Climate is the key to landscape gardening in the Southwest. Our
climate ranges from subalpine to sub-tropical deserts, so a wide array
of landscape trees and shrubs can be grown in Southwest. Very few
landscape trees and shrubs grow well over the entire range of
climates found in the region. Therefore, it is important to know how
local climate influences the types of plants that can grow in the region.
Many climatic factors play a role in determining the kinds of plants that
will grow in a given location. Some of these factors include geography,
minimum winter temperature and maximum summer temperatures,
rainfall amount and distribution, humidity, day length and light intensity.
The Sunset climate system divides the Western United States into
climate zones and then lists many landscape plants and what zones
they grow best in. Before viewing the topic videos, review the website
and readings, and answer the following questions about climate. View
watch the video presentation on six important terms discussed in this
topic.
Climate Zones:
What factors are used to determine the Sunset Climate Zones?
What is a microclimate?
What climate zone is Phoenix in and how does this affect the trees
and shrubs that grow the best in this area?
How does the climate in the Phoenix area differ from the other desert
climate zones in the southwest including climate in cities such as
Tucson, Las Vegas and Albuquerque?
In order to understand this topic and your creative assignment for this
module, you will need to review some information about scientific
classification. Read the University of Florida information about
scientific classification and be able to answer the following questions.
Scientific Plant Names
What is the first and second word in a plant’s botanical names called?
What part of the scientific name is capitalized?
What does the word cultivar mean? Is the cultivar name usually
written in Latin or English?
Next, be able to define the following terms by viewing the video on
Landscape Trees and Shrubs Terms
broad-leaf
narrow-leaf
evergreen
deciduous
canopy
accent
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You are now ready to watch the two content videos on Landscape
Trees and Landscape Shrubs. Click on the video links in this topic
module. At the end of the videos, you should be able to answer the
following questions based on information in the videos and your
readings.
What are the differences between shrubs and trees?
What is a shade tree?
Which landscape shrubs are frost or freeze sensitive?
What pruning practice is best to maintain a natural and attractive
shrub form?
What are the ranges of flower colors for each landscape shrub?
Which trees and shrubs attract wildlife?
Which landscape trees produce edible fruits for people and wildlife?
