Flood irrigated lots are a rare find these days. You will be able to grow many things that struggle in our salty soils but keep in mind that Salt River Project can cut your annual alloation of water if the reservoirs run low as they did in 2004 and 2005 when deliveries were reduced by 25 percent. This can be stressful for some trees and plants.

Palo Verdes do not tolerate lawn situations or flood irrigation. Acacia will grow in lawns but I may not be happy under flood. Here are some choices that should appreciate the extra water but could handle a dry spell now and then.

Honey Mesquite - look for the 'Maverick' clone which is thornless.
Chinese Pistache - great fall color.
Chitalpa - seedless cross between a Desert Willow and Catalpa. Light pink flowers all summer that attract hummingbirds.
Desert Willow - blooms all summer with large fragrant flowers that attract hummingbirds. Lots of color choices.
Sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo) - bright green leaves, semievergreen, frost tender when young - be sure to cover on cold nights.
Arizona Ash (Fraxinus velutina) - an Arizona native that provides great shade.
Citrus - all varieties
Pine - Afghan, Aleppo, Canary Island or Stone
Mexican Elderberry (Sambuscus mexicana) fragrant flowers in spring, berries in summer/fall.
Southern Live Oak or Cork Oak
Peach or Apricot
Olive
Bald Cypress

I hope this helps.

Thanks so much for the feedback. I am going to paste your advice in my information files. I was hoping to keep one corner of my lot for desert adapted trees, keeping the irrigation down so will keep that for the PV trees. I did not know about the cutting back on water. I thought I had a great resource of water. Any ideas on how to help my distressed Chinese Elm? The only sign it is distressed are the leaves are more grey green than green green. ALso the trees you suggested, should they be planted from 15 gallon pots or larger boxes? Thanks for any help.

Look around the area and see what's thriving. Plant from 5 or 15-gallon containers for easier handling. Within a couple of years (or less) they will be bigger than the boxed trees.

I would recommend against Mesquite ... with regular deep watering it's HUGE! Palo Verde and Ironwood just die ... too wet.

And there is a funky tree with spiny bark, that flowers pink in the spring (on bare branches, or right out of the trunk) but I can't remember its name.

Any od the "swamp" eucalyptus would thrive, but watch the species descriptions because some are brittle or messy.

Jacaranda, citrus, Chitalpa, Desert Willow

LG- Are you thinking of the Silk Floss Tree?

Wow, a one acre lot, and irrigated. Agree with the choices above. Citrus does very well in these lots. Lazy Gardens is right, look around the neighborhood at the trees that are doing well. I am in a irrigated neighborhood, and see very nice elms and pistaches. Also, if your electric provider is APS, and you are in an SRP neighborhood, you may be eligible for compenstation next year. Some times I do get money back.

Thanks so much for the feedback. I did not understand the reference to getting money back from APS. They are my electric provider but do not know what you mean by "SRP neighborhood". Please explain because would love "compensation".

As to the trees, I do have some areas that do not get the flood irrigation where I planned to plant the mesquite and PVerdes. But thank you for that advice.

Has anyone planted a Brazilian Pepper Tree? Was thinking of that to shade a southwest facing bedroom window. I think I will go with some jacarandas, citrus, australian willow, chinese pistachio and elm, also some ash. I really love the sense of seasons and want some fall color.

In the neighborhood there are some very tall very big mulberry, I think cottonwoods, a huge fig tree (the bearing kind), pine trees but hardly a thing on my lot except for two great chinaberry trees. Want to plant about 30 trees, some fruit trees also.

Also, any advice on the watering schedule for newly planted trees. I have read sooooo many books and they all seem to advise differently. Thanks for any feedback.

Hi newazgard. You might contact SRP and ask about "Shareholder Compensation". Every spring SRP places an ad in the Republic advising on how to file. If you are in certain SRP neighborhoods (the flood irrigation ones) and have APS service, you may be entitled to compensation. SRP figures out what you would have paid them, plus 15%. If you paid more than that for electricity, you get the difference back.

As to watering, a lot depends on your soil type. I have attached a link for a great guide, "Landscape Watering by the Numbers".

For some nice fall color, try Pomengranate (yellow) and Roger's Red Grape (red). The grape especially is great, and uses very little water.

Here is a link that might be useful: Watering Guide for the Arizona Desert

Thanks for the link and the explanation of the "compensation". The link had a lot of helpful information. I will try the Pomegranate and the grape. What a great idea. Had not thought of that. I did live in the Sonoma Valley for awhile and I remember the great fall color. They also had great mustard ground cover for a delightful spring bloom.

Thanks so much for the advice.