12 steps to a successful garden in Dubai

I have updated this post a bit since writing it back in 2014. I have learned a few things since then and have experimented a lot. There aren't many updates, but those minor updates are worth publishing.

1) Planting Time
Start planting at the right time of the year. Plants need time to adjust and adapt to the new environment. When you buy plants from the nursery 90% of the time they had been kept under the shade cloth and not in direct sunlight. In order to thrive they first need to adjust to the sun levels. They also need to grow roots. When you buy too late into the year (actually I mean growing season, that is closer to late spring) plants don't have enough time to adapt and many plants either die or struggle, because they don't know where to put their energy into - growing roots or handling the sun. This is my personal observation. It doesn't mean you can't buy anything in spring but if it was me I'd wait till around September-October, actually preferably November, wouldn't buy any new plants, especially those that can get stressed by the heat, after February, maximum March. Now to every rule there's exception. If you are buying native plants, or anything from similar climate then you are probably safe. Also, if you are buying seasonal flowers then it's also ok cuz they are not meant to last long anyway and will eventually die.
If you are starting a vegetable garden it's even more important to start early (not in the calendar year but in growing calendar year). By the time our partners in crime (joke) in western part of the world are preparing seeds to start and buying transplants we should be harvesting and probably soon "closing" for summer. Yes, things work in reverse here. I start around September and others around October. Things that need cooler weather, such as spinach and lettuce, can be started around November, even closer to December. You can also do succession planting depending on what you choose to grow. Refer to downloads page on my blog and check out the first link to a document that has a planting chart for UAE. Please note that the weather can be hotter in some years, and depending on the sun intensity in your garden spaces, you may need to wait a couple of weeks or even more before planting in your garden. You can also use the guide from Al Ebdaa Investments website, and even download their app. http://alebdaainvestment.com/

2) Soil
Prepare the soil. Are you going to grow in pots? In the ground? Don't just bring plants from souk and let them sit there. If you are growing in pots then decide on your soil mix. For my plants in containers I mix potting soil, peat moss (since writing this post I have changed to using mostly coco peat as it is more sustainable, but would still use peat moss, especially for plants that like soil on the acidic side), perlite and a bit of sand (just cuz I have it around, you can buy it of you want to but it's heavy). I mix it in equal proportions. I don't use perlite on my garden soil, only in my pots, though it's perfectly fine to even use it in garden soil. I'll write a post about it soon Inshallah. I also add some organic fertilizer, I personally use Sustane. You want drainage in your pots and your mix should be well draining. I know it can be hard to figure out at first. You neither want your soil to dry out, so it needs to have something that will hold water, nor do you need your soil to be soaking wet, so it needs to drain water. Perlite gives texture to the soil that helps with draining and peat moss holds water till needed. Vermiculite is great but I haven't found it yet ( at least not at a reasonable rate and agri grade). If you are growing in the ground then think about what you are going to put in. Before I add anything to my soil I water it deeply for a few days. This is an important step. If the soil is not wet and saturated enough with water you will have a problem later. Then, I mix different manures, different potting soils (actually all potting soils here are compost, since over 80% of it is organic matter), peat moss (like I said I now use mostly coco peat) and work it into the sand. Sand doesn't hold water very well, in fact water just disappears in it, that's why you need something to hold it there, so this is why we use peat moss and manure (so manure is good both for food and for water retention). I don't have exact proportions but the more you add the better, and the deeper you work it into the soil also the better. If you add a lot the first year then the following years you only need to add a little and work it lightly into the soil without the need to dig it in deeply. I also add a slow release fertilizer, such as Sustane to this mix, wait for everything to settle in for a week or two and plant. If I am planting trees I dig a hole twice as large as root ball and fill the bottom with my mix, then plant the tree, add more mix and cover with sand. I would love to have my whole garden soil to be the mix I use but for me it's expensive, so I am trying to change it as I go. This year, I have added over 15kgs of manure per square meter and my garden is performing very well. You don't need as much, but aim at at least 5kgs manure per square meter.

