Desert Landscaping in Northern Utah

Characteristics of Desert Landscaping

• Desert landscaping doesn't mean gravel, rocks and cactus. More properly called xeriscaping, it's the idea of using drought-tolerant plants of all kinds that are adapted to use less water, yet give a rich, varied landscape. Combine trees, shrubs, perennials and succulents that conserve water and please the eye. Utah state government has a "water-wise" designation for landscaping plants, and Salt Lake City has a list of water-conserving plants.

Cold-Tolerant Cacti

• These cacti have showy spring flowers. Beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris) from the Mojave Desert has bright magenta or yellow flowers and grows 2 feet tall and as wide. Brilliant orange-red flowers cluster on top of sturdy stems of claret-cup hedgehog (Echinocereus triglochidiatus). This variable species can grow 3 feet wide with hundreds of stems or be confined to small clusters of nearly spineless plants. Both cacti are hardy in USDA zones 5 through 10.

Native Perennials Save Water

• Perennial herbaceous plants grow during spring through fall, dying back in early winter. Indian blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora), native to the western U.S., tolerates heat and drought, growing in poor soil and full sun. It grows to 2 feet tall and wide with yellow, red and orange flowers in USDA zones 2 through 10. The native wildflower Palmer's penstemon (Penstemon palmeri) grows to 5 feet tall in bloom and 3 feet wide. Gray-green, toothed leaves form a basal rosette that sends up multiple flower stalks containing large, fragrant, tubular pink flowers. Palmer's penstemon attracts hummingbirds and is hardy to USDA zones 4 through 10.

Eye-Catching Shrubs

• Native mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) grows in USDA zones 5 through 10. Reaching 8 to 12 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide, the plant produces whitish-yellow flowers in early summer. In late summer the fruits bear feathery, silver-white tails that cover the bush. Once established, mountain mahogany needs little water. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) delivers year-round interest with colorful new growth, yellow spring flowers, fall leaf color and red berries in fall and winter. Hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8, "Rose Glow" (Berberis thunbergii "Rose Glow) has rose-red foliage with green and white markings in spring.

Trees Add Dimension

• Draw the eye upward with thornless honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos inermis), rising 30 to 70 feet and spreading 50 feet. Furnishing shade in summer and yellow fall color in USDA zones 3 through 9, it is drought-tolerant once established. The shorter native scrub oak (Quercus gambelii) is 16 to 35 feet tall and 15 feet wide. It has red fall color and grows in USDA zones 3 through 9. It's best in mass plantings for screening.