Regular Post
Written by webtechs

Top Xeriscaping Ideas 2024

Xeriscape Ideas

Find some of the best xeriscaping ideas for your yard right here!

Cottage Gardens

Traditional cottage gardens feature plants in close proximity. This is done by design to eliminate any areas where water could possibly be wasted. Additionally, most classic cottage flowers are drought-resistant and can experience a full three seasons of color.

Some flowers that will light up your landscape include iris, Sedum, Heuchera and Dianthus. All of these are very colorful and easy to care for. Deadheading spent blooms will help to conserve moisture.

Succulents In Containers

Yes, container gardening can be tricky for xeriscape gardeners because these plants will need plenty of water. Well, the solution is pretty simple: only use succulents! Succulents do not need a lot of water, they simply require sunshine.

Terra cotta pots are ideal because they help retain some moisture. Of course, you can choose ceramic, clay or resin pots of any style for your garden. The ability to move these containers around will give you a lot of flexibility, design-wise.

Use Native Plants

The good news is you do not have to live in a dry climate to make your xeriscaping a success. Xeriscaping simply requires using plants that thrive with the typical rainfall they experience.

For a place like Arizona, that means plants that deal well with a dry and arid climate. Finding plants that thrive in your area is essential since this means less watering and maintenance for you.

Cacti

Follow The Sun

Your yard will undoubtedly tell you what thrives in the area. Start by grouping plants together based on their sunshine needs. Pay attention to sunlight and shade patterns throughout the day. This will ensure that your foliage doesn’t dry out or rot.

A good rule of thumb is to place plants that need lots of sunlight on the western side of the yard. These plants will then bask in the rays for the majority of the day.

Pine Bark Mulch

As we all know mulch is very effective for conserving moisture. Some mulches will contain herbicides or pesticides which aren’t goof for wildlife or gardeners.

Opt for natural mulch options like pine bark mulch instead. The shredded form of pine bark mulch covers large areas and looks great throughout the seasons.

Mulch

Rock Gardens

You are already halfway to creating a xeriscaped garden if you already have rock walls or terraces on your property. Rocks that are placed closely together will allow moisture to stay in place longer.

There are also many ground covers and low growing plants that can flourish in tight spaces without much soil. Allow them to spill over the rocks to create an aesthetically-pleasing addition to your yard.

Drought-Tolerant Annuals

A common misconception of annuals is they need lots of water. This is wrong! There are numerous annuals with minimal water requirements.

These annuals include Portulaca, cosmos, zinnias and marigolds. These plants will require more water if they are planted in pots, however.

Add Shade Trees

While sunshine is very important for xeriscaping, shade is too. Adding shade trees to the yard can cool the landscape by an estimated 20 degrees.

Cool plants are also hydrated plants. This creates more water savings. Shade, though, can mean more than just adding trees. Any tall structures added to the yard can help your plants thrive long-term.

Shade Trees

Desert Plants For Sale

If you are interested in increasing the beauty of your landscape by buying desert plants, stop by our convenient location at 33840 N. Cave Creek Rd., in Cave Creek. For customers interested in our landscaping services, give us a call at (480) 488-9455 to schedule a visit to your home.

More Articles About Arizona Landscaping

Boulders, Cactus, Desert Landscaping, Fountains, Garden, Xeriscape
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Written by Brian B

Desert Shrubs

Perhaps the most unique part of Arizona is its natural beauty. From desert mountains to cacti, Phoenix and the entire state of Arizona provide breathtaking views at every turn. Whether you are a resident or just visiting the 48th state, you’ll want to spruce up your home garden with some of these memorable plants, shrubs and flowers. Here is a look at some of the best desert shrubs to purchase in this area.

Desert Landscaping

Most Arizona homeowners seek to fulfill two needs for their home landscaping. One is color, and the other is picking shrubs with little to no maintenance required. Luckily, these two things are relatively attainable in the dry, arid climate of Arizona. From orange, green, red and yellow, it is easy to find a wide range of colorful shrubs for your outdoor areas. Plus, most desert plants are perennial, meaning they only need to be planted once. Raw beauty combined with low care makes desert shrubs the most cost-effective choice for your landscaping needs. If you are located in the Phoenix area specifically, all of these shrubs will thrive in your backyard.