3) Water
Water is scarce and water is expensive. You need to find a way to help both environment and your wallet. Are you going to use drip irrigation? Or are you going to water with a hose or by hand (with a watering can of course)? Whatever you choose don't water in the afternoon. First of all it's so hot that a good amount of water will evaporate. Second of all you will harm the plants if water gets on their leaves in the sun, there's research proving this wrong but I still prefer not to water my plants in the sun unless they're really stressed. You are left with early morning or evenings. Mornings are more preferred. Plants "drink" water in the early morning and plants are less stressed during the day if they are not "thirsty", so when you water in the morning you prepare them for the hot day ahead. Watering in the evening is less desired, especially during the colder months, because it can cause fungal diseases due to increased humidity. Of course you can skip this rule during the hottest months of the year, July+August, and actually water both morning and evening (though less preferred as it is easy to over water even in summer).
In the winter months you may opt to water less, and with trees, especially established ones, you may even do it once in a 2-3 days, or even less often. I was told by a salesman in plant souk that if we water a tree everyday in the winter it can actually die. I also read that it's better to have a deep watering every few days than surface watering everyday. This will promote root growth, because lack of water will make the roots to look for water deeper in the soil. With stronger, deeper roots your plants will be less stressed in summer and more likely to survive it, after all it's not as hot deeper in the soil as it is on the surface.
Know your plants' water requirements. Some love it dry between watering and some need their soil moist at all times. Try to keep this in mind when arranging your planting spots/zones.
When you are watering your trees, don't water near the stem/trunk base. Trees have roots. Trees have big roots that spread in all directions. And it's through these roots the trees intake their needed water and food. Keep it in mind and water accordingly.

4) Mulch
I could have had this under the water but since it serves multi purposes I dedicated a separate paragraph to it. What do plants need? Sun, air, water and nutrients. First two are of no concern. The latter two? You prepared the soil, including fertilizer, and figured out watering schedule, so they seem worked out as well, or are they? And wait, did I just say sun is of no concern, in a sense that there's plenty of it? Am I right? I am wrong. Too much sun and we have a problem. Plants can survive the heat, and even thrive in it, as long as their roots are cool (and vice versa in the cold). So how do we keep them cool when the temperature outdoors is over 40C, even 50 these past years? We need to mulch. What is it? Mulch is loose organic matter (preferably, I wouldn't use the artificial one) in a form of dried leaves, dry grass, wood chips, straw, hay, even paper and the like. What does it do and why do I, you, need it? It helps protect the roots from heat. And not only. It also helps prevent water evaporation and helps water retention which means less watering (happy environment+happy wallet), and it also helps retain nutrients, so nutrients are not leaked deep and away which means plants are not hungry. Another advantage is that it provides slow release fertilizer, or slowly released nutrients into the soil as it decays. How? Over time mulch will be rotting away thus adding to fertility and texture of the soil. Another advantage mulch brings is that it prevents weeds from growing and stealing your plants' water and nutrients (even though I actually don't mind weeds much as I believe that by sending roots they improve soil texture underneath and since they eventually die my soil benefits from the rotting roots, and I also believe a layer of weeds protects from the heat of the sun, but to each their own).
So what to do? How much to use? In order to benefit from mulch you need to have around 10 cm of mulch (I am talking about thickness). So where do you get it? You can buy it or you can get creative and use dried leaves, dries grass clippings or even use shredded paper like newspaper. Another thought I had but haven't tried is to buy animal feed in a form of hay and straw I saw in Khawaneej and use it as mulch. I asked on a gardening forum about it and people recommend it, and I trust that forum. It's on www.gardenweb.com If you have any ideas or info please share below in the comments. Update: I actually tried it and it worked and am now using it around my garden.

