Bisbee Garden Tour

A rock is a hard place to grow a garden, but Bisbee homeowners will show how theyve done it during a self-guided garden tour on Saturday.

The 13th annual Bisbee garden tour by the Bisbee Bloomers features 11 stops, including several on rocky ledges above Old Bisbee.

Ken Budge, a Bisbee councilman, and his wife, Mary Alice, have built up the soil in their front, back and side yards surrounding their home, which sits on rocky and caliche-filled Bee Mountain.

The hard soil was made even less plant-friendly by three cottonwood trees whose knotty roots left little space and water for anything else to grow.

Ever since the couple removed the trees 10 years ago, the soil has loosened up, Mary Alice Budge says.

The couple has hauled topsoil, fertilizer and mulch to the yards and vigorously composted leaf litter to add to the dirt.

Today the landscape features Cypress, flowering plum, desert willow and mulberry trees, as well as wisteria, Tombstone rose, barrel cactus, prickly pear, salvia, marigold and bushes that attract butterflies.

Budge suggests patience when it comes to building up nurturing soil.

Its a long process, she says. Over time, as the plants get bigger and leaves start to drop, that naturally will build up your soil.

Susan and Jim Miller, whose home sits on a caliche bed, didnt bother making the existing land friendly for growing.

See more here:
Bisbee Garden Tour