While I’ve been working on the patio, you may have noticed the giant, dominating the background
The massive, 30-foot tall Saguaro Cactus is so tall you can see it in the back yard from the street out front. It is a beast, likely sprouted well before the first World War. We’d found tags in the house where all of our saguaros had been brought over from South Mountain, about a quarter-mile to our west in the 1980’s.
Just look at that mighty spire!
Olden times…
Years ago this proud cactus had a twin. A couple of feet away was another monster, a mere few inches shorter, and with a mere two limbs. A drip irrigation line broke nearby and weakened the soil so much that it had toppled in the wind, smashing open and leaking juice into the ground.
Back in 2013, when this blog was a fledgling youngster, my batteries were nickel-cadmium 18 volts, and my hair was far more pepper than salt, I hacked it up and let the fleshy pieces dry in the sun. I even shot a video:
Back to the present
I don’t know why I didn’t notice it sooner, but in one of my passes by with the wheelbarrow, I happened to look at the backside of the beautiful beast.
It was all dried out and scabby looking. There were a bunch of tiny, black bugs around some of the moist-looking areas. Not good.
That isn’t good.
I contacted a local specialist, in hopes, they could do something. They sent a cactus horticulturalist to take a look. He poked and prodded, dug and chopped.
The gentleman was a wealth of information. Apparently, this issue of infected and dying suguaro has been an ongoing issue in Awahtukee, the village of Phoenix we live in. Last summer, we had a staggering string of broken weather records, culminating in the hottest summer on record:
All-time hot summer: 2020 breaks records in Phoenix - AZ Family
The by-product was a period of time where the nighttime moisture levels were far too low to sustain the need for water. The saguaro doesn’t pull it from the ground, but a collection apparatus around the spines. The good news is that our mighty cactus alone, in the horticulturalist’s recent experience, could be saved. We agreed to surgery. For about $300 they’d chop out the infected sections and treat them with some kind of chemical to kill the bacteria.
Awaiting surgery
Bad news
When the day came for surgery, it didn’t take long to reverse course. The technician discovered that the central core was way too far gone. There was only about 30% remaining to support the massive bulk above,
With only a slim chance of survival, even with bracing, we couldn’t take a chance that three tons of cactus could come tumbling down and damage the new patio, or worse hit someone. You don’t survive something like that.
We had the difficult decision to have it removed. It was difficult because it was our last surviving cactus in the backyard, and the biggest on our property by far. It was additionally difficult because the extraction and removal would cost more than a thousand dollars. Good lord.
I didn’t want to see it go, but I was certainly going to watch it go. I’ll let the photos take it from here.
This isn’t my normal, gripping tale of DIY adventure, but it’s interesting. Most readers don’t have have a 6,000lb cactus in the yard. Besides, I’m sure you’d miss the beast in the photos of the ongoing patio remodel.
Sad story. We really liked a giant saguaro in the backyard. It was our last hope.
No,… there is another.
They’d removed and carefully drug two of the lower arms off to the side. I let them sit for a couple of weeks to skin over.
I plugged one into the far back of the yard in some moist soil and lashed it to a piece of rebar with some electrical cable. We will see, sometimes the “babies” can sprout anew.
Back to work on the patio.