Cold Desert Permaculture Ideas

 Cold Desert Permaculture Ideas, USDA Zone 6.

This is my list of low water (some extremely low water, others just very drought tolerant) and cold hardy (to at least USDA zone 6) plant ideas for a desert permaculture garden.

So many permaculture gardens are in tropical or subtropical areas, growing things like citrus and avocados, but not everyone lives in an area that stays warm all year. That's why I have made my lists of cold-hardy perennial fruiting plants for all the gardeners looking for more options in temperate zones. But my own garden, in Utah, would quickly die if I wasn't irrigating it regularly. So that has inspired me to collect a list of cold-hardy plants that are also have low water needs. A garden that you could hypothetically plant in Utah/Colorado/Wyoming and anywhere nearby that will be able to survive for generations.

This list includes cactuses, a category that is often overlooked in fruiting plants. These plants would also be great for just a dry part of your garden where other plants have difficulty surviving.

Some of my ideas come from observation: I have seen wood's roses, pinion pines, and opuntia cactuses growing and thriving on rocky cliffs and hillsides surrounded by nothing else but sagebrush and scrub oak. And old abandoned farms that still have asparagus and lilacs growing by the fence after decades of neglect. Others I include based on the purported cold-hardiness and drought tolerance of plants, and you'll have to do your own additional research and experiments to decide if they will work for you. And others that MAY be able to survive if they are planted in the right conditions, such as with a double-well around them, or with supplemental water for the first couple of years to get the plant established.




So, here are my ideas.

Tough plants:

  • Desert Rose Rosa woodsii
  • Asparagus
  • Chives
  • Marsh mallow
  • Saltbush Atriplex canascens, and other Atriplex species
  • Pigweed amaranth
  • Scrub oak
  • Staghorn Sumac Rhus typhina
  • Sunflowers, possibly sunchokes as well
  • Desert mustart (annual)
  • Miners lettuce? in a shaded location
  • Pinyon pine
  • Purslane
  • Mesquite Zones 6-9
  • Desert Chia Salvia hispanicaI
  • Agave (cold hardy variety)
  • Houseleek Sempervivum
  • Oregon grape Mahonia ssp.
With some extra attention to landscaping, like swales and double-wells, some of these plants may be able to grow in very low water conditions as well:
  • Desert Olive (only to zone 7)
  • Pistachio
  • Pomegranate
  • Fig
  • Bitter orange
  • Almond
  • Grapes/muscadines
  • Goji/wolfberry
Cactuses:
  • Eastern Prickly Pear Opuntia humifusa Zones 4-9
  • Opuntia engelmanii Zones 5-9
  • Opuntia erinaceae Zones 5-11
  • Opuntia basilaris Zone 5
  • Opuntia macrorhiza Zone 4
  • Opuntia littoralis
  • Opuntia phaeacantha Zone 5 (some varieties to zone 3)
  • Dwarf Cholla Opuntia (Cornyopuntia) pulchella
  • Staghorn Cholla Cylindropuntia versicolor
  • Hedgehog Cactus Echinocereus triglochidiatus Zones 5-9
  • Echinocereus enneacanthus, Zones 5-10 some varieties
  • Echinocereus fendleri Zones 5-9
  • Echinocereus faciculatus, Zones 5-9
  • Pincushion Cactus Escobaria missouriensis -35C, Zones 2-11
  • Tree Cholla Cylindropuntia imbracata
  • Desert Christmas Cactus Cylindropuntia leptocaulis Zone 5
  • Cow's tongue Engelmanii linguiformis (Only to zone 7)
  • Pediocactus simpsonii v Minor, Zones 4-7
  • Escobaria vivipara, Zone 4-9
  • Echinocereus viridiflorus, Zones 6-11 (some to zone 3)

Double check the cold-hardiness of cactuses before planting. There may be different cold-hardiness for different varieties of the same species.
Afternoon shade may be a significant factor for growing plants in a desert climate, because the afternoon sun is the hottest.








For more info about cold-hardy cactuses check out this site (http://www.hdbgi.com/)

And this botanical garden in Idaho: 

https://nebula.wsimg.com/9212dbd0201dc4e59a1d77ec14440f7f?AccessKeyId=C45DFB104E437C995B24&disposition=0&alloworigin=1


Contribute your knowledge:

Comment your plans and ideas and/or your experience with cold-climate, low-water growing!


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