All Desert Plants Need Water Including Cactus

Q. I am looking for substitutes for cacti.  Plants without stickers that need no water.  I want to replace my 15 lantana. I would like to plant them now before the heat comes.

A. All of the plants in the desert require irrigation, even cacti. Some of the cacti require more frequent irrigation than others.

            Those coming from the Mojave Desert require the least amount. Cacti from the Mojave Desert can get by with shallow irrigations occurring perhaps once a month with a hose.

Nopal cactus fruit called 'Tunas'. Brix hit about 16. Birds love the sweet ones. That is mostly bird damage. The spines on these cacti are diminished but they are present and you must protect your hands handling pads or fruit.

            Thorns or “stickers” is a defense mechanism used by plants to keep desert animals from eating plant parts that are full of stored water. There are some cacti that have “stickers” which are much diminished. However, they are present and can cause pain if you handle them.

            If water is your major limitation then I would encourage you to look at other possible ways of making your landscape look attractive without growing plants.

            A big benefit of growing plants in a yard is their increase in individual value as they get larger and collective value as part of a beautiful landscape.

Nopal cactus grown in Hernosillo, Mex, at the University of Sonora field trials.

            Other benefits besides beauty are to create more hospitable environments in your landscape. Then of course the right plants can provide food for us.

            You can bypass some of this “added value” to your landscape by spending more money upfront in the design. This includes things such as creative use of rock mulches with different colors and sizes, use of changes in landscape elevations when contouring the landscape during construction, use of boulders and good boulder placement, attractive screens, trellises, fences and good garden art.

            But I am afraid there is no solid, one answer to your question.