Desert Crest Press

With almost every day of the year a sunny one, many a golf enthusiast finds the Phoenix and Glendale area the perfect place to call home. There are many great golf courses around the valley so there is no shortage of fresh scenery to frame your game. Like any game that involves a ball, it requires a good deal of practice to get your swing right to score well on the course. From the excited beginner to the avid seasoned golfer, there are lots of reasons that adding backyard putting greens to home landscaping is popular.

Since phoenix and Glendale landscaping tends to be xeriscaping with super drought tolerant cacti, shrubs and small trees placed nicely amid ground cover stone, that touch of lushly green space can do wonders to lift the mood and brighten the entire area just beyond the patio’s edge. Unlike a regular grass lawn, you won’t have to deal with watering, fertilizing, mowing or over seeding with winter grasses. There is rarely any tasks you’ll need to do to keep that backyard putting green’s appearance always top notch. The added benefit gets even better, because this use of artificial turf is a heck of a lot more fun than plain old Phoenix lawns.

What better place to practice a difficult shot than just outside your own back door? You’ll find a lot more time available to perfect your aim and swing with the next hole a few steps away. Sneak in 15 minutes before heading out to the office or on errands daily and your score is sure to improve. Backyard putting greens can be a great addition to outdoor entertaining and offer a wonderful way to spend some quality moments with your kids or grandchildren. There’s no better time to start learning the fine game of golf than in the formative years.

One of the great things about backyard putting greens is that you can design the roll to meet the needs for whatever stroke or shot you really need to perfect. Since the base is fine gravel, it makes it possible to change the surface contours as your game progresses and new challenges arise to beat.

One thing to keep in mind about backyard putting greens is that you’ll want to insist on top quality artificial turf designed for golf. There are a range of different yarns available and density of fill too. The least expensive options will fade quickly, melt from the friction of repetitive putting in one spot and also fray as the filaments in the pile materials breaks down. High quality artificial turf and infill will also give you piece of mind as these products will be free of the health hazards that many lower priced alternatives have proven to have. They will also give you years more enjoyment from the investment. Something we’re sure is important for the value of your Phoenix or Glendale landscaping as a big part of your residential property’s curb appeal and easy marketability.

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Having a beautiful pool in the backyard means ensuring that it’s surroundings are in tune with the pool itself. Even the most impressive swimming pool design, will look less astounding if your Arizona pool landscaping doesn’t accent and play up it’s aesthetic values.

Like any other area of your yard in Scottsdale and Phoenix, pool decks are the largest portion of the elements that frame a swimming pool. While some will opt for pavers as the material used for their pool deck, here in Arizona, you’ll have very little issues with natural stone paving. There are a number of choices suitable for pool decks, each with it’s own special character and mood. You can select native Arizona flagstone as is shown in the image of this particular project, or travertine stone pavers among others.

Pool decks made of natural stone are always beautiful and very upscale, not to mention timeless in appeal. For some, the soft and multi-colored tones of travertine is just the right look. For others, the larger pieces found in irregular shaped flagstone provide a look that is bold and more suited to their taste and style.

Once you decide what your Scottsdale or Phoenix pool deck’s paving material will be, other hard elements used in the pool landscaping design. In this particular backyard, more natural stone has been incorporated to frame the poolside spa, as well as in the creation of waterfalls that double as swimming pool fountains. This is an excellent added asset to the stone paving of the pool deck.

Like the finishing touches on your courtyard design, Arizona pool landscaping is going to need some specially selected plants. Many backyard pools today are surrounded by masonry walls for instant privacy, or decorative fencing. Both of these hard landscape design elements are generally softened with climbing vines, flowering shrubs or architectural character desert plants and low growing ornamental trees.

Most homeowners choose a minimalistic style for the plantings in their pool landscaping. What better way is there to accomplish low maintenance landscaping in a space that is all about total relaxation? Obviously, more plants or fluffier plants will be highly desirable to those with a masonry wall framing their outdoor living spaces in the backyard. For those that have the natural desert landscape just beyond the backyard fence, less plant material is needed to soften the hardscape and add flowering or foliage beauty to their surrounding pool landscaping.