5) Fertilizer aka nutrition
I talked about fertilizer above as a part of soil preparation but it also needs a separate paragraph because it's not a "put it in and forget about it" kind of a thing. In this part of the world we have a problem of nutrients washing away because the sand doesn't have good retentive properties. So you need to feed your plants on a regular basis. You need to decide whether you will go the organic or the chemical route. I don't have much experience with chemical fertilizer except for one time when we bought fertilizer for our (now gone) lawn and my husband decided to use it on our front yard trees. DISASTER. I had told him to only use a little bit but a "little bit" in his man's hands is not the same as in my "lady's" mind. Anyways, what happened the following days was horrible. Our trees almost died. They were burnt. They lost all their leaves. And they stopped growing. But because this is Damas, it is a very hardy tree, that is not afraid of sun and salty water and can go for days without water, it made a full recovery. But I have since said to myself no to chemical even if only for the grass (I had been determined to go organic since day 1, and grass is the only plants that I used chemical fertilizer on, and not by my choice). So I am fully pro organic. I use manures, compost and anything organic I find. Shalimar has nice selection that I have tried almost all. Can't tell the results cuz I always mixed everything but I like it. They also have vermicompost that they claim is black gold. I tried it too and probably will too. I have seen liquid seaweed extract in Satwa recently. Inshallah I'll buy that next time I'm there. Anyways, whatever you choose apply it during the cooler months of the year. I usually stop feeding from May till September. Until I find proof that it's safe to use fertilizer in summer I won't use it. Know your plants needs and feed accordingly. It will come to you naturally over time.

Update: I have tried seaweed extract and it works wonders as a growth stimulator. I am also using fish liquid fertilizer. I alternate these weekly and am very happy with the results.

6) Pest Control
We are practically in the middle of the desert so what can live here, some of you may ask. Ha ha. Don't be fooled by this. I have seen here tiny, and not so, insects that I'd never seen before and can't identify. I thought they wouldn't survive the summer but there they are under stones, behind the leaves, practically everywhere. Stop. Don't panic. Not all of them are bad and those that are can be deterred, naturally, and the good ones can be attracted. I won't talk about chemical pest control cuz I don't practice it. Best cure is prevention. So how do you go about it? Companion planting is my number one choice to deter unwanted pests. In my veggie patch I scatter-plant garlic, radish and pot marigold almost everywhere. And I have noticed it does work (for almost everything). Companion planting has so many benefits that I actually dedicate a paragraph to it below. Another way to deter pests I tried is neem fertilizer, available from Shalimar. I liked the idea that it is both fertilizer and pest repellant. There's also a product called Neemguard and it works too. What else? Keep your plants healthy, pests usually attack plants that are already weak. If you are under attack then use the natural methods, such as spraying water mixed with a tiny drop of dish washing liquid, hot pepper and garlic on your plants. Inshallah I'll dedicate a permanent page, or a part of a page, on this blog with the natural recipes for pest control.

7) Companion planting
I have already mentioned it above but here's a little more. In companion planting a plant benefits the other in some way, or both plants are beneficial to each other. According to this document, companion planting benefits are as follows: it creates diversity in your garden, enriches the soil, repels bad insects, attracts beneficial insects and lures insects away from your crop.
Think about forest. It doesn't have only a certain plant in it, usually it's many different species "living" together. In the same way you create a diversity in your garden by planting many different plants around.
Some plants are heavy feeders, some are not so and some actually give something back to the soil. By planning carefully you can have a garden of plants that are in great beneficial relationship with each other and with the soil.
Some plants have strong scent, or taste, that certain insects don't like, and this in turn makes go away. Some scent can also mask the scent of another plant and insects can't find your plant. By planting certain plants around you help protect the vulnerable plant.
Not all insects are bad and some are actually welcome. What some plants can do is attract and house the wanted insects thus benefiting the other plant.
Some insect love certain plants so when you plant these "favorable" plants around, insects forget your precious ones and go after the one you are not afraid to let go. This is also beneficial sometimes since insets concentrate on one plant which you can simply pull out and get rid of.
My favorite companion plants are garlic, radish, basil, nasturtium and pot marigold (calendula). They are fast and easy to grow and benefit many plants.

