Hello everyone,

I am so glad I found this great forum.

A little bit of a background: I am Russian, grew up in Siberia, and have an experience of gardening in a really cold climate with short hot summers.

Now, I live in Arizona, and finally moved into a house that has a pretty big backyard. That is, comparing to the town house I used to live in. I managed to grow some dwarf fruits on my patio, but now I have plans for something big. I just moved three weeks ago and can't wait to get my hands dirty.

The house is on a mountain slope with east exposure. The backyard is sunken, flat, and has retention walls from three sides. It is irrigated, has mostly grass, with one full size lemon tree, also a tangelo and a tangerine, both semi-dwarf. There is a room for at least two more fruit trees.

There is also some room on the north of the house - it has lots of shade.

I really want a fig tree and a donut peach. And a persimmon. Also, I am thinking about planting grapes along the fence (area around the fence is elevated). And on the north, I am thinking of planting something like pine or cypress, although I am afraid of pine roots getting into sewage - had a bad experience with it in an old place. Can pines grow well in a shade?

Also, I (or, rather, my mom - she is a gardener too) want to have a small vegetable garden.

The tangerine is not doing well. It has excellent fruits but is nearly naked, with yellowish-green leaves. The sellers told me that it was over-watered. I think that it may have magnesium and iron deficiency because of that.

I need an advice from the people who are experienced growing things in a desert. Please help!