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There is little question that backyard landscaping and outdoor living spaces add value to a residential property’s value should you decide to sell your Arizona home. Features like shade ramadas and built in gas grills not only have good curb appeal, these popular additions to Phoenix patio designs also add much value to your lifestyle. Unlike other things one would add to their home or yard, paver patios will never look dated or go out of style. Like a patio made of natural stone, pavers are super low maintenance and will look as beautiful in ten or twenty years as they do the day your patio installation is completed.

The very nature of pavers makes them a wise investment. Should some sort of underground repair be needed or you decide to add onto paver patios in the future, they can be picked up and reused to put the paving back together again. Pavers fit together like a puzzle, making it possible to restore the patio surface and the repair would not be noticeable. One certainly can’t accomplish that with poured concrete.

Adding soft accents to the paver pattern can give you great focal points and break up a large expanse of paver attractively. The most common accent is a circle pattern. At times a homeowner would love to add an outdoor fire pit to their new patio, yet it just isn’t possible with their budget. By integrating a circle inlay where the fire pit is desired to be makes it easy to add this feature later on without the need to also extend the patio. To save on the amount of labor required to put in the fire pit in the future, it is wise to have the gas line installed under the patio. This means half the patio won’t need to be torn up and replaced when work on the fire pit begins. The same is true of water lines or electrical that would run beneath pavers to feed other features you may want to add later, such as spas or outdoor gas grills.

All over Scottsdale and Phoenix, patio designs that are most highly sought are those created with pavers. This isn’t surprising. They are easy to care for, beautiful and will never depreciate in value.

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If you’re looking for a plant that does well with less water in Arizona xeriscaping landscaping that also pumps out colorful blooms, and is simple to care for, you just might enjoy the Cape Mallow. Here’s an evergreen shrub that presents you with a variety of looks many people like for their Glendale landscaping. It looks great year around, but is even more lovely from spring through fall, not to mention the fact that it is easily maintained at a smaller size than larger shrubs allow in order to retain a handsome presence in your landscape design.

Cape Mallow comes from South Africa where the climate is very similar to ours here in the Glendale, Arizona area. It’s formal name is Anisodontea x hypomandurum and it is a distinctive evergreen with larger ornately cut leaves. The dense foliage of this plant when installed in well draining soil and on a regular fertilization and watering schedule is excellent for shearing into a formal shape. The natural, softer look is also highly desirable in xeriscaping landscaping where a relaxed feeling is wanted. It will mature to about 6-feet tall and 4-feet wide, and is a great candidate for training into a tree form that is just gorgeous during the blooming months.

A moderately drought tolerant specimen, the Cape Mallow is best watered at least three to four times a month in spring and fall, and a bit more often in the high temperatures of summer. Drip irrigation is best as it allows all water used to be immediately available to the roots. All blooms appear on new growth, so periodic pinching back or clipping is advisable for heavier blooming and denser shape. If you’ve added a tree form to your yard, you will definitely want to keep up on maintaining that lovely globe shaped head. Just don’t shear it too often. Remember that the flowers appear on new growth, so allowing it to grow is highly recommended.

For best enjoyment, choose a place in full sun to plant your Anisodontea. If the soil is clay in that spot, it must be well amended to give your new specimen the right situation to thrive and be free of disease. Poorly draining soil can cause root rot during the rainy season, quickly killing the plant. Something you won’t have to worry about with proper planting preparation.

Image courtesy of john.kwasnik, by CC 2.0

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One of the great things about custom designed Phoenix BBQ grills is you can have the one on your backyard patio created to accommodate both your cooking or entertaining wishes and the available space. A totally different situation than the standard portable gas grill where mobility is more important than grilling prep space. A concept that was perfectly adequate when most people did nothing more than cooking hamburgers and steaks over the open flame.