Maintenance, as mentioned, is relatively simple for shrubs and other desert plants. Even in the desert, there are ways to further lessen watering and other upkeep of your garden. Tips for Arizona homeowners include watering less and only on trees and shrubs. Stay away from any chemical fertilizers. Instead, opt for organic formulations, exclusively. Experts also suggest inoculating the soil with mycorrhizal root inoculants, which help plants absorb water more efficiently. If you choose to use a sprinkler instead of manually watering the plants, always check to make sure there are no leaks in the sprinkler or other irrigation systems.

Desert Shrub Offerings

Located in Cave Creek, Desert Foothills Gardens has been providing the valley with the very best desert shrub selection for decades. Here’s a look at some of Desert Foothills’ offerings:

  • Ocotillo Plants: a favorite choice from the Sonoran Desert, Ocotillo Plants are heavy at its base, but can grow up to 10 meters high.
  • Crested Euphorbia: This name of this plant is not the only unique quality of crested euphorbias. This cactus-looking succulent has beautiful fan-shaped branch clusters.
  • Indoor Succulents: Looking to add some greenery inside your home as well as outdoors? Desert Foothills Gardens has a wide variety of indoor succulents for purchase.
  • Moroccan Mound: This plant does not grow very high or wide, but offers an array of colors, including green, red and yellow.
  • Yuccas: These are easily identifiable by its thick, blade-like leaves. Yuccas are perfect outdoor shrubbery choices.

Desert Foothills Gardens Is A Desert Plant Nursery In Cave Creek

Desert Foothills Gardens Nursery offers desert plants and landscape design in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you are looking for the best quality, widest selection, and healthiest plants to put in your landscape or garden in the Phoenix area, Desert Foothills Gardens Nursery is your #1 source. If you would like to view our desert plant selection stop by our nursery in Cave Creek or give us a call at (480) 488-9455.

Desert Shrubs, Garden
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Regular Post
Written by webtechs

The Benefits of Ground Covering Plants

Gardening is one of those practices that seem to always offer a way that you can improve on your craft. There always seems to be an undiscovered wrinkle that you can add to your skill set or knowledge base and new developments seem to be happening non-stop in almost all areas of our ever-progressing society. That means that science will provide you with new advances to take advantage of when you have mastered the tried and true techniques that have been developed in the past. The chase never ends because being awarded for evolving your skill set is highly addictive and the possibilities with gardening are nearly endless. One way that you can improve the efficiency of your garden is by planting ground covering plants throughout your garden bed. Ground covering plants can do a lot to add to the visual appeal of your garden, but the real benefit comes in the form of their ability to control weed growth. There are many different ground covering plant species that you can choose from and understanding them will allow you to get the most out of the benefits that they provide.

One reason that ground covering plants are so effective at controlling and limiting weed growth is their ability to grow and spread just as fast as weeds do. The advantage that weeds have over the plants in your garden is the speed in which they can propagate and multiply. Staying ahead of their competition within your garden bed allows weeds to invade and eventually leach all of the available nutrients. One reason for this advantage is that weeds are compatible with their local environment so much so that this kind of speed is possible in their growth. Many plants we choose to plant in our gardens are not native to the area that we live which can limit their ability to naturally propagate and spread efficiently. Finding the right ground covering plant species to add to your garden will all but eliminate the possibility of weeds taking over your garden or even successfully infiltrating in order to merely share the space.

Species such as Ajuga, Vinca Minor as well as English Ivy are all very effective and bring their own unique attributes to the table. English Ivy adds an elegant and rustic feel as it cascades over surfaces that is has spread over. It really does a lot to a gardens aesthetic and can make edges appear to be softer. Species like Vinca and Periwinkle can add a lot of bright and vibrant colors while keeping weeds at bay. They will show bright blues and purples. If you want pinks and white, Ajuga flashes those colors brilliantly. You can combine ground covering plants in different sections of your garden, but make sure to control the manner in which they spread, especially ivy. These species can also take over a space if they are allowed to grow and spread unchecked. Finding the right ground covering plant species can do wonders for your garden on both the functional and visual spectrums.

