Desert Southwest Landscaping
Ideas For A Sloped Lot

This area of the design was so easy to create. While the retaining wall isn't necessary in this area, it does create a lot of interest and atmosphere for this desert landscaping project. The slope isn't so bad here that a simple grade to the curb wouldn't have worked just fine. However, as far as landscaping for curb appeal goes, this works much nicer. More on this below...

The plant selection is very simple and native or adaptive to our desert. The landscaping and garden plant selection for this design includes the native desert plant "ocotillo" which is the tallest plant in the picture. It not only creates height but also provides a needed neutral gray color.

As you can see, the rest of the planting scheme is very simple and follows a consistent setting of just a few varieties and colors. The plants here are Coreopsis (Yellow), Red Tip Yucca (Red), Lavender (Purple and Neutral), Texas Sage (Purple and Neutral), and Ocotillo (Red and Neutral).

While this isn't a typical idea for landscaping the front yard in most areas, it is becoming quite typical for our area and most of the desert southwest. This is a perfect example of xeriscaping (water wise landscaping). And as you can see, xeriscaping (zee-ri-scaping) can be quite beautiful. It's not just about rocks and cactus.

There are more picture examples of this design at Desert Landscaping Example 2 and also at Desert Southwest Landscape Design Example 3. Also, for more pictures of Southwest Landscapes like this one, you can go to the free pictures gallery at Southwest Landscaping Ideas And Pictures.

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