Desert Crest Press

Great taste in outdoor living rooms includes outdoor kitchens. Arizona landscape design can offer you fully equipped cooking areas or simple custom BBQs.

From simple, yet stylish built-in BBQ’s to fully equipped outdoor kitchens, today’s AZ landscape design features are all the rage. There just is no way to create that flavor indoors, and the outdoor living patio is usually where the action is once winter chill has departed.

Gourmet recipes for grilling and entertaining outdoors have turned the backyard into a private café and secluded getaway. What better way to spend time with friends than discovering new flavors and aromas shared with great wine and good times? Patio designs today by the best Arizona landscapers will be unique, innovative and perfect for cooking up a storm in the desert.

With custom flagstone or pavers, patio flooring can be any shape or coloring you wish. Privacy walls that are incorporated into subdivision backyard seclusion can be beautiful and a lovely hardscape backdrop for the flowering vines and other narrow desert plants that give you greenery and bloom color to frame your Arizona lifestyle with interest. Unlike your driveway, patio designs can be built in different levels creating a series of outdoor living areas for different purposes. Outdoor kitchen design in Arizona can be as unique as your home and the perfect complement to desert living.

Backyard getaway landscape design in Arizona extends your home. Many homeowners enjoy the carefree features that flagstone patios or paving stones provide them with. Accenting with low maintenance and high impact plants warms and softens all outdoor living patios and outdoor kitchens too. Increasing your Arizona home’s value is easily done with beautiful stone BBQ’s and outdoor kitchen islands. Grills, gas burners, refrigerators, freezers, wine coolers and even the kitchen sink are popular patio kitchen appliances.

Cooking islands for outdoor kitchens and barbeques in Arizona will be smooth topped in either tile or cut stone with a base constructed from stucco to match your adobe home or any one of the choice natural stones. Incorporating other fire features that coordinate like the outdoor fireplace or beehive makes backyard landscaping in Arizona far more than a green framing for your home. The best Arizona landscapers will be highly skilled in stucco and stone masonry, as well as expert at pavers installation.

You are better off working with one landscape company who is very experienced in design and installation of all the lifestyle patio design features. From creating outdoor flooring in Arizona patio designs, to giving you instant privacy and shady ramadas or gazebos – craftsmanship and quality will also be important. You will want beautiful barbeque designs that will remain fully functional exposed to the elements, just as with all other features you add to patio designs and outdoor living room designs in Arizona today.

Popularity: 35% [?]

Dramatic, charming or quirky - landscape boulders and rock add character to and form to your xeriscaping in Peoria, AZ

Never toss out a rock found in your yard – at least not the ones large enough to add to your landscaping in Peoria, AZ. You never know where it might be the perfect perky note for your landscape or garden. Learning how to use rocks in a way that adds beauty and value to your Arizona landscaping can alter the entire look of your property. There is one great advantage using rocks in any xeriscaping design – they are completely drought resistant. No matter how much it is neglected, you can’t kill a rock. So, unless you have some deeply rooted desire to keep your rocks sparkly clean, they never need watering.

Although it is important to pay attention to the choice of desert plants that will used to create your Peoria xeriscape design. It is just as important to put a considerable amount of thought toward the rock selection, the permanent and usually immovable aspects known as hardscaping. Incidentally, did you know that your landscaping has 3 distinct things going on? The plantings in any landscape are known as softscaping, if you add a water feature such as waterfalls in Peoria, Arizona – it is waterscaping the moment a few plants are added to soften the rocky surrounding. Hardscaping includes things like your paver patio, flagstone walkways and ramadas for shade.

Rocks can be used as a focal point in your xeriscape design through the strategic placement of single items throughout the yard. Boulders can also be incorporated where more weight, height or mass is required to offset the surrounding desert plants. Arranging smaller to medium sized landscape rocks in clusters threaded with low growing plants can create a rock garden design in Peoria, AZ. Small rocks can act as stone mulch used in all over ground cover which does more than just conserving water for the plants used in the design. Stone mulch also preserves your Arizona topsoil from blowing away and causing an effect known as desertification, if this should be allowed to take place – even cacti would not grow here. Desertification would turn the region into a waste land where nothing grows.

