Desert Crest Press

No matter how much you pay for a spa, it still winds up looking like an over sized outdoor bathtub, unless it is custom built as part of your in-ground swimming pool. For many homeowners around Scottsdale and Phoenix, patio design leads to adding a hot tub. As we all know, the inside of a spa is far more wonderful than the manufacturer’s shell. The solution to hiding that ugly part is to have a custom built spa surround installed.

Like any type of masonry walls or features we add to our outdoor living space, Phoenix spa surrounds need to look great with the pavers or stone used on your patio, as well as make a good match with the walls of your home. After all, that hot tub is one of those great life enriching features that is highly desirable to include on the Arizona patio, and it should look just as beautiful as your landscaping and hardscaping does.

There are lots of ways to cover the majority of the exterior walls of a spa, but all of them will when professionally designed and installed:

• Leave access for repair and maintenance to the spa.
• Be constructed from stone or stucco for long lasting beauty and value.
• Accommodate and hide the electricity needed to run the spa.
• Allow for drainage so water doesn’t collect around or under the shell inside the surround.
• Allow complete removal of the spa if necessary without dismantling the surrounding wall.

The best way to start the process will always be by contacting fully licensed Phoenix landscapers. These seasoned contractors will have the experience, skills and permits to not only complete the project right, they will be able to make your spa surround the perfect asset to both your landscaping and patio design’s appeal. There won’t be any guesswork involved in what your finished enclosure will look like since a highly detailed CAD design will be the first thing they will do after your onsite consultation to look the situation over and be able to create a solution that meets your desires.

While it may look like the spa surround in this picture completely encloses the hot tub, it is u-shaped to allow full access to the control and areas that must be reached should repairs to the unit be needed. Notice that the spa is no where near where you would find an electrical outlet in an outdoor living space’s layout. A dedicated 220 line has been run to provide the proper electricity without dangerous and unsightly extension cords stretched across the patio.

Designs and styles can be highly unique, very simple or more elaborate. You can elect to lower the spa halfway into the ground and shorten its presence or have taller enclosure walls installed and leave it fully above ground. Adding drainage all the way around the shell of a hot tub in a permanent masonry enclosure is important. Whether from rainfall, overflow or a leaking water line, water collecting without a means of escape can cause damage to Scottsdale and Phoenix spa surrounds, something many might not consider an issue here in our arid climate. For spas installed partially below ground, adding a sump pump is very important. Water trapped in the hole can cause damage to the floor of the unit. This makes keeping excavated area dry at all times a must.

Whether you’re just looking into Phoenix patio designs or already have one in place, Desert Crest can create spa surrounds to match the pavers or stone chosen, as well as your outdoor fireplace and all other feature elements that are part of your landscaping. We can add seat walls, pillars, lighting or overhangs with an adjacent bar area for entertaining… whatever you have in mind is possible when working with us. Why have a patio bathtub when your spa can be a thing of great beauty and luxury?

Popularity: 7% [?]

Desert living has made use of courtyards for centuries as an intimate open air room. Today southwestern architecture continues to work beautifully for creating custom courtyard designs in a number of areas where there is an door for access from inside the house. Some homeowners choose to use lots of plants to frame the walls of their courtyards, and others prefer the lower maintenance and clean minimalist look.

We recently finished this Phoenix courtyard design’s installation. It is small, but very lovely in travertine stone tile enclosed by an ornate wrought iron gate and stationary side fencing. Very much in keeping with Southwestern desert style. Many homes in this part of Arizona offer just such a corner that lends itself well to a courtyard application. However, just as we find with newly built homes, if the builder included a patio, it will be nowhere near what the homeowner needs or wants. One of the most popular requests for landscape design and installation we get is for outdoor living spaces and pool decks of either pavers or natural stone tiles.

Travertine pavers are both elegant and relaxing as an outdoor flooring or paving choice for foot traffic. It would surely make sensational looking driveways, but is far too fragile to take the weight and pressure of vehicles. For sidewalks, patio and courtyard designs though, it is the perfect upscale paving material in any Scottsdale or Phoenix landscaping and outdoor living spaces. While it has an overall coloring that is light enough to deflect heat from the sun, the streaks of darker color running through it add a great deal of interest and beauty to the stone.

Phoenix courtyard designs can take on any shape you prefer. For some homeowners more privacy is desired and they have us use masonry walls to enclose the area. As with all facets of landscape design, this can be determined by the proximity of neighbors as well as the resident’s planned use for the space.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Not all plants will thrive in the intense Arizona sun and heat over the summer. Truly fabulous, exotic looking Phoenix landscaping plants like the Canna offer you a huge selection of flower colors and some have striking colored foliage as well. These tall hardy perennials in our growing zone can add a great deal of excitement and drama to many areas of the yard and are really showstopping planted in clumps when in full bloom. Those with wildly streaked leaves can be an arresting focal point plant from spring through to first frost even in the months they aren’t in flower.