As our use of outdoor barbeques has evolved, so has our need for better designed outdoor cooking spaces. If you entertain large groups often, full blown outdoor kitchen may be the best design direction to take. For most homeowners, the smaller BBQ island design is perfectly suited to their outdoor cooking needs.

Slip-in Phoenix BBQ grills give you a lot of room to play with the island design, and the placement of the grill in it’s length too. Picking the shape of the cabinet means you can get away from rectangles and consider the benefits of curved and even S-shape designs. Both these options soften the hard edges we normally have in permanent Phoenix landscaping elements. Additionally, they can add a lot more style to that patio than going with the expected long straight shape.

Before getting started on the project of a unique you built in gas grill’s cabinet design, you need to think about usefulness of your outdoor cooking space and whether you will want enough room for serving too. This particular stucco BBQ grill design with the curve puts objects and recipe ingredients closer to the grill as the counter wraps around the chef. Think about how fast one must react to adding the next sauce or flipping the fish while you’re preparing a meal on the barbeque. Situating the gas grill in a way that puts everything important to the task in quick and easy reach will allow you to become more adept at whipping up culinary masterpieces than if not ‘kitchen planning’ goes into the design at all. Remember there is a big difference between cooking on your stove and grilling over open flames. Excelling is accomplished more readily and consistently if you are properly equipped and prepared for each step of the cooking process, rather than scurrying around and hopefully saving the food in the nick of time.

This client of ours has different levels in the patio design’s appeal too, notice the paver steps leading up to the raised built in gas grill’s location. Not only is the BBQ grill’s cabinet and counter curved, but so is the space it occupies in their Phoenix landscape design as well.  The round raised outdoor bar connected to the grilling area of the cabinet doubles as both seating and serving space, depending on the occasion.

Consider all your needs and how to make your Phoenix BBQ grill’s usefulness the perfect addition to your backyard living space and your landscape design. Its the secret to having the perfect built in gas grill’s assets at your fingertips, rather than being disappointed once you have started using the new feature.

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Upgrading Phoenix or Scottsdale patio designs to include the asset of built in gas grills is far more than a luxury. While a great outdoor cooking space is a bonus for any Arizona homeowner and a boon to enjoying outdoor living spaces that much more, its also a tremendous property value booster.

Because food and entertainment go hand in had, lifestyle is a big player in Scottsdale landscape design where backyard living is concerned. For anyone who already has a solid, attractive patio in place, the most popular feature to add to that beyond the back door room is most likely a built in barbeque. There just comes a time in life that rolling that designed to be replaced BBQ grill becomes a hassle. One that takes on bigger issue proportions when the darn thing runs out of propane half way through cooking up a culinary masterpiece.

One thing that many homeowners might not even consider when the decision to add built in gas grills to that patio comes along, you can do away with the gas bottle altogether if your home is already using natural gas for appliances. Naturally, you’ll need to work with a contractor, like Desert Crest, that is licensed and experienced in running gas lines. This aspect of custom built in barbeque installations might not always be possible when adding the grill to an existing patio. Determining that will depend on several factors, including where you want the grill placed in correlation to your home and also the type of material your patio is made of.

While stucco built in gas grills are popular here in Arizona and easily blend with our residential architecture, not everyone wants their BBQ islands built from this material. This particular custom grill island and bar features natural stone facing on the cabinet portion. For the cooking prep counter and the bar top though, the homeowner chose polished marble, where many homeowners will go with a stone tile or ceramic tile.

The two natural materials are an excellent large feature accent on this Scottsdale patio design’s concrete surface. The color of the home’s walls and the patio flooring are a perfect match, making the rich color of the stone masonry and that gorgeous marble top that much more outstanding. With a built in refrigerator to keep drinks, condiments and ready to cook foods cold, the chef on this patio is prepared for both cooking and entertaining handy to the grill top. The addition of the bar sink makes prep and clean up that much easier, not to mention offering on the spot cold drinking water for guests grillside.

