Desert Crest Press

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Low growing evergreen shrubs are excellent players in minimal maintenance landscape design anywhere. Adding bright blooms and vibrant colored fruits that have continual presence most of the time just sweetens the attraction for homeowners. Lucky you, your Glendale landscaping is well within the hardiness range of the Carrisa macrocarpa ‘Tuttlei’, as is the rest of the area around Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Since shrubs used in our xeriscaping landscaping in these parts tend to be quite large, you’ll find lots of great places for this spreading low evergreen. More commonly known as the Natal Plum, this plat originates from the shores of Southern Africa. It is naturally acclimated to the heat and arid conditions of this region of Arizona. It can also tolerate the cold desert winter temperatures and doesn’t need shelter from the midday sun.

While the Tuttle Natal Plum is drought tolerant, here in the desert it will need light, regular watering. The small leathery shape of the leaves and their dense growth habit makes this plant a great landscape shrub for both shearing and soft natural shape in your planting areas. Since it’s mature size is 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide, its also just right for planting beneath windows and close to the street. There’s no need for harsh shearing annually to maintain the view.

The star shaped white blooms are open and charming, creating a lovely contrast to the rich deep green foliage. They will be borne quite abundantly in all day sun, followed by bright cranberry red fruits that are edible. The flowers are nice sized at 2 inches wide and the fruit will be that long when ripe. As the season progresses there will be times that both blooms and berries are present together, heightening to color in the yard.,

The flowers of this Carissa are sweetly fragrant like orange blossoms and the scent is strongest at night. Be sure to find a spot in your Glendale landscape design that’s close to the patio, in the courtyard or beneath the right windows to enjoy the perfumed evening air to the fullest. You won’t want to plant this shrub next to the walkway or pavers though. It has less thorns than most Carissas, but they are there nonetheless, so be sure to place them where they won’t accidentally come into contact with those passing by.

Many people make jams and jellies from the Natal Plum fruit. They’re delicious eaten straight off the shrub with a sweet cranberry type flavor. Unless you’re going to plant a lot of these Arizona landscaping shrubs, its best not to plan on whipping up a batch of jam. Enjoy them as periodic treats from your easily managed desert plants.

Image courtesy of briweldon, CC by 2.0

Popularity: 2% [?]

The interest in using native plants like Bursage, Brittlebush and cactus leads one to assume that since these plants thrive in the wilds of the Sonoran desert, the present us with the perfect no water plants for xericape. Glendale landscaping and the wilderness are two completely opposite things.

No one expects the open desert to have curb appeal. Everyone expects residential property to accrue in value rather than see their market price range drop. Landscaping was never meant to be without maintenance. This includes xeriscaping landscaping, Glendale. Even though native plants don’t die in the desert, they certainly aren’t lush and at their best in appearance.

What every homeowner concerned about curb appeal and market value in the greater Phoenix area needs to understand is that even xeriscape plants require some assistance with moisture. The alternative isn’t landscaping, it is an unkempt yard, which does very little for making a home highly marketable at top dollar for what the structure and interior or amenities are worth.

While it is important to conserve water, it is also very important to maintain your property value. The truth is that drip irrigation is very water conservative. Unlike hand watering with the hose or sprinklers this gives your xeriscaping landscaping plants deep root water at a rate that they use every drop. When the zones are properly set up and scheduled, you are using very little water and gaining so much more from rugged native plants.

Fast growth is always of a concern for those with newly installed Glendale landscaping. We can’t say as we don’t blame you, nursery shrubs and cacti are always immature. This leaves lots of vacant space in newly planted yards, not to mention lack of height. Xeriscape Glendale landscaping grows faster and with a much fuller shape when it is under the right amount of water and fertilization schedule.

The other thing that is commonly done with any type of landscaping here in the Phoenix – Scottsdale area, as well as across the country, is to put shrubs that are too large for the space in and whack them into submission when they start overgrowing the allotted area. Choosing a shrub in the nursery container that is ready to fill the space is never a wise choice, as it will be massive in a few years. If you pick out xeriscape plants according to the expected mature size, not only will your landscaping look better as it grows, your annual maintenance chores will be far fewer.

