Home Grown: A secret getaway for Yuma’s native plants

Peace and quiet, two of many things the Moody Garden in Yuma brings to people’s lives daily.

In addition to educating people about plants native to Arizona, the Moody garden allows potential gardeners to learn about how to upkeep their backyard oasis.

Janine Lane, the senior program coordinator for the Urban Horticulture Program, can also be considered as the primary caretaker of the Moody garden.

She also oversees students who take part in the master gardener’s program.

The Moody garden, which was started in 2004 is a partnership, brings plants that grow well in Yuma to the public.

” We have plants here that you can grow in your yard, and we have ID’ s on these plants, so if you want to come down to this garden you can look at the gardens you can see what kind of plant that you like and you can go to a nursery or you can buy it from the master gardeners who sell these plants. You can pick up these plants, and you can put them in your yard, ” said Lane.

Not only can you come to the Moody garden to enjoy the plants, but also how to bring them into your own home.

“We’ll teach you how to take care of them, we’ll teach you how to trim them, how to water them, we’re like the whole thing with the plants,” said Lane.

For Lane, one of her favorite parts about working in the garden, are the things people don’t usually notice.

“You can come out to this garden, you can hear the birds sing, if you get down and close to the flowers and the trees and the plants you can also see native bees, you can see queen butterfly larvae growing on our milkweed, there’s just so many little things about this garden,” said Lane.

To help distinguish between each genre of plant, the garden is separated into different sections

A lot of times, when people move in from out of town, you may think summer season is the right time to grow, but Lane says that is not the case.

Lane says winter vegetables are planted in September in Yuma.

The Healing Garden allows people to take home local seasoning, spices, and herbs that have been known for healing purposes.

The zero scape portion has examples of plants that are low water usage.

The native plant section has choices that grow successfully in the Sonoran desert that also require little to no water.

The Tropical Garden has plants that require higher water levels.

The Agave Garden and Cactus Garden have, yep you guessed it, different types of agave and cactus!

Some examples of native plants to Yuma are:

” We have the Ironwood tree, the Palo Verde tree; we have certain Mesquite trees, we have Acacia, we have a Whitethorn Acacia, we have a Lysiloma tree. The bushes we have a Chuparosa , we have a Desert Willow, that’s another good plant for hummingbirds, that’s also a good plant for a white lion Spinx moth, ” said Lane.

There are many benefits to having a garden like Moody’s in your backyard.

” The thing about native plants is that it takes so much less water than your other plants. So we can save water in our yards and our environment it makes sense, ” said Lane.

The MGM club, or Moody Garden Maker’s club, is a group of people that run different sections of the garden and keep the plants healthy.

“I’m always telling people if you need a gardening fix, please come down to the garden on Tuesday mornings,” said Lane.

If you or someone you know would like to learn more about turning your backyard into a garden, the Master Gardener class may be for you!

” We start with botany, and then we go to soils. We have citrus care and culture class, we have a plant’s disease identification class, we have a food safety class, we have turf class, we have all these different classes that cover all the different plants that you might encounter in Yuma, ” said Lane.

The garden is open 365 days a year and is free to the public, located at 2200 W 28th St, a perfect place to get away and enjoy the beauty of Yuma.

To learn how to apply for the Master Gardner’s program, click here.