Desert Crest Press

Patio designs have come a long way from a clean, level surface for lounge chair and grills. While low voltage lighting allows comfort and safety after sundown, there is nothing quite like the added benefits gained from Arizona patio fireplaces. Setting the mood for your family and friends, outdoor living rooms are not complete without the element of fire in an open flame. Outdoor fireplaces – Scottsdale to Phoenix can be designed to match, blend or accent your home and patio flooring. The masonry... (more...)

Shading both a portion of the swimming pool and a unique sunken outdoor kitchen, this custom ramada creates an element of excitement to a common Arizona landscaping feature. This particular ramada design is crafted from Cinnamon Bark Ledgestone masonry support pillars and has a painted to blend open vaulted roof and fascia. Choosing stone and masonry for constructing ramadas in Glendale, or anywhere else around Phoenix, will extend the life of your backyard shade structure far beyond those built... (more...)

Water is the most magical element of nature. Water cools the air and brings life from the soil. It embraces the sun and adds music to the air in movement. It isn’t one bit surprising that water features like the courtyard fountain and waterfalls are in big demand for Arizona outdoor living rooms. The mild climate around the Phoenix area, allows us to enjoy the beauty of moving water and relaxing outdoors year around. Creating different tones with water movement. The difference in mood between... (more...)

Landscaping in Arizona can be quite a challenge. Yet, if you know which plants are easy to deal with, give you months of color and sweeten the air around your Phoenix, Glendale or Cave Creek home… it gets a great deal easier to be happy with your plant selection. Sky Flower or Duranta erecta is one of those fabulous looking plants that you’ll enjoy in your Arizona landscaping for months on end. The color isn’t just present from the flowers. Duranta gives you twice the treat as far... (more...)

For the best increase in home value and aesthetic appeal, a handsomely coordinated built-in barbeque design is an excellent addition to your paver patio. Outdoor living rooms in Arizona today can have any look or attribute you desire. Entertaining is much easier with a well designed outdoor cooking and gathering space like the patio barbeque featured here. The material choices for this particular new project beautifully matches the adobe color of it’s base to the outdoor living patio privacy... (more...)

Most homeowners, in any climate, see their landscaping as yard decorating. Yes, it does add color and texture, but the right way to design a yard involves much more than that. The process gets more challenging for Arizona homes than other areas of the country. Still xeriscaping landscaping plants offer the right elements to properly frame and soften a residential structure. Whether you live in Phoenix or Peoria, AZ – landscapers who understand the right applications for height and mass will create... (more...)

From New River to Glendale and Scottsdale, the addition of relaxing and beautiful outdoor living rooms is what every Arizona homeowner desires. Adobe walls and outdoor fireplaces are high on the list of additions to custom designs using patio pavers. This allows the beauty of view and long durability in the harsh desert climate. The smooth texture of adobe is the perfect complement to the cut stone like pattern provided by pavers. As in this particular new landscape installation where low lying adobe... (more...)

Adding a magnificent sweep of color is always welcome in anyones yard, and in Arizona landscaping you can count on the Zephtranthes to burst into bloom September-October. Also known as the Rain Lily, this tough perennial is a native of the plains in South America and Mexico. As it’s hardiness zones are 7-10, adding this lovely late season bloomer to your landscaping in Cave Creek or Glendale, Arizona is best done where it will have part shade. You can choose from a selection of colors when... (more...)

Native to Mexico and Texas, Cenzio is perfect for the lower elevations around Phoenix. Arizona landscaping is challenging to those who have moved from higher moisture, lower heat climates. This low maintenance shrub is perfectly happy, even joyful in the high temperatures of your full sun xeriscaping landscaping where other selections may go into distress. Cenzio comes in several bloom colors and also gives you a choice in foliage. There are silvery leafed varieties and those that are green. This... (more...)

Palo Verde is a family of trees native to the Sonoran Desert. There are 3 varieties of this rugged desert native; Mexican Palo Verde, Yellow Palo Verde or Foothill Palo Verde, and Blue Palo Verde. Of the three available choices for your xeriscaping landscaping, the Blue Palo Verde is the best selection. While the Mexican Palo Verde has visually stunning blooms that have the added excitement of one vivid orange petal on every flower, it lacks the attractive shape and size of the Blue Palo Verde. Additionally,... (more...)