Star Nursery - Sunset
St. George garden center and nursery on Sunset Boulevard with plants, trees and gardening supplies for alkaline desert soil.
Star Nursery on Sunset Boulevard carries plants, trees and gardening equipment in St. George. The soil a new gardener finds in a yard here is unlike the growing medium most planting advice assumes, and recognizing what it is explains most of the problems that follow.
Background
Local soils are alkaline, commonly sitting around pH eight, because the parent material is limestone and gypsum and there is not enough rainfall to leach the carbonates out. Many yards also contain caliche - a hardened layer where calcium carbonate has cemented soil particles into something between concrete and rock. Caliche is nearly impermeable, so a planting hole dug into it becomes a bathtub that holds water against roots, and roots that reach it stop. Where a caliche layer is present, the hole is broken through it or the planting is raised above it; neither is optional.
Alkalinity has a subtler effect through chemistry. Iron is present in these soils in quantity - it is what colors the landscape - but at high pH it exists in forms plants cannot take up. Susceptible species then show iron chlorosis: leaves that yellow between the veins while the veins stay green, first on new growth. Adding iron sulfate to alkaline soil largely fails, because the added iron converts to the same unavailable forms; chelated iron, in which the iron is held in an organic molecule that keeps it available at high pH, is the treatment that works. The deeper answer is species selection, choosing plants adapted to alkaline conditions rather than fighting soil chemistry every season.
See also tree services and the homeowner guide to water and landscaping. Browse all Garden Centers & Nurseries in the directory.
Nearby: Best Mattress, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Anasazi Steakhouse & Gallery.
Categories
Address
1145 W Sunset BlvdSt. George, UT 84770
Contact
- Work Phone: 435-688-7827
Frequently asked questions
Why do leaves turn yellow with green veins here?
That pattern is iron chlorosis. Local soils contain plenty of iron but are alkaline, typically near pH eight, and at that pH the iron exists in forms most plants cannot absorb. Susceptible species show yellowing between the veins while the veins stay green, appearing on new growth first.
What is caliche and why does it matter?
Caliche is a hardened layer in the soil where calcium carbonate has cemented particles together into something close to rock. It is nearly impermeable, so a planting hole dug into it holds water against the roots like a bathtub and stops root growth where they reach it. Planting either breaks through the layer or is raised above it.
Does adding iron fix chlorosis in alkaline soil?
Ordinary iron sulfate largely does not, because the added iron converts to the same unavailable forms in high-pH soil. Chelated iron works, since the iron is held inside an organic molecule that keeps it available to roots at high pH. Choosing species adapted to alkaline soil is the more durable solution.
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