Life in an arid and dry climate has its benefits and challenges. Ive found desert landscaping to be one of the more interesting challenges since moving to the Southwest. Youre going to want to spend a little more planning time on your yard than it would normally for most other areas. You and your landscaper will need to work with a plan that includes only plants and trees that can survive with much less water. Nobody is going to plant something if it cannot sustain itself.

Even if you have a state of the art irrigation system to supply water around the clock, there will be times of drought and water rationing. Not to mention the initial cost and maintenance costs. It is much simpler for your desert landscape to simply use plants that will thrive even in the hot sun all day. So take some time with your landscaping plan to ensure that you have everything appropriate to the climate.

Another benefit to using desert landscaping friendly plants is, that not only will these plants do well even in the hot sun; they will also be able to flourish in the low quality soil common to these climate zones. You will not need to add fertilizers and soil conditioners, which further will cut down on your maintenance time and expense.

To start you off, here are two plants that are useful in desert landscaping:

Longwood Blue Bluebeard

This is a deciduous shrub; it will grow back every spring. It will always return to its healthy and contented state each year, which makes it ideal for desert landscaping. Longwood Blue Bluebeard is a medium-sized shrub, growing to anywhere between 3 and 4 feet high with a width of around 2 feet. This is a handsome plant for use in desert landscaping not only is it attractive, with its striking blue flower clusters and silver foliage, it is also quite fragrant.

Autumn Joy

Autumn Joy is a perennial that you can employ well in desert landscaping. With this plant you will get abundant leaves in ornate whorls. These leaves can be many different colors, so Autumn Joy can be bought to go with your landscaping design. This plant is ideal for desert landscaping since it grows easily in rock gardens. This lovely desert plant also has unique attention-grabbing flowers distinct from any I have ever seen. The small flowers grow in clusters and can be different colors and shades, but most commonly are yellow, orange and red and pink. Also, be aware that if you plant these in your garden you will have butterflies around as they are attracted to the flowers, so be prepared to have your visitors ignore your lovely landscape and ooh and ahh over the butterflies!

There are many other unique hardy plants to complement your desert backyard just like these, so have fun discovering them and enjoying your new garden.