Xeriscape designs of cacti, shrubs, grasses and flowers arranged in different beds and areas can be instantly be more charming, even dramatic when visually enhanced through placement of complimentary colors, arresting shapes and different sizes of rocks in strategic locations.

Professional Peoria, AZ landscapers use large rocks or boulders in creating a height element in many xeriscape landscape plans. Stones are an inexpensive way of adding interest and beauty to any yard with an element that can be visually striking. They look great and compliment any plant naturally, creating a harmonious blend with the surrounding environment. Your Peoria, AZ xeriscape design, when including the natural beauty of carefully selected rocks. You may not have considered it yet, but rock-on xeriscaping is an excellent way to add interesting curb appeal to your desert home.

Instant presence and charming character found in rock on xeriscape design has a spot in your Arizona landscaping.

When adding rocks to your Peoria, Arizona landscaping, it might be best if you know that all rocks have 8 sides. In a way, they serve as a sort of sculpture carved by nature. Just plopping a boulder or rock down and calling it landscaping charm doesn’t always work out. There is a knack at times in seeing which side of the rock should be shown off and which to hide. Every rock has a place; you just have to find it. There is never waste in a rock pile, if it doesn’t fit where you want to use it first… it will be fabulous or the perfect fit in another location. Rock on Arizona, xeriscape design can be really cool.

Popularity: 49% [?]

Desert landscape design in Phoenix allows you the beauty of Red Justica whose fragrant red flowers are adored by hummingbirds too.

Homeowners looking for a low maintenance landscape design, Phoenix yards and gardens should display a stylish approach to xeriscaping.

Desert landscaping will be the least amount of work and expense for your home budget. Phoenix landscapers understand the xeriscape principles applied in landscaping that will allow homeowners to cut down on water usage. When designed properly, you will still enjoy a beautiful yard and garden. Your Arizona properly will be striking all year, as well as being vibrant, colorful and still use only drought-resistant desert plants.

What many homeowners don’t understand is that xeriscaping is neither difficult nor expensive. A properly designed xeriscaped yard actually requires less maintenance than traditional landscaping designs. While desert landscaping is highly drought tolerant, the curb appeal of your Phoenix property requires that some light, regular drip irrigation be used for utmost beauty and vigor.

You can count on xeriscaping using up to 50% less water than traditional landscaping does. The best landscape design Phoenix companies understand how to group desert plants according to the same water requirements. This allows the setting of your drip irrigation clock for the most effective water usage plan while providing every plant in your yard with the right amount of moisture assistance.

Additionally, there are other xeriscape principles that can be applied to your landscape design. Phoenix residents will find are helpful in further decreasing the need for watering. To accomplish this step in water use reduction, you must know which desert plants thrive in what conditions. Knowledge of how sheltering certain plants from drying wind will decrease their need of water is important. Some desert plants used in xeriscape landscaping will flourish and require less moisture planted in areas that have less sunlight.

Professional landscapers in Phoenix will present to you a variety of different choices that you can make when selecting desert plants for your Arizona xeriscape design.

Flowering native Arizona shrubs can include plants like the Red Justica that blooms in the spring and fall. This lovely native selection’s bright red flowers are highly fragrant, attracting hummingbirds when blossoming. The native Arizona succulent known as Desert Spoon will lend to cream colored flowers to your yard or garden from late spring through summer.

Vibrant bougainvillea is amazing in creating beauty for landscape design Phoenix homeowners and Phoenix landscapers just can't resist.

