The successful establishment of riparian shrubs in the arid Southwest has been accomplished by using “deep planting” methods in riparian areas that lack overbank flooding.

This methodology involves the immediate exploitation of capillary fringe moisture by the existing root system of long-stem nursery stock and the deep burial of native shrub root crowns.

The methodology precludes or drastically reduces the need to apply irrigation water in arid and semi-arid environments in order to establish riparian shrubs and trees by deep planting long-stem native nursery stock.