Garden, Ground Covering Plants
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Regular Post
Written by webtechs

Desert Plants


Are you searching for “desert plants” for sale near me? At Desert Foothills Gardens & Nursery located in Cave Creek Arizona, we have an enormous inventory of desert plants. There are many types of desert plants that can be grown in the hot Sonoran desert. Some of these desert plants we like to have to beautify our landscaping, both front and back yards. Whether you want a yucca or the larger Boojum trees, a little explanation of some of the types will help you choose which type of desert plant is right for your yard.

Different Types Of Desert Plants

Although there are many types of desert plants out there, we are going to cover some that are sold by Desert Foothills Gardens Nursery.

Ocotillo Plants

Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) are one of simplest plants to identify in the Sonoran desert. They are a larger shrub with elongated cane like un-branched spiky stems that grow from its short trunk. Small 2 inch leaves grow from its stems when there is enough moisture around. Thick clusters of red tube-like flowers grow from the end of its stems from March through June.

Boojum Trees

Boojum trees are a large stem succulent plant that can grow up to 54 feet high with a gently narrowing trunk, very much like that of a tall candle, up to 1-1/2 feet wide at its base. The trunk has a number of pencil-like branches with temporal leaves. On older boojum trees, its main trunk divides into two or more stems near the top of the tree which looks like the arms of an octopus. The creamy yellowish tube like flowers, bloom from July to August.

Moroccan Mound

The Moroccan mound is one of the simplest and care-free Euphorbias to grow, both in pots and in the ground in areas with a cool climate, and can even be grown indoors. They grow nicely in a particularly draining mineral substrate, but they are not that finicky about soil. During the summer they appreciate average watering and feeding.  When inactive the plants are somewhat cold tolerant. They will quickly mound, branch and spread out. These are highly flexible, and are able to take on plenty of sun that helps them keep their compressed growth-form. This succulent grows to only about 2 feet tall but sometimes as wide as 6 feet.

Ice Plant

These low-growing succulents are all identified as ice plants. Delosperma species, most of which come from South Africa, are the best ice plants for the South (they do especially well in the Sonoran desert). They usually don’t grow more than a few inches high but spread to form low growing mats ideal for covering an embankment or slope. Small daisy-like flowers, ranging purples and pinks to yellows (about 2 inches across) appear above its small, succulent leaves, which may be flat or cylindrical.

 

Bougainvillea

The Bougainvillea comes in many different variations. Bougainvillea loves the heat and sun and is a remarkably drought tolerant plant once rooted and stable. They bloom throughout the spring and fall seasons. While exceedingly hardy in the Sonoran desert heat, the bougainvillea can be marred by a strong frost and should be properly covered from the cold. With a plethora of colors, sizes and shapes make it a very popular landscaping plant.

Yuccas

The yucca is a resilient, appealing, and an easily maintained plant, it’s favored by gardeners of all skill levels. The yucca acclimates, and even thrives, in many types of surroundings, making it among the most favorable house plants. Yucca can flourish in your desert landscape, in a container on the porch or as a houseplant. Yucca plants can grow to be relatively tall and wide under the right surroundings. When it comes time, its height and width can be easily managed with pruning and separating the yucca.

 

Crested Euphorbia

A coral cactus (euphorbia lactea crest) is clearly not a real cactus. It is actually a euphorbia plant that has a rare deviation, which causes it to grow with a crest-type appearance. Because this fascinating mutation is rare, the coral cactus is a very sought-after plant. This interesting plant closely looks like an ocean coral. It is extremely tough and needs almost no maintenance to survive. Its green and pinkish color makes it a popular choice in many landscapes, even though it can also be used to improve the appeal of the atmosphere indoors. It is a smaller plant that doesn’t grow more than 25 inches in height.

