Desert Southwest Delight
Narrow pie-shaped cul-de-sac lots can be challenging, but this homeowner has found a solution with a desert southwest style.
A stucco walled courtyard with an iron gate sets the backdrop and stage for this garden and creates an extension for outdoor living. Decorative terracotta pottery, plants and other iron garden artifacts accent the stucco wall and pilasters. A stained and textured concrete walkway in complimentary tones draws you through the landscape up to the courtyard.
In this application the small textured lava rock works as mulch and compliments the red tile roof and has a more contemporary look than the lava rock of decades past. Be advised that decorative rock mulch can emit a significant amount of heat that radiates to the soil in summer months; however this is not a problem proper with plant selection that can tolerate such conditions.
Plantings of agave, aloe and yucca punctuate the garden, while whimsical accessories like Ziggy the lizard emerging from his clay pot and an iron sculptural piece resembling Ocotillo cactus add touches of fun and makes this garden a southwest delight!
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Plant List
- Dwarf Lily-of-the-Nile, Agapanthus africanus ‘Peter Pan’
- Flower Carpet® Red Groundcover Rose, Rosax 'Noare'
- European Fan Palm, Chamaerops humilis
- Clumping Gazania, Gazania rigens
- Desert Spoon, Dasylirion wheeleri
- Chinese Fringe Flower, Loropetalum chinense
- Golden Sword Yucca, Yucca filamentosa 'Golden Sword'
- Parry’s Agave, Agave parryi (variety unknown)
- Chahuiqui Century Plant, Agave multifilifera
- Bloodspot Mangave, Manfreda x 'Bloodspot'
- Variegated Cordyline, Cordyline australis
- Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica
- Lavender, Lavandula species
- Peruvian lily, Alstroemeria species
- Variegated Century Plant, Agave americana var. Marginata
- Blue Fescue, Festuca ovina glauca
- Aloe, Aloe vera
This 'greener' garden is within the Laguna Creek Watershed. A river friendly garden like this one reduces runoff and the pollutants that would otherwise drain into Elk Grove Creek, a tributary of Laguna Creek.
