of hearing that noise when a pipe suddenly bursts.

Inspect all trees and shrubs - Carefully inspect all trees and shrubs for any damaged or broken limbs and remove the damage promptly. This is especially important for all trees in that any overhanging branches could pose a serious problem to power lines, structures or other property such as cars.

Inspect rain gutters - Inspect, repair and clean rain gutters to ensure they will function properly during the winter. Even though we don't get much rain in the desert we can get a enough to cause damage during a significant storm.

Winterize all planting beds - Now is a great time to clean and dress all planting beds in the landscape. Rake up all leaves and compost them for free fertilizer in the spring. Apply four to six inches of clean straw or pine needles (wind protected areas only) or chopped/shredded bark. Make sure to cover the drip line under each plant. If your yard is equipped with drainage make sure those drains are cleared of any debris. This could dertainly prevent any possible flooding.

Inspect walks and patios - This is a good time to inspect all walks and patios for damage and repair them as needed. No matter what type of material these walks or patios may be water can get under any cracks or damaged areas and coupled with the effects of heaving (freeze/thaw) serious damaged can result which could prove costly to repair in the future.

These are just a few (out of the many) things that you can perform right now to ensure that your landscape is properly winterized.