Sago and Other Palm Trees

The sago palm may resemble a tiny palm tree with its shiny, rigorous fronds; however it is not a palm tree whatsoever. Sago palms are a type of cycad, one of the most ancient of palms that has been around before recorded history. Be very cautious because the sago palm is also poisonous, especially to dogs.

 

 

Desert Plants For Sale Cave Creek, Arizona

If you are interested in increasing the beauty of your landscape by buying desert plants, stop by our convenient location at 33840 N. Cave Creek Rd., in Cave Creek. For customers interested in our landscaping services, give us a call at (480) 488-9455 to schedule a visit to your home.

Desert Plants, Garden
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Regular Post
Written by webtechs

Types of Cactus

Are you searching for “types of cactus” for sale near me? At Desert Foothills Gardens & Nursery, we have an enormous inventory of cactus. There are many types of cactus that can be grown in the hot Arizona desert. Some of these cacti we like to have to beautify our landscapes, both front and back yards. Whether you want a small golden barrel cactus or the larger cardon cactus, a little explanation of some of the types will help you decide which type of cactus is right for your yard.

Different Types Of Cactus In The Desert

Although there are many types of Cacti out there, we are going to cover some that are sold by Desert Foothills Gardens Nursery.

Easter Cactus

An Easter cactus is a succulent, spine free cactus with 2 to 3 inch long jointed segments. The segments are typically flattened, but older stems sometimes can become triangular. In between the segments and towards the tips are soft, small brownish bristles. At the edges of the segments are usually ringed with a purplish type of fringe. Easter cactus is easily grown as long as it receives bright light, but not necessarily blown out full sun, during the summer growing season. During the spring these cactus have vividly colored blooms.

Purple Prickly Pear Cactus

Indigenous to our Sonoran desert, the purple prickly cactus grows in bundles, usually about 4 ft tall by 5 ft wide. This cactus looks almost like a shrub. The large leaf pads grow a purple tint in the cooler, dry winter months. These leaf pads are covered with large, tan needles. Their flowers appear late in the spring, and are yellowish with red centers. Throughout the summer months, the pads are a soft bluish grey color. They grow bright yellow flowers, up to 3 inches in diameter that sometimes produce a purple to red fruit.

Saguaro Cactus

The saguaro cactus is comprised of tall, thick, fluted, column like stems,  around 18 to 24 inches in diameter, usually with several large arms curving upwards in the most distinctive arrangement of all the Southwestern desert cactus. The skin is usually a little waxy and smooth, and the stems and trunk typically have stout, two inch spines grouped around their ribs. When water is soaked up, the outer pulp of the cactus expands somewhat like an accordion, widening the diameter of the stem and, sometimes, can supersize its weight upwards of a ton.

Golden Barrel Cactus

Golden barrel cacti are usually found in either a somewhat cylindrical or barrel type shape. They are enveloped in large, thick spiky type thorns that are sometimes 2 to 3 inches long. These spikes not only helps the cactus collect moisture from the outside air but also protects the cactus. The golden barrel cactus needs to be fully in the sun for a greater part of the day in order to thrive. Vibrant flowers grow from the top of the cactus. These flowers don’t have any spikes or thorns on them. It is very possible for cactus to have fruit, but they are toxic to humans. The pulp of the golden barrel cactus can be used in making certain types of candy. In emergency survival situations, the cactus can be eaten to provide water and food for energy.

San Pedro Cactus/ Trichocereus

The San Pedro Cactus is a columnar type cactus that grows at a very fast rate. People have used San Pedro cactus for over 3,000 years for a wide assortment of uses: medicines, vet uses, spiritual healing, religious reasons, and of course ornamental purposes. The San Pedro is a cactus that typically has pillars that consists of 4 to 9 ribbons. It is a fast growing cactus and has a complex root system that shoots off from the base of the main stem. It will keep growing until it crumbles because of its own weight. Naturally, it will root again and start a whole new cactus. This type cactus yields white flowers at the end of their stems which bloom during the night.