Although technically not a desert plant, Bougainvillea is quite a popular choice with Phoenix landscapers and homeowners. These hardy woody vines will bloom several times per year adding magnificent color to your desert landscaping in Phoenix. While out and about driving through town vibrant Bouganvillea will be seen frothing in brilliant magenta, purple, pink and red and adding great curb appeal in the beautifully designed grounds surrounding many Arizona homes.

There are also a wide variety of trees, cacti, grasses and perennial plants that your Phoenix landscaper will introduce you to for planting in your new Arizona home’s xeriscape landscaping.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Installing a desert setting rather than a lawn is wise for landscaping in Arizona and your household budget.

Homes with lush landscaping in Arizona have one thing in common – a great deal of water being used. Accomplishing this theme is a foreign environment can be quite costly to maintain in the desert. Plants used in traditional landscape designs can be incredibly expensive and actually environmentally unfriendly. The best solution is to create a xeriscape design planned to use far less water, yet will not struggle to thrive under the hot Arizona sun.

Many people unfamiliar with xeriscaping have a misconceived notion that this type of landscaping in Arizona must be lifeless, bland and visually unappealing. Some believe desert landscaping translates into trading plants for rocks. This is so far from the truth. There is a wide variety of beautiful and vibrant flowering plants that landscapers in Arizona use to create striking residential landscapes.

Desert plants found growing naturally present a variety of drought-resistant choices. Some of the most popular ones are found in these categories:

• Cacti – This is the most obvious selection and the one that pop’s into the mind’s viewer when any discussion of desert plants is pursued. Cacti are a wonderful choice because these are the plant equivalent of camels, capable of hoarding water for months and for some, even years.
• Succulents – These types of plants also are known for their drought resistant and water storing capabilities. These include plants such as Agave, Hoya, Yucca, Aloe and Astroloba.
• Deep Rooted – There are many plants that possess long roots allowing then to access water that is deep in the ground. These savvy choices for landscaping in Arizona include plants like the leafy Acacia, with roots that can penetrate as far down as 50 feet. There are deciduous shrubs, such as the Mesquite, that manage to maintain leaves even in the driest conditions.  Mesquite also can grow tall like a tree and be used as a yard border. Cottonwood also sends its roots deep seeking water sources far below the surface. It was used by the area’s earliest settlers as an indication for locating deep spring water.

Xeriscape design is not as easy as you may think, designing a desert takes artistic talent.

The use of beautiful, useful hardscape elements in your Arizona landscape design can reduce water reliance and xeriscape maintenance. Installing natural stone and pavers for patios and courtyards, as well as walks, drives and other large paved expanses – looks great, increases property value and needs no water at all. Outdoor living rooms are perfect for Arizona lifestyles and friendly to the desert environment.

Well planned placement of pottery, sculpture and landscape rocks or boulders is excellent use of landscape space in your Arizona yard. Professional landscape designers in Arizona will be those who can plan desert landscaping to be more beautiful than Mother Nature could create a view on her own.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Approaching summer is a great time of year to consider adding more color and bloom to your landscaping in Peoria, AZ. Desert plants for beauty, like Chaparral Sage (Salvia clevelandi) is an excellent candidate for Arizona yards and gardens. It thrives quite well in the rainless summer months. While this member of the Salvia family is native to the low desert of California, you’ll find it fares very well in the middle and low deserts around greater Phoenix. Including Chaparrel Sage in your Peoria landscape design give you great color and rugged xeriscape qualities.

Professional Peoria landscapers like to use Chaparral Sage in many designs. The fragrant gray-green foliage is very aromatic and this bush is huge. Mature Chaparral Sage can grow to five feet tall by six feet wide. Plus, the striking flower spikes provide the plant’s greatest visual attraction. Flowering plants in the spring and fall are full with clusters of blue/violet blooms all throughout the plant. While not a candidate for small area garden design in Peoria, AZ – it’s an excellent candidate for any spot in your yard that needs a burst of early and later season color. When not in bloom that unique foliage gives welcome contrast from other plants in any planting theme.