There are hundreds of different Canna lily variations to choose from ranging from dwarf varieties at only 3 feet tall to statuesque selections towering at over 6 feet in height. Their large flowers come in colors from cream and peach to yellows, oranges, reds and hues in between, not to mention the combination of two ormore of these on one bloom. Breeders of Cannas have come up with some breathtaking new colors. Foliage choices like chocolate or black flushed leaves, burgundies, white variegated, a range of greens and the wild looking color streaked leaves of the one known as Tropicanna can really put a lot of zip into any landscape design in Phoenix, Scottsdale and other locales around this region.

These aren’t a true lily, but are grown from tubers that love good drainage and lots of intense sunshine and warmth. They’re an excellent addition to outdoor living spaces where you can enjoy their beauty closely and also make it easiest to water them. While they do thrive in our climate and bloom for long periods, they require good moisture availability to remain looking their very best. Cannas will deal with drought, but their folage can become tattered looking. Its best to amend the soil with good humus content to keep moisture about the roots in between watering. You should plan on giving your Cannas a deep drink once a week. As far as beyond average plants for Phoenix landscaping go, this is rather low maintenance.

You will find Cannas available at retail garden centers and nurseries around the area, but if you really want to grasp just how vast and exciting these perennials can be looking for them at online canna dealers is a great idea. One of the hugest selections of cannas in the United States is found at Karchesky Canna on the internet. Their selection is astounding and covers about every color of leaf and bloom you can imagine… and then some. It is suggested that you purchase the bulb as opposed to seed, as you’ll have lovely plants for your yard or garden much faster and with less work involved. These will be dormant bulbs though, and not a started plant in a pot as is available from local Phoenix landscapers and garden centers. Its well worth the added step of starting them on your own. You’ll see what we mean after investigating a few pages in their catalog. No doubt you’ll want far more than one or two of what they have to offer.

The deep colored blooming varieties that are red or close to it are attractive to hummingbirds, adding more fascinating features to your sunny courtyard, pool landscaping or the planting areas around your patio. Whether light and airily delicate like a butterfly, or flamboyant and bold, adding these handsome perennials to your Phoenix landscape design can give you enormous impact and gorgeous color with a highly tropical feeling.

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<em>Images courtesy of Newtown graffiti (yellow), rjones0856 (red), and meknits (tropicanna) CC2.0 Share-Alike. </em>

Popularity: 7% [?]

Every well landscaped yard needs focal points, a point of view that is always attractive no matter what time of year it is. Many times home owners resort to inanimate objects like sculptures and fountains to create a constantly lovely space at pertinent points in the yard. Here in Arizona, the creation of a focal point with xeriscaping landscaping can get a great looking boost with carefully chosen and properly plants, though it is important to consider if such a plant will always fit the space so it is allowed to grow into its natural beauty.

The plant we’re focusing on today is the Twisted Myrtle, a variation of the common Roman Myrtle. This evergreen shrub isn’t something you should use as a foundation planting hedge if you want to enjoy the natural form that is sculptured and unique. The scientific name for this Arizona shrub is Myrtus comminus ‘Boetica’ which has contorted trunk, stems and branches not found on the standard Roman Myrtle plant. The added interest in it’s shaping is really very attractive, even more so when it is pruned to become more of a large bonsai than a dense shrub.

The foliage of the Twisted Myrtle is aromatic, making it a great plant for the planting areas close to outdoor living spaces. You won’t have to worry to much about exposure in your Paradise Valley landscaping with this one, it takes the heat of full sun even in our Arizona summers, as well as thriving in part shade. In summer, many lovely starburst shaped flowers will add a delightful, sweet scent and bright interest to this plant. Butterflies love the blooms which are followed by black-purple berries in fall that the birds will thoroughly enjoy.

As with most homeowners in the greater Phoenix area, you’ll no doubt be concerned about water use in your Paradise Valley landscaping. Good news! Not only is this a handsome shrub with four seasons of interest, its a prime candidate for great looking xeriscaping landscaping in this part of Arizona.

Super low maintenance when you place it where it can grow into it’s 6-10 foot height, the Twisted Myrtle definitely prefers well draining soil and very little watering. In fact, this native of the Mediterranean is most unhappy if you water it too much, and prone to chlorosis.
Mature shrub image courtesy of Glendale Library.

Popularity: 6% [?]