This is true of all xeriscape plants, including native desert plants. This is one more reason why having a professional Glendale landscape design will give you a much more attractive yard.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Its not hard to maintain a good deal of interest in Phoenix and Scottsdale landscaping thanks to our mild cold season. We enjoy a lot of color from flowering shrubs, trees and other landscaping plants from spring through fall, but not that many options exist in winter flowering plants. Not all of the plants we use in xeriscaping landscaping will tolerate frost without some damage though.  Eremophelia or Emu Bush, as it is commonly known, is a tough drought and frost tolerant evergreen shrub that offers you winter color and a variety of choices.

The latin words that make up its formal name, eremo and phelia, literally translates to desert love. A perfect description for this family of desert landscaping shrubs. In Australia where the Emu Bush originates from, these rugged arid region plants flourish where even man cannot survive. If you were landscaping a home in Australia you would have even more selections from this diverse group of shrubs to pick from. Still here in Arizona, we have variety in bloom color, leaf color and even the size at maturity when working Emu Bush into Phoenix or Scottsdale landscape design.

Valentine Emerophelia is a very popular shrub due to its rich winter color. Cold weather puts a red flush into the tiny leaves, giving the entire bush an overall appearance of being dark red. Brilliant red blooms seen in the image above appear in January and continue until April. In summer this fine textured plant will revert to its normal medium green foliage.  While the Valentine Emu Bush will mature to 4 feet high and up to 5 feet wide, you can keep it smaller with clipping after the blooming is finished. Left to take on its natural shape, your finished xeriscaping landscaping plant will have a lovely architecture with dense branching and a softer appearance than those that have been sheared.

Spotted Emu Bush (Emerophelia maculata) flowers in March and April. The inside of the trumpet is spotted, giving this variety its name. The color of the blooms can vary greatly with this selection, as can its mature size, because E. maculata readily crosses with other Emerophelia species, of which there are over 200 known to exist. These can be a dwarf from reaching only 2 feet tall on up to medium classified shrubs that will tower at 9 feet high. The blooms can be any number of shades including light or deep pink, yellow to orange or red to purplish red. Spotted Emu Bush has good frost tolerance and is excellent at sailing through dry weather without much watering once established in your Scottsdale landscaping.

Easter Egg Emu Bush (E. racemosa) has blooms that change colors in each stage from bud to finish. A medium to large shrub, it will mature at 4 feet to 6 feet high. This selection blooms heavily in spring, but will lend sporadic color to your xeriscaping until cold weather arrives again. Blooms on this Emerophelia start out yellow then turn orange in bud and mature to pink and purple. In Australia, this plant is almost extinct as it doesn’t thrive for more than a decade in the wild, causing it to slowly decline in numbers. Having more care in your xeriscaping landscaping than it gets in the bush means you will be enjoying it far longer than that.

Blue Emu Bush (E. cancii) adds the interest of lavender blue flowers to late winter and spring and its silver foliage is present year around. Its quite lovely and grouped with Valentine can create quite a show in winter to spring color, though Valentine will begin to bloom earlier.

Another lovely silver leaved Emu Bush is Emerophelia glabra ‘Muchinsons River’ with a common name of Fire and Ice. Here’s a plant that demands a super arid location. It is stunning and also known to be short lived in Phoenix and Scottsdale landscaping for either improper drainage conditions or too much water being applied. The blooms on this small shrub sprawls across the ground and can reaches  4 feet high with a spread of up to 9 feet. The flowers are a beautiful red giving a very smart look for early color.

Popularity: 5% [?]

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% [?]

There are three requirements that most homeowners have of their Arizona landscaping.

1. Good color from foliage or blooms, and if flowers it should offer several weeks of blooming time.
2. Fragrance.
3. Low water requirements.
4. Low maintenance.

Even if retired, homeowners today are very busy people. The perfect plants for any yard, be it here where xeriscaping landscaping is best or in any other region, will be very simple to care for and still perform without fail. Naturally, the first season in your soil from the nursery, any plant will need more care than once it’s established in the ground soil. This is true of all landscaping plants around the world. Yet, there are some that are easier to deal with than others after that settling in period has passed.

A great selection for Peoria xeriscaping landscaping is the Sweet Broom shrub. This dry climate plant is valued for its late winter to early spring bloom time, which is long lasting and very fragrant. This native of the Canary Islands does very well in he areas around Phoenix, from Anthem to Peoria and back again. After that first year in your landscape, this shrub will thrive with only occasional watering.

Commonly known as Easter Broom or Sweet Broom, it’s formal name is a bit confusing. It can be known as Genista fragrans, Cytisus spachianus and Genista stenopetala, though it is more frequently referred to as Cytisus spachianus. We’re not sure why the plant namers can’t make up their mind, but you’ll have no problems just calling it Sweet Broom, even those in the nursery industry will know exactly what plant you’re talking about.

