You are brooming, sweeping, and wiping down your backyard? Seriously?

This sounds more like an ecosystem - climate - wind problem than a mulch around the plumeria problem. Mulch plus a living groundcover under the plumeria won't hurt and would look better than dirt and a black rubber hose at least.

You are in the dry tropics somewhere. Where might this be?

Well, when the wind is right it will pick up dust from that dirt field and your wall will act like a snow fence causing the dust to drop in your yard. Not much you can do.

tj

Encase it in glass and run air scrubbers?

@littlebug zone 5 Missouri Unfortunately yes, I see and feel dirt everywhere in my backyard. I meant that I broom, sweep and "wipe down" my patio furniture. :)

Like tj states, if you have a bare dirt field behind you, I doubt you will be able to escape the daily accumulation of dust. Mulching the plumerias won't help with the dust but will make that area more attractive, so an option but not a solution :-)

Spraying the area down once or twice a day would be a lot less effort than daily sweeping.

Maybe consider: Slipcovers for the furniture when not in use. A thicker screen, or curtains, for when the patio door is open. Good luck; it must be frustrating.

Get the school involved in a gardening project! Really, schools welcome community help (I was a teacher, so speaking from experience) and if Covid hasn't closed the school, it would be a great project and educational experience. Someone from a local garden organization could provide direction and help in choosing native plants and local garden centers might even donate plants. The garden we had at one point was a joint family project with the kids, parents, neighbors all pitching in to help. If it is a playing field they want to keep open, they could at least plant grass and something on their side of your wall. I cannot imagine that the school WANTS a dirt field, especially for a playing field!

Alternately, now that it's winter, throw some inexpensive white clover seed over into the dust bowl. Come spring, it should sprout and spread into a nice clover field... :-)

I have a topic-adjacent question: how do you grow plumeria in Missouri? It's more of a zone 12 plant.

In Missouri you would grow plumeria with an adjacent heated greenhouse, even if you induced an extended winter dormancy.

To dchall’s point, the OP is saying those are in ground plumeria growing in their MO garden. Can that be?

tj

The OP is replying to littlebug in Missouri. The location of the plumeria still has not been revealed. By the architecture I am guessing Southern California. It could be India for all I know. Location will tell us a whole lot more about the dust.

MO without heating and plumeria? No. Plumeria are utterly a sub-tropical plant and something I've had the grand fun of taking cuttings from when I've visited parents' friends in Hawaii. They're actually native to the North American continent and were transported there, though--they grow in Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America, as well as some of the Caribbean.

They'll go dormant if you let them or, if you keep the light and warmth up all year, remain green. That's tough, though.

I didn't see Christy state she was from MO. She did say "my sliding door open," so these might be in an enclosed glass space, however. Which would be neat and I'd like to see exterior photos; a friend of mine has a glass sun porch much like this, but to the northern face where one wouldn't be able to do this easily.

Thank you everyone for your ideas!

To clear some confusion, @Christopher CNC is correct, I am in Southern CA. and plumerias grow beautifully here.

You haven't lived until you've had black Hawaiian snow falling along with all the dust on your plumeria trees. Course now that the west coast is on fire half the year, you may have experienced black kind snow - ash falling on your plumeria trees.

Sorry for my misunderstanding. I'm always curious about SoCal residents, since I lived there for 30 years. Where do you live that the plumeria do so well? Do they flower for you?

My sister in law has plumeria in Rockport, TX. She gets flowers occasionally but not reliably.

Lava rocks instead of mulch.

DC, aren't those just the nicest looking fattest plumeria? The ones I see up here further north always look like sad little bones.

To keep lava rocks looking nice, you'll need to use a blower. That means more dust in the house and everywhere else.