Different Cacti Require Different Exposures to the Desert Sun

Q. I have a cactus garden that faces west. Every summer I hang sheets on a clothes line in front of the cactus because it always looks like they are starting to burn up from the direct sun and heat.  If I don't protect the cactus this year, will they die?

Young Joshua tree, a Yucca native to the Mojave Desert, will handle tough landscape exposures with direct desert sunlight. Photo taken at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

A. It’s difficult to say without knowing which cacti you have. Not all cacti are the same and handle the Mojave Desert with ease. Cacti available from retailers are from a wide range of habitats. Some of these habitats are not as environmentally extreme as our own Mojave Desert. 

Cactus garden at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve

These cacti may show signs of stress when plunged into our Mojave Desert climate and soils. Cacti that originate from other areas may be more tender to Mojave Desert conditions. Discover which cacti you have and their place of origin.

Although not a cactus, this yucca is native to the dry sand dunes of the southeastern US and is damaged by the intense sunlight of the Mojave Desert if planted in the wrong location in a landscape. Yucca is oftentimes grouped with cacti.

            Of course, cacti native to the Mojave Desert have a much better chance of survival without protection than cacti imported from other deserts with a milder climate. I would recommend using these if available. 

You might have to relocate some of your more temperamental cacti into a milder microclimate in your landscape. Find an exposure on the east side of the home or under some light shade. Most cacti can be relocated during the heat of the summer months.