The Bright Side of Desert Gardening

Enough about what makes desert gardening so difficult, it's time to talk about the benefits. Once you get past the tough conditions, you will see that there are many advantages that we have in this climate over some of the others. While the high temperatures and lack of humidity are on the list of cons, they also give us some help when it comes to growing food, add in our mild winters and you will see that it's not as hard to garden here as it initially seemed.

High Temperatures Allow for Heat Loving Plants

Armenian Cucumbers harvested in October 2024

The extremely high temperatures in the summer will kill many of the plants that you might want to grow, but they also allow us to grow heat loving varieties that Northern gardeners can't. Those who garden in climates that have more mild summers will have a really hard time growing some things like luffa and okra, both of which love hotter temperatures. The key is to find what works where you are growing. There is no chance that most cucumber varieties will survive the summer in a climate like we have in Las Vegas, but there is a variety called the Armenian Cucumber that loves the heat. I was able to keep mine alive through this last summer and the fruit that you get from it is sweet and crisp. Just keep in mind that most of these heat loving plants might still need some shade during the worst of the summer, and they may stop producing fruit until the temperatures start to go back down a little.

Less Humidity Means Less Pests and Diseases

Now don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of garden pests here in the desert, but there are a few that we have very little to no issue with here that I know gardeners in humid climates struggle with. Insects such as termites, slugs, mosquitoes, and some types of beetles are not generally an issue here. We might find them occasionally, but these moisture loving bugs are never in high enough numbers to cause any real damage. We also have the added benefit of lizards, which will eat bugs and won’t touch your plants. I have a video on my instagram (@luckyvegasgarden) showing myself feeding a hornworm to a lizard that had been living amongst my grow bags. Gross, but satisfying since the hornworm had just been munching on my peppers.

There is also less disease to worry about. Powdery mildew can be really hard to combat as it easily spreads from plant to plant once it starts. I have had small outbreaks in my garden, but it has never gotten out of hand because it thrives in moist environments. As long as you don't water your garden overhead (soak the roots, not the leaves) the mildew doesn't spread as easily as it would in a humid climate.

With Mild Winters We Can Garden Late Into the Year

Zucchini harvested in December 2024

The best thing about desert gardening is the mild winter. It very rarely gets below freezing temperatures here, and even if it does it will only be for a few hours during a couple of nights, and snow is a real rarity. This means that you can keep a lot of your summer veggies growing late into the year, even later if you put agricultural fabric over them. As an example, I just harvest the zucchini you see in the picture to the left, in the middle of December. Most gardeners in northern climates couldn't dream of such a thing. It also means that you can grow the more cold loving plants, like brassicas and lettuce, throughout the entire winter. They do slow down a bit because there is less sunlight, but unless there is a rare and unexpected freeze, most will survive the kind of cold that desert gardeners face.

If you can overcome the difficulties of desert gardening that I talked about in this post, you will find that it isn't as hard as you may have originally thought. And in fact, there are many benefits that it brings. You might also be surprised to learn that there are many native plants in the desert, many of which are edible. If you have never had the fruit from a prickly pear cactus, I recommend giving it a try!