High Desert Landscaping Ideas

Planning

• Whether you are replacing an existing landscape or creating a brand new one, the plan helps you visualize your ideas and it keeps you focused. Sketch the space and include all the existing plants and structures. Draw the decorative rock mulch and ground cover areas you want to include. If grass is in your plan, use it sparingly to tie together mulched areas and pavement or patios. Add foundation plantings to building perimeters, and accent plants in mulched areas. Group plants with similar water needs. Draw the irrigation water lines. Decide if you have the time and money to do the whole project at once, or if you need to stretch it out.

Decorative Gravel Mulch

• Gravel comes in many colors, sizes and textures, and it is a cornerstone of high desert landscaping because it does not need any water. To cover large areas of soil where there will not be any plants, use ultraviolet-resistant plastic below the mulch to block unwanted plant growth. Consider arranging the mulched areas in gentle arcs or circles and border them with bricks mortared together. Use a couple of different rock colors and use landscape edging between them. Keep the mulch at least 3 inches deep.

Ground Covers

• Ground covers help fill in spaces and transition from one type of landscaping material to another. Since they stay low they are ideal for along flowerbed edges, walkways and driveways. Turkish speedwell (Veronica liwanensis) grows quickly and has glossy leaves and periwinkle blue flowers. Greek yarrow (Achillea ageratifolia) stays low and dense and features small white flowers with yellow centers. Hardy yellow iceplant (Delosperma nubigenum) has plump leaves that give a reddish-purple show in the fall. As a late bloomer, it extends seasonal color in the landscape.

Grasses

• Consider keeping lawn grasses to a minimum and choosing native grasses. In many high desert areas, these include buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides) and blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis). Research at Colorado State University found that Kentucky bluegrass may be over-watered by as much as 50 percent. If you already have bluegrass, consider reducing it and the water you use on it.

Foundation and Accent Plants

• Consider planting upright and spreading junipers (Juniperus sp.) as foundation plantings. To bring in some color and a new texture try Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa), or desert zinnia (Zinnia acerosa). Pinyon pine (Pinus cembroides var. edulis) and Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) are drought-tolerant and well-suited to high desert landscapes.