Not all xeriscaping plants we use here in the towns around Peoria will be up to thriving in the heat of our Arizona summer sun, but Sweet Broom is delighted with it. As with all plants that prefer full sun in their native environment, you’ll get far more abundant blooms to enjoy where there are few to no hours of shade.  But do be prepared to give these shrubs a good watering on a regular basis once they are in your landscape plantings. The purpose is to help them assist deep root systems that will enable them to deal with far drier conditions in the seasons to come. A well-developed root system is the key to having excellent success with just about anything you wish to grow in your Arizona landscaping.

Sweet Broom is a fast growing bush, which is good for establishing a great looking home landscape quickly. They can reach 8-10 feet tall if left to their natural exuberance. Not all homeowners will want them naturally shaped, so for a more formal appearance, you’ll want to shape these xeriscaping landscaping plants by shearing. The right time to do so with Sweet Broom is right after its flowering is over.

Brilliant color and sweet perfume draws many people to this plant. Do be sure that is situated where it can take on it’s mature size without hampering the view from windows or along the curb when deciding where to plant them on your property. While they are easily maintained at a much smaller size than their expected maturity, it is never a good idea to put huge shrub where a small one is needed. It is sometimes difficult to envision that small plant in the nursery container as it will one day be after several years growth. Sweet Broom isn’t going to dawdle around about it either, it will quickly grow into its natural size in your Peoria xeriscaping landscaping.

Image courtesy of Terwilliger CC 2.0 Share-Alike

Popularity: 7% [?]

For covering a fence or softening walls of enclosures, you’ll find this lovely vine an excellent candidate for properties from Phoenix to Paradise Valley. Landscaping plants that need very little water once established are always welcome in this region of Arizona. Landscape design uses for the drought loving Coral Vine give you months of colorful beauty in bloom.

The proper name for this xeriscaping landscaping vine is ‘Antigonon leptopus‘. It is a native of sandy to rocky soils of Mexico, which easily translates to an excellent selection for use in Arizona landscaping.

Even without the blooms, the large heart shaped leaves give you lovely texture and presence in the earlier part of the season. Coral vine, or Queen’s Wreath as it is sometimes called, will abundantly deliver many graceful draping flower stems from mid-summer through fall.  While it may be tempting to locate this climber to add a romantic touch to your trellis ramada or pergola, if you’re afraid of bees, it might be best to admire it for a bit more distance. Bees adore the blossoms as much as people do.

There aren’t that many xeriscaping landscaping vines that will deal with the temperature of a block wall in our summers, yet this one handles it with great pleasure. It seems to really love the extra heat, making it a great solution for softening courtyard walls and privacy walls around the backyard or outdoor living space patios.

Antigonon leptopus will quickly soar to 30-40 feet long when planted in full sun to light shade, though the more direct sunlight it receives, the more blooming beauty you will have to enjoy. During the warmer months, after the roots are well established in the soil of Phoenix and Paradise Valley landscaping, you need only water the plant once a month. It actually prefers that the soil become somewhat dry between waterings. In the winter, Coral Vine only needs to be watered frequently enough to keep the dark green leaves from wilting.

A stunning plant that gives so much blooming color and grace to a variety of locations in your Arizona landscape design, wherever you have superb drainage. The soil, if having too much clay content can be amended to give the vine the right situation to do well in your yard.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Your home in the Scottsdale – Phoenix area may be new or older and built on either the traditional or contemporary architectural lines of Southwestern house styles, and still be perfectly lovely with a more naturalistic looking Arizona landscape design. Here in the desert, xeriscaping landscaping doesn’t automatically mean that your yard will be without great style or attractiveness. Sometimes, our preconceived notions are a barrier to our ability not only to imagine just how lovely true desert landscaping can be, but also how attractive it can make a home look from the curb.

Most homeowners seeking Glendale, Cave Creek and Paradise Valley landscaping, don’t readily look for a more naturalized form of xeriscape in their Arizona landscape design. While where in the yard such a style of landscaping is used will be important, with the right plant selection and soil preparation, you can definitely expect it always to be interesting and attractive. You can achieve a great deal of curb appeal without using desert plants that require a lot of fuss. Do count on supplying them with a drip irrigation system though, even though xeriscaping landscaping plants suited for our climate and soil are water conservative, they will need the proper amount of moisture to look great, flower abundantly at the proper time and create value for your property.