Organ Pipe Cactus

The organ pipe cactus has long and black closely spaced spines that turn gray as they age. It blooms only at night, yields three-inch, funnel type flower that are somewhat pinkish-red with a white edge. These flowers open after the sun goes down and close during the daytime. After they flower, the cactus develops big, round, edible fruit that will at some point will lose its spines as it ripens. Its seeds are darkish brown and covered in a syrupy, bright red pulp. This cactus can live to be well over 150 years old, and will usually produce their first flower closer to the age of 35. When given the right conditions, these cactus can grow anywhere from 16 feet to 25 feet.

Cardon Cactus

The cardon cactus is the biggest cactus in the world, with a maximum recorded height of around 63 feet, a trunk diameter that can reach around 3 feet. Because of its chemical makeup and relationship with bacteria, the cardon cactus requires no soil to grow. Unlike the saguaro, the cardon cacti branches are closer to the ground and come in larger numbers. The cardon cactus can reach up to 300 years of age weigh over 25 tons. The trunk of the cardon is very spiny when it is young, but as it matures the spines eventually fall off, but very few get replaced by new ones.

Cactus For Sale Cave Creek, Arizona

If you are interested in increasing the beauty of your landscape by buying desert plants, stop by our convenient location at 33840 N. Cave Creek Rd., in Cave Creek. For customers interested in our landscaping services, give us a call at (480) 488-9455 to schedule a visit to your home.

Cactus Sales, Garden, Types of Cactus
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Regular Post
Written by webtechs

Arizona Xeriscape Gardening

Xeriscape Landscape in Arizona

Arizona is home to one of the most unique and extreme climates in the world. Living here offers one of a kind benefits and challenges alike, all of which effect several areas of daily life. Being that our focus is gardening and outdoor spaces, we are going to focus on how the unique climate can work to your advantage when it comes to cultivating your outdoor spaces. The climate in Arizona is very dry which can make traditional gardening both laborious and expensive due to the cost of the constant watering. While it is completely possible to cultivate a lush, thriving, and beautiful garden using conventional methods, it takes a trained green thumb to truly succeed and master the Arizona climate.

There is an alternative style of gardening that not only thrives easily in the arid Arizona climate, but also requires little to no maintenance in order to keep your desert plants alive and healthy. This alternative is call Xeriscape. The reason for Xeriscape being such a viable option for outdoor spaces in Arizona is the fact that all of the plants used in this style of gardening are native to the region.

The advantage of using native plants is the fact that they are designed to live and flourish in desert southwest. This means that the plants all have an incredible capacity for retaining water due to the natural scarcity of rain throughout the year with the exception of the monsoon season. Once planted, you will literally only need to water you plants when you feel like it. These plants can store water for more than a year if necessary and will be perfectly fine if they have to do so.

The aesthetic appeal of Xeriscape gardens lies in the simplicity and effective use of space. There are natural spaces between plants in Xeriscapes that leave room for artistic additions such as sculptures or glass works. Water features, like fountains are also great additions to Xeriscape outdoor spaces as they add a great degree of atmosphere by adding the audio element of the trickling and bubbling water.

You can place bird feeders and baths in order to attract some of our avian friends to you garden for a visit. Benches and entertainment areas are easy to incorporate into your Xeriscapes where that process could be more cumbersome with conventional gardening which usually fosters more crowded planting beds. Get creative and use this unique climate that we live in to manifest an amazing, one of a kind garden that will enhance your home and property tremendously.

There are many benefits to utilizing a Xeriscape style of gardening if you live in a desert climate like we do. The lack of cost and maintenance alone are amazingly appealing and beneficial, but the fact the Xeriscape is so visually eye catching and versatile make this style almost a no-brainer for would be Arizona gardeners. There are plenty of knowledgeable resources in the Valley when it comes to Xeriscape and finding the plants for your garden is as easy as performing an internet search. Desert Foothills Gardens Landscape Nursery, Inc. is a great source for all things gardening in the Southwest, give us a call today at 480-488-9455, and see what we can do for you.

 

Garden, Xeriscape
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