How to Maintain a Saguaros Cactus

If plants could be national monuments, the saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) would make the short list. Emblem of the American southwest, this giant grows 50 feet tall, weighs 6 tons and lives over 200 years. Saguaros grow only in the Sonoran desert in Arizona and Mexico. Although the government does not list the species as endangered, their habitat shrinks as Tuscon grows. Like the bald eagle, the coastal redwood and the grizzly bear, the saguaro is incompatible with taming. Those fortunate enough to share their land with a saguaro need not provide water or fertilizer to maintain this plant; rather, their task is to prevent harm to the cactus or its habitat.

Instructions

- 1
  Prohibit digging near the saguaro. Most roots of these towering cacti descend only inches into the ground, but they are critical to saguaro survival, stabilizing the plant and permitting water absorption. Protect the root system further by preventing vehicles, including bicycles, from traversing the area.
- 2
  Keep a distance from the saguaro to encourage animals to approach it. Saguaro cacti typically host a myriad of wildlife -- from Gila woodpeckers who excavate nest cavities, to hawks who use the cactus for hunting platforms, to coyotes who consume the red fruit -- many of whom aid the saguaro in pollination and seed dispersal functions.
- 3
  Never attempt to transplant or replace an inconvenient saguaro. Saguaro are difficult to transplant and even harder to grow from seed. Extremely slow-growing, these cacti stand only 1 inch at eight years; they first flower at 35 years, first produce a limb at 50 to 100 years and achieve adult status at 125 years.
- 4
  Avoid planting exotics such as bufflograss, fountain grass and red brome. These plants out-compete saguaros for the limited resources of water and nutrients and also lead to an increase in desert wildfires, fatal to saguaro.

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