Chaparral Sage dies add dramatic visual appeal in bloom to any desert landscape design. Plant one of these gorgeous members of the sage family and watch all the butterflies and hummingbirds appear. When it comes to having great curb appeal landscapers in Peoria will suggest its use as a dominant plant in your Peoria, Arizona landscape design. You will want to remove the spent flowers from your Chaparral Sage in the late winter and early summer to keep these desert plants at their most attractive best for manicured landscaping.

In extremely hot climates, Chaparral Sage needs to be planted in your desert landscaping, where it can get some relief from the hot Arizona sun. Landscapers in Peoria, AZ will always select a spot in your professional landscape design that this xeriscape beauty plant can mature in all its glory. Even though you live in the desert, plants from the Sage family require great soil drainage to prevent any fungus occurring. So be sure to test the soil before planting this in your xeriscape design, in clay you must amend the soil properly for long lasting looks and low maintenance plants.

As we turn our interest to desert landscaping in an effort to conserve water and trim household bills, it is important to remember that xeriscaping is not zero-scaping. Chaparral Sage will be low maintenance and desert climate tolerant, but it is recommended to water Chaparral Sage every 7-10 days. As any professional Peoria, AZ landscapers will tell you, correctly watering all desert landscape plants is the secret to a beautifully xeriscaped yard and low maintenance landscaping in Arizona. You want actively growing and healthy desert plants or you can forget all about increasing your curb appeal. A little regular watering reduces the cost of Peoria landscaping.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Professional landscapers in Glendale love the look of the cacti Saguaro every bit as much as homeowners do.

Many people around the world are familiar with Saguaro (sah-wah-row). These cacti have been immortalized by Hollywood, proudly portrayed as the archetypical cactus plant in hundreds of movies. We see it in old Tom Mix, Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy films. It’s that cactus with arms held straight up as if it is surrendering to one side of the law, or the other. Well, many Arizona homes include this slow growing plant as a central focal point for desert landscaping in Glendale, AZ. From front yard curb appeal to the patio side cactus garden, Saguaro cacti are prized for xeriscape.

Arizona law will have you sticking your arms up in surrender if you attempt to dig one up out of the desert. It is a protected species that will have you doing time planting new Saguaros for the next generations in Arizona to enjoy. Although the Saguaro cactus can be grown from seeds, it takes 10 years for the plant to grow a half foot tall. So, a nice sized specimen will be somewhat pricey, but absolutely gorgeous when landscapers in Glendale have finished installing your specimen xeriscape desert plant. A good sized Saguaro cactus is a treasure not to be toyed with in transit or planting, a job best left to your local professional Glendale landscaping company.

Cactus work well in a Glendale xeriscape design. A mature Saguaro would be the main feature, curb appeal character that you and your visitors will enjoy for years. It will take the Saguaro nearly 40 years to produce the first flower blooms and nearly three quarters of a century to sprout those famous surrendering arms. Saguaros can live to 200 years old while growing as tall as 60 feet.

Since a Saguaro cactus takes a couple of human generations to produce those majestic looking cactus plants that we all remember from classic western movies and cartoons, going the “grow-your-own” route is a long term project someday inherited by your grandchildren. Amazingly, these majestic native Arizona plants have more value and wonder than the most breathtaking of lush landscaping plants. Landscaping in Glendale, AZ with good water conservation should feature a Saguaro cactus, as it is perfect for blending with the surrounding open landscape.

Most people assume that xeriscape plants need no water at all. This is not true, unless you want your beautiful desert landscaping to struggle, instead of flourish. Once planted in your Glendale landscaping, the Saguaro cactus welcomes generous watering during the hot Arizona summer months. Water Saguaro cacti sparingly during winter months. Even slow growing plants will perform much more exuberantly to regular light watering and an occasional deep drink. It’s one of the secrets of maintaining a beautiful xeriscape design in Glendale, Arizona yards.

Popularity: 35% [?]