8) Composting
It's a part of fertilizing but it deserves a separate step. You don't have to do it if you don't want to but it makes such a difference. Compost is one of the best things you can feed to your plants. Yes, you can buy it in the shops but why not also add your own? Store bought compost is usually a byproduct of a certain industry and would contain more of something and less of the rest. That's why I buy different potting soil brands (which is essentially compost). But compost ingredients from your garden are diverse so your plants get a balanced "diet".  You help the environment and you give back to your garden. What else can you wish for? You can choose to do it the traditional cold way, fast hot way, bokashi way, lasagna method way (yes it's not a typo, there's one), or do like my friend and simply push some of your kitchens scraps into the soil around your plants (a little away from the roots).  You can read about it more online, or check back in the links/downloads pages and I'll add something there Inshallah soon. By the way, Bokashi is now sold at mygreenchapter.com, and they also have other composting systems that can give you compost in around 10 days, or even 3 hours, yes you heard that right, 3 hours. More info here https://www.mygreenchapter.com/b2c_en/composting.html

9) Get the right plants/seeds
Yes that may sound obvious but needs mentioning. When you go shopping don't let the salesman choose your plant. You choose it. Look at how healthy it is. Look at the stem (if it's a tree). Look at the way it has been pruned. Research about the plant you want to buy and find out how to choose one. Wrong pruning for example can set a wrong path pattern for growth.
If you are starting a vegetable garden look for seeds specifically made for our climate. The ones from Garden Center, Yates brand, are from Australia and seem to be suited well to here (sadly the last time I checked they are not available anymore). Seeds by Vilmorin brand have a line suited for tropics. Other brands specifically say on the back "for middle eastern climate". Another point to consider is the variety. I grew two types of radishes last year. One did extremely well during the whole season and the other one only grew well in winter. So when you decide what you want to grow look online for heat resistant varieties and when you go shopping look for it. Make sure to have a few options. Otherwise read the seed packet. You can succeed to grow seeds meant for the cold weather of Europe but even then look for varieties that are marked "early" or similar, because these will take less time from sowing to harvest and more chances of success.
If you are growing in pots beware of determinate and indeterminate varieties of some veggies, such as cucumbers and tomatoes, and take this into account, especially when choosing the pot size. Another thing to look for when buying seeds is the expiry date. The fresher the seeds the better the germination rate will be. Pay attention to how the seeds were stored in the shop. Seeds need to be stored in a cool, dry place. By all means get organic if you can, or at least buy untreated seeds.

10) Location
Choose the location for your garden wisely. If you are on a balcony and have very little sun then plan accordingly. Opt for plants that have little sun requirement and/or can tolerate some shade. You can read more here (link coming soon Inshallah). Also note since the sun in UAE is stronger you may consider adjusting accordingly. Some plants like full sun, but will they withstand the hot, harsh sun of this part of the world? In this case partial shade, or afternoon shade will be more beneficial than full sun. I was surprised to see my chinese cabbage plants flourish in the shade last year. They only received a couple of hours of direct sun during the very late afternoon. The ones  I planted in the sun simply wouldn't grow. This point reminded me to bring to your attention that because the earth orbits the sun in a special way we have seasons, and because we have seasons not everyday is the same. Part of garden that had full sun now, will have shade in the winter. You don't need to stress about it, but simply observe your garden and keep a note for later. And if you can provide partial/dappled shade that would be the best solution.

11) Bees aka pollinators
If you are planting a vegetables garden, well fruits included, then you want to attract bees, ah ok and other pollinating insects. Most veggies and fruits need pollination in order to bear fruits. You can always resort to hand pollination but with the insects it's much easier. Bees do exist here, unlike some of you may think. I didn't know how diverse insect population here. But if you go to a park and watch the nature you will find many things you didn't know lived here. I saw so many beautiful butterflies here, and me and my kids even went butterfly catching before (of course we let all the butterflies go after we looked at them). So what can you do to invite bees and other insects to your garden? Plant flowers, as many as you can. The choice is yours as there's many many flowers that can be grown here, especially during the cooler months of the year. You don't have to buy all your flowers as seedling cuz there's many you can grow from seed successfully. I planted calendula, cosmos, African marigold, zinnia and a few others from seeds and had great results. The other one that is probably the easiest flower to grow is portulaca, sometimes called purslane. There's 2 varieties the edible and the ornamental one. Both easy to grow but ornamental one bears cute flowers.

12) Have faith and don't give up. If your tree dies, or your flowers won't bloom, or a fruit won't form don't worry, it's not necessarily your fault. Things happen.

This was a long post. If you would like me to add anything to this post please contact me or leave a reply below. Feel free to share a link to this post but don't copy and paste please :)