Looking natural doesn’t necessarily mean au naturale. The ability for your Arizona landscape design to look like it belongs here has a great deal to do with the knowledge of your landscape designer. For Paradise Valley landscaping, and other locales around Phoenix and Scottsdale, plants like Turpentine Bush can be quite lovely when laid out in the right manner, along with providing bright yellow blasts of color in the fall. It serves as a fine textured groundcover type of shrub for your landscaping that can be highly effective planted en masse.

Cane Cholla cactus is an excellent water conservation selection with architectural presence that xeriscape needs when used for Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley landscaping.  It has gorgeous flowers that are borne in spring from late April to mid May. Known as a tree cactus, It can add height without weight to many a xeriscaping planting. While it is definitely not going to provide the full presence of the average shrub, when used in combination with leafier plants, it can be striking and very beautiful.

Getting the right combination and layout of xeriscaping plants to suit your Arizona home does offer you many choices, despite what you might instantly assume. Whether you’re in need of Glendale, Phoenix or Paradise Valley landscaping – matching the plants, the layout and your outdoor living spaces needs versus your curb appeal does call for artistic balance. Use plants that require more care in the surrounding plantings for your courtyard, patio and pool landscaping as opposed to those viewed from the street to enrich your experience of home and beautiful spaces to live your life. This allows you to make the most of precious fresh water, take advantage of the myriad of possibilities that xeriscape can give your Arizona landscape design.

Popularity: 11% [?]

From Tuscon to Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona landscaping interest for homeowners continues to focus more and more on xeriscaping landscaping for it’s low water use requirements. Many are concerned about the natural environment, which is definitely a good thing. The wise point of, “Waste not, want not” applies to just about everything in the world.

There is more than one environment to be concerned with though, when it comes to home landscaping. The purpose of a Scottsdale or Phoenix landscape design actually addresses a variety of requirements that should never be ignored. This applies to any type of landscaping from lush tropicals to xeriscaping landscaping.

Your property – that area of ground between the parcel boundaries, is the environment that you and your family live their life within. So, the effect of keeping this mini environment in a state of being pleasant, comfortable, inviting and uplifting is important to every person in residence’s well being.

This private environment has a dual nature. The property surrounding any house is a sizable portion of it’s real estate value. So, your Arizona landscaping of any theme or focus must appeal to a wide variety of people at all times as well. Smart homeowners in any state, keep their residence in a state that would allow it to be put on the market with short notice. One never knows what tomorrow holds. This practice also includes the exterior of the structures, as well as the Scottsdale or Phoenix landscape design that creates the living framing of view and use.

Protecting and nurturing both of these mini environments is just as important as protecting the natural environment.  Then there is the economy the right Arizona landscaping brings to your household budget. Everyone wants to save as much money on monthly household bills as possible. Cutting back on water use is not the only way that switching to xeriscaping landscaping will effect your expenses and lessen the amount of stress on the natural environment you are personally responsible for.

Large trees are the most economical means of reducing the amount of energy your home uses. Properly selected and placed in your Scottsdale or Phoenix landscape design, trees are proven to reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 25%. Yet, they must have enough moisture to flourish and grow quickly and provide the many benefits they do inside and out.

Notice that xeriscaping landscaping is low water use, and not no water use. While everyone is on the bandwagon that Phoenix, Arizona landscaping is wasting precious fresh water and bad for the environment. We suggest you have some further lifestyle adjustments to make besides adopting xeriscaping plants to fill the yard with. Lets look at other ways any person today is throwing away water that could be put to good use – more than once.

Dish water, laundry water and bathing water amounts to a large number of gallons used every month in any residence. This is known as gray water. You wouldn’t reuse it or want to drink it, but your Arizona landscaping could definitely benefit from it. In truth, the standard household plumbing system that allows gray water to drain away is very wasteful. Gray water should be plumbed into a holding tank and put to use in nurturing a pleasant private outdoor environment. The same could be said about storm water – even here in the desert, where rain is a once in a while event.

Professionally planned Scottsdale or Phoenix xeriscaping landscaping will definitely be low water use and yet fulfill it’s personal environment benefits through the use of proper soil preparation, plant selection and drip irrigation. For the most economical and environmentally friendly Scottsdale or Phoenix landscape design, a call to Desert Crest will put you on the right path very quickly. In the meantime, think twice about dumping the rest of that glass of water down the drain.

Popularity: 14% [?]