Selecting the right plants and hardscapes materials for your water, soil and drainage will create a landscape that will flourish with our Arizona climate.
Landscaping Rock
Landscaping Rock and Boulders are available in many shapes and sizes. When making a selection for your yard, take into consideration the size of the rock, and that rocks are screened to fit into categories:
- Surface Select Boulders are generally round with smoother edges
- River Bed / Rip- Rap 3” – 6” wide with sharper angles
- Decorative Rock
- Screened 1”
- Screened ½”
- Screened 3/8”
- ¼” Minus
Popular Decorative Rock Options:
- Apache Brown- light mix of brown tones
- Pink Coral – pink, red under tones
- Jessie Red – the color of Sedona red rocks
- Madison Gold – light color mix with tan under tones in granite
- Palomino Gold – light color mix with whites and yellows
- Saddleback Brown – uniform brown color
- Table Mesa Brown – dark mix of brown tones in shale
Veneer Stone
Veneer Stone can be use to wrap around columns, retaining walls, waterfalls and to coordinate with existing stone on the house.
Pavers
Incorporating walkway and driveway pavers offer a foundation and slip resistant surface that will last for many years while resisting traditional concrete cracks and blending with the natural environment. Pavers come in many shapes and sizes offering a variety of patterns and designs.
Plants
Plant selection for your front yard and back yard will be the finishing touches to an outdoor space that will convey the overall look and how the space will be used.
Whether you have a:
- Desert Landscape
- Tropical Landscape
- Asian Landscape
- Modern Landscape
- Grass Lawn
- Flower Beds
- Planter Boxes
- Rose Garden
Arizona plants that thrive
- Red Yucca- Small, compact with shoots of red plumes, drought tolerant.
- Mexican Bird of Paradise – Can reach heights of 20’ if untrimmed, bright orange and red flowers with green leaves, thrives in Arizona summers.
- Texas Sage- Drought tolerant shrub growing to 3’, grey foliage, deep blue-purple flowers and attracts butterflies.
- Torch Glow Bougainvillea – Pink-Red color with sleeves of flower, green leaves, fast growing in summer.
- Radiation Lantana – Blushlike with trimming, not a low growing plant, drought tolerant.
- Desert Spoon- Compact, slow growing up to 4 ft, drought tolerant, can lend to a contemporary or modern design, low maintenance.
Trees
- Arizona Ash- Small to medium deciduous, shade tree, drops leaves 1 time per year. Can grow to 60ft tall, casts a broad shadow, medium growth rate. Can be planted in grass, leaf size 2” x 4”.
- Live Oak –Evergreen, not a messy tree, can grow to 40’ tall, slow growing, 1” diameter leaf.
- Thornless Palo Verde- Fast growing up to 20ft, produce yellow flowers, filtered shade, drought tolerant, desert landscaping tree.
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Landscaping Ideas for your Pool
How do you select the right plants for your pool?
A backyard pool is almost a requirement for an Arizona summer. One way to help make your backyard cooler and more usable is to select landscaping plants that not only provide shade but limit the amount of foliage that could drop in your pool.
Great landscaping plants near the pool
1. Dwarf Date Palm or Pygmy Palm
We like it because: It can be grown in a planter bed or in a grassy area and take the heat from cinder block walls. It is a small to medium size, slow-growing slender tree growing 6-10 feet tall. The Dwarf Date Palm grows best in the Arizona morning sun and requires little pruning to develop a strong structure. Resistant to pests, is tolerant to poor soil quality and drainage, and is moderately drought tolerant. Watch out for thorns on the fronds when you are trimming.
2. Red Hibiscus
We like it because: Hibiscus have an average height and width of 3-6 feet and look great around a swimming pool or as a hedge. The leaves are a dark green with showy flowers that come in a variety of colors including red, pink, yellow, and orange. Hibiscuses in Arizona bloom from the spring through fall and flourish under the Pygmy Palm (see above). Though the flower life is only one day, the plant continuously blooms during the season and keeps its leaves.
Hibiscus is a great flower in the pool area because the flower pedals are heavier and drop to the ground without blowing around.
3. Gold Mound Lantana
We like it because: Lantanas can handle the hot Arizona summers, providing yellowish-orange blooms of color around the pool area from summer to frost. Lantana is a fast growing, spreading perennial, Leaves are 1 inch long, dark green, with coarsely toothed edges. Thrives with full sun, low moisture, and poor soil and can handle salt spray from salt system pools too.
Lawn Care
Most turf in Arizona is a form of bermuda, therefore, your lawn will go dormant (turn brown) in the cooler months unless it has been overseeded with winter rye grass.
New turf will require water 3 times per day, 3-5 minutes each interval for the first 3 weeks. (During this time, do not walk on the turf area). After 3 weeks, reduce the watering to once per day for 10-12 minutes at sunrise. New turf will be uneven. Turf areas will level out over time with weekly mowing. If you desire a quicker leveling, you may fix seams and low spots with a mixture of 50% sand and 50% fine garden mulch.
Mowing should start after the first 2 weeks. Make sure your sod is dry, and that you're mowing at a higher setting for the first 90 days.
In summer, fertilize with ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) every 30 days, and gypsum every 45 days. In winter (for winter rye) fertilize with ammonia nitrate (34-0-0) every 30 days and gypsum every 45 days. No fertilizer is required in the winter if you choose not to overseed your lawn.
Citrus Trees
Do not fertilize Citrus trees for the first year they are planted. After one year, apply ammonium sulfate three to four times per year (February, May, August). Apply in accordance with the manufacturer recommendation. Citrus trees also prefer to be on a separate irrigation system from shrubs. These trees should be deep watered and then allowed to dry out before being watered again. (Once per week is a general guide)
Queen Palms
Queen palms, unlike Mexican fan palms, require special care. Queen palms preferably should be on a separate irrigation line from shrubs to provide deep watering. Queen palms also need to be watered more often than other palms. You'll need to fertilize your Queen palm with 1/4 cup of ammonium sulfate once per month, epsom salt 1/4. cup once every 90 days, palm tree food every 90 days. These palms also prefer to have enriched compost around the top of the root ball.
Shrub Care
Desert shrubs require no fertilization. Non desert shrubs require fertilization twice per year with ammonium sulfate or a general fertilizer (16-8-4), once in the spring and once in the fall.
Cactus
Cacti that are grown in pots from the nursery need irrigation. Cacti that come from the nursery with the roots exposed do not need irrigation. Cacti need good drainage away from the roots and do not require any fertilizer.
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Weed Control
Pre-emergent twice per year is the best weed control agent in granite areas. Plastic overlays are no longer used. Some weed growth will occur even after treatment and should be manually removed.
Solutions
Living in Arizona we need to work with extremes in the climate. Monsoon season and high winds as well as the occasional winter freeze are considerations in your landscape design.
- Do you have site and soil considerations?
- Small Space
- Steep Slope
- Waterlogged Soil
- Bedrock, rocky soil
- Trees or existing landscaping that need to be protected during construction
- Limited access to site for equipment
- Visual issues
- Noise
- Utilities including overhead electric wires and septic systems
Ground Scapes landscape design service can assist with these design and construction issues. Ground Scapes understand the legal and municipal regulations in Arizona and will assist with identifying:
- Setbacks
- Fencing requirements
- Building permits
- Building codes
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Lighting
Lighting your outdoor landscaping will provide for an entertaining space well into the evening, while providing safety and security. Low voltage lighting may be used to light your trees, planter beds, or walkways using spotlights, uplighting or side-aimed spotlights.
