Getting the patio ready for the best months of the year

Friends who move here from other states are always surprised by this: in the low desert, the outdoor season doesn’t start in spring. It starts now. From November through April, the patio becomes another room of the house, and one weekend of work gets it there.

Clear the summer off

Monsoon storms leave a fine layer of dust on everything. I sweep the pavers, hose them down early in the morning, and wipe the table and bench with warm soapy water. Pots that baked all summer get emptied of dead plants so they can start again.

Check the quiet corners

Cushions, stacked pots and anything that sat in the shed all summer make good hiding places for scorpions and spiders. I wear gloves, shake everything out away from the house, and wash the cushion covers before they go back on the bench.

Plant now, not in spring

Fall is the main planting season here. My patio pots get the same herbs every year:

• Rosemary, which loves the heat and lasts for years.
• Thyme and chives, small and forgiving.
• Parsley, which grows happily through our mild winter.
• Cilantro, which only does well here in the cool months, so it goes in now or not at all.

Use pots with drainage holes and fresh potting mix. The fall sun is gentler than summer’s, so most herbs are happy with full morning sun and a little afternoon shade.

Water in the morning

I water early, before the sun reaches the pots, and check the soil with a finger first: if it’s dry an inch down, it’s time. Terracotta dries out faster than glazed pots. Our nights rarely freeze, but a few times each winter a frost warning comes through, and I keep an old bedsheet folded by the back door to throw over the tender plants.

Leave a place to sit

The last step is the one that matters most. I drag the bench to the spot where the late sun lands, and that is where the evening tea goes from now until spring.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)