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The good life, like a truly great movie, is all about the experience that unfolds around us. Exceptional patio designs today are referred to as outdoor living spaces, far more than a paved area to keep your outdoor furniture off of the dirt. When considering what to write about today, this photo of one of our projects reminded me of surround sound, and how just a blend of channels can take watching a movie to an entirely different plane of experience. One that tends to make the experience more like you’re in the movie, rather than in front of a screen, because the action enfolds you.

Paradise Valley landscaping is really no different in preferred plot than the focus intended to be used in all professional landscape design. The goal of all landscape design is supposed to be creating a place that blends with and makes the most of the surrounding scenery. In essence, this means more of accenting and beautifying the tableau, that it does outdoing the Jones or Smiths next door and down the street. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m all for the well-appointed approach to the design and enjoyment of outdoor living spaces. The thing is, you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak.

Patio designs in residential developments can’t always take advantage of a natural panorama beyond them though, and this may very well be the reason so many landscape designers around Phoenix and Scottsdale forget that the goal is to be at one with the natural setting. This particular property though is situated in a spot to perfectly put the true rule of landscape architecture to work and pull it off beautifully. This surround-a-scene outcome, like a movie watched at the theater, give you a sense of the greater beyond being part of the outdoor living space’s experience and attraction.

As is found with most outdoor living patio designs, the fireplace here is the tallest feature. Even though it’s stucco finish has dramatic accents, as a whole, the outdoor fireplace’s presence acts as a buffer between the patio pavers and the natural world beyond.

While we have created many outdoor fireplaces and great looking patio designs over the years, this image that I’ve looked at many times before struck me as exuding peace this time. I think surrounding oneself with nature may just be the key to ultimately relaxing outdoor living spaces. Not just in Paradise Valley landscaping, but in all of Arizona and locations across the country.

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Indigenous to the arid wilds along rocky slopes and desert washes, the Chuparosa is a native plant of southern Arizona. Technically known as Justica californica, here you find great architectural beauty for low maintenance Phoenix and Scottsdale landscaping.

The common name, Chuparosa, is Spanish for hummingbird and they are instantly drawn to the tubular red blooms as soon as flowering begins in May. The color show continues until fall, giving you great interest alone and heightened by the continual presence of hummingbirds throughout the spring and summer seasons.

Most of the year, Justica is leafless, making it very open, airy and architectural in form. Even in full foliage in early spring, the plant is never dense. It will mature to 5-6 feet high and up to 12 feet wide over time.

Thanks to its native chosen environment in the wild, well chosen placement in the planting areas of your Arizona yard that have good drainage will no doubt be much to the delight of the Chuparosa. It is wise to remember that even desert natives that are purchased from a nursery will need watering attention during the acclimation period that always takes place for the first year planted in your ground soil.

As with all plants in a well maintained landscape, even xeriscape plants will be far more of an asset to your home under periodic watering. This is best achieved with deep root drip irrigation that allows every bit of precious fresh water to be used by the plant and not lost to evaporation or draining beyond the root zone.

Full sun is the best exposure for optimum flowering with Justica californica, though it tolerates light shade. It’s marvelously heat tolerant throughout our summers, and even thrives in reflected heat from pavements. There’s not much concern about winter hardiness as the plants are evergreen to 20° F. Should temperatures dip below that point, the portions of the Chuparosa above the soil line will die. Not to worry though, as your xeriscaping hummingbird magnet will quickly restore it’s growth again once the weather warms again.

To get optimum growth and vigor, plan on fertilizing and pruning in late winter. The overall natural shape of the Chuparosa is somewhat rounded, though loosely structured. It is best planted in sandy soil with only one watering a week from mid-spring through fall. In winter, as with many plants used in Phoenix or Scottsdale xeriscaping landscaping, less moisture is necessary.

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Unless you were born here, our 300 days of sunshine every year has a lot to do with why people move to Arizona. It’s also why having a Phoenix home with a patio is important to most homeowners. Except for the few chilly weeks we have in winter, the bright days and ambient nights make outdoor living spaces more valuable here than many areas of the country. Naturally, the most desirable Phoenix patio design is spacious enough to allow for room to enjoy the outdoor room in a myriad of ways.

Whether you opt for a wood deck, or a concrete paver or natural stone patio, the improvement adds instant value to any home. Due to the low maintenance and long lasting beauty of pavers, most people prefer to have their Phoenix patio designs constructed of this material. Composite decks cost almost as much as pavers, and are known to have issues like warping. Wood decks are decidedly less expensive but require annual maintenance and extensive repair in the future as wood deteriorates and needs replacing. Flagstone and stone paving tile patios are equally as beautiful, but will generally be higher priced than a paver patio.

Adding a gas grill to the patio is a must for any homeowner. It’s part of our cuisine and adds an asset to our entertaining of friends and family. The trend of built in gas grills as opposed to a portable one continues to grow, and for good reason. Slip in grills are far better quality than anything you can buy on wheels today. It’s a big plus for outdoor grilling and dining to have food preparation and serving space right next to the grill, making the usefulness of a built in unit so much more too.

Naturally, with patios designed for entertaining, a bar area is common and many times part of the built in grill structure. This makes outdoor cooking much more enjoyable, with guests and chef all in the same space. Keeping the costs of having patios installed that allow for comforts like shade from the sun, many people turn to large umbrellas as opposed to the cost of pergolas or ramadas. Well placed lighting and outdoor refrigerators are in big demand for owners of modestly priced homes and in very affluent communities.

There’s nothing quite like an evening spent in great company that is shared around the dancing flames. While adding outdoor fireplaces to patio designs isn’t always possible for sticking to the budget, the outdoor fire pit fits most people needs at a lower cost.

In this particular entertainment-centric patio design, the bar area, cooking and serving space and the fire pit are conveniently located for easy access and flow from one activity to another.

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It would be a great deal easier to put together a great Arizona landscape design for around the pool if all plants adored the added heat and light your pool puts in their environment. The water is perfect for you to cool off in, but beneath the desert sun, the mirroring aspect of the water and the extra warmth of the soil the pool decking creates makes things a little too harsh for some of our preferred plant choices. When deciding what you should use in your Scottsdale pool landscaping, be sure to use specimens that will take the heat and still be beautiful.

In today’s smaller properties, that backyard swimming pool takes up a great deal of space. Naturally it is a focal point on it’s own, but these outdoor living elements are always more attractive with plantings that make the area even a bigger focal point. The best pool landscaping in Scottsdale or Phoenix areas will always be low on maintenance and high in color. For most homeowners this means lots of great blooming action offset by good textures and shapes.

With smaller backyards, the bed spaces around the pool deck will no doubt be minimal too. For the best possible outcome, it is best to choose plants that not only deal with the conditions and the chlorinated water, but also won’t outgrow the space you have to offer them. Additionally, it is wise to avoid spiny plants so close to the poolside, along with those that do a lot of shedding. After all, you want to spend more time enjoying the backyard and your pool than cleaning up after your landscaping.

Here are two excellent candidates for plantings around the pool in Arizona landscape design that are beautiful, long blooming and won’t shrink at the extra heat and light known to be a problem in this area of a residential yard. Superb Penstemon, shown in full bloom in the photo above, will give you wonderful spring color for weeks on end. This native of our region requires very little maintenance and will remain an evergreen plant with periodic watering during the summer months. Hummingbirds love Penstemon, bringing even more color and interest to your private oasis than flowers could possibly offer.

In front of the Penstemon is Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) that offers great texture and shape year around. Once the Penstemon is finished blooming when summer arrives, the Yucca will start flowering. The whispy bloom stems of offer you both architecture and color that is simply wonderful.

Both these plants are great xeriscaping landscaping candidates, but will indeed perform better with the right light watering routine. They prefer well draining soils, so be sure to amend properly if you have clay in the planting area for best focal point results and carefree pool landscaping.

Image courtesy of nestmaker. CC by 2.0

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