In my opinion certain paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways are very limited in their uses. One that quickly comes to mind is the red rectangular brick may work in one of the historic districts down town or if you are in certain garden styles.

It seems that the least expensive paver for your paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways is that interlocking paver found in many of the big box stores. I have seen it used on both driveways and front entrances and it always gives off a sort of cold commercial look. Sometimes it looks just cheap.

For a few pennies more per square foot a two or three pattern non tumbled paver for your paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways will give you more bang for your buck. The colors are a blend of two or more colors and the spectrum starts in the light browns then darker. Then a little red or blue may appear. Here in Phoenix when using pavers for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways there are a few different manufactures with the most common being Phoenix Paver and Belgard Paver. I cannot say any one is better than the other. They are different, and the differences are very subtle. The Pavestone Paver for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways have more of a ridge than the Belgard, but it is not something you notice unless you put them side by side and really inspect them. The other thought for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways that comes to mind is that there is a few millimeters difference in size.  I really do not think any of these variances can make one better than the other for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways. One difference with pavers for paver deck and patios that contractors pick up is that when you are laying a three piece pattern and run out of either the small rectangles called “Twinkies”. The squares and “Twinkies” you need to buy is a mixed pallet of the two. A pallet containing of just one is unavailable from Phoenix Paver for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways. Belgard does offer this option.

Artistic Paver for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways is a manufacturer originally out of Florida and opened up a plant in Casa Grande a few years ago. This company specializes in pavers for pools but the paver works very well in paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways. I think most home owners considered KoolDeck the bench mark for pool decking. This company takes pool decking to the next level. The look is elegant and the product remains maintenance free for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways. It is also cooler than KoolDeck.

A few times I have bordered Artistic Pavers with side by side Travertine Paver border for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways. I have also surrounded travertine patterns within the Artistic Pavers for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways.

One project for a paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways I am working on now will have a Mexican beach pebble pattern hand placed on its side in the center of a Travertine Paver deck. My backyard paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways have 6″ x 12″ tumbled travertine oro laid in a herringbone pattern. I have two planting areas that are about 16″ front to back. Rather than use standard granite I opted for a smaller river rock in the planting areas.

Travertine pavers for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways come in many more patterns than just a few years ago. The most common size only a few years ago was 6″ x 12″. Now you can get Versailles and mini Versailles Patterns.  You can also create hop scotch patterns. Monterey Tile will also do custom sizes. In fact I am having them cut an octagonal shape stone for one of my clients. It will be the center of a pattern within the paver field.

Saltillo also comes in a paver form for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways. The shapes are square, rectangle and octagonal. A nice compliment to them is a Burnt Adobe paver or Pinto Pavers.  They do not look structurally very sound, but they can be found in many paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways that have them still in use for more than 20 years and they are visually appealing.

Pavers for paver deck and patios, courtyards and walkways are usually my decking material of choice. Let me know your thoughts.

For contemporary water features my initial thoughts I tend to be that of straight lines and spheres. I usually start with water features made of pots. The pots can be a single jug pot, three wok pots spilling in one another. A cross between contemporary and natural can be cylindrical drilled rock column with water coming out the top as either a bubbler or a frothier.

Another contemporary water feature is wok pots spilling into each other. I usually like an odd number of three, five or six pots or wok pots for water features. Yes, I know six is an even number, but it can also be viewed as two sets of three. Someone once called me on that.

Another contemporary water feature would involve a spear or a cube. The water would come out of the spear or cube of the water feature. Cube scan be pretty cool. They are under used and be set on a flat side, point and then maybe on an angle.

Iron can also be easily be viewed as a contemporary look for water features. The iron work curves and geometric lines can be the “art work” of the water feature. I would say you could also combine the iron and concrete in contemporary water features. The iron would both rust and possibly have a patina.

When designing a Spanish looking water features I seem to gravitate toward using natural stones such as Cantera, Travertine, Slate, Limestone and Marbella. Some engineered products work very well also with water features. The patterns for tile and pavers can be a herringbone, hop scotch, Versailles, random or maybe even a custom pattern. The masonry portion usually consists of soft curves, both tumbled and chiseled stone or pavers and tile for water features.

Mediterranean looking water features can be very similar to Spanish themes. When I think of Mediterranean water features I envision old world decor. This can most defiantly mean tumbled or chiseled stone with both broken and interrupted patterns surrounding the water feature.

Although the look is extremely important in water features, but so is the function of a water feature. When I say function I am referring to the reason for building a water feature in the first place and that is the sound. It seems odd to build water features where you will not hear them. There are times when the water feature is not close to the house and the water feature is in a separate location. The thing is that you should be able to be close to the water feature in able to enjoy the sounds.

Speaking of sounds, not all water features sound the same. Water features should be designed with the notion of how its surroundings will affect the water features sound. A very creative way to deal with the sound of water features is having the water trickle down a chain. The thought is very similar to using a rain chain. You can use standard chain links or become more ambitious and search out other mediums for your water features.

My koi pond’s water feature is situated in a court yard with the shortest wall being six feet tall and others as high as twenty feet tall. This means that tricking water gets amplified. I have a water spot that pours the water into as cantera pot and then empties into the pond. Even the rate the water is pumped can make a difference in the water features sound. You need to be aware of how the area that the water feature is located will affect the sound of that particular water feature. This is why it is important that you hear the water feature before you purchase it.

This type of thinking is what separates hiring a landscape designer for your project and purchasing one that is not running at a nursery or stone yard. A landscape designer is aware of what is important and is always in search of the wow factor.

There are many different materials and styles of outdoor furniture sets. You can have rod iron, rattan, plastic, shaped metal, wood, concrete and others not mentioned here. Should I look at furniture that is powder coated? Where do you begin?

Where you begin would probably start with determining how much you want to spend, the style of furniture and what you are going to use the outdoor furniture set for.

What I mean by that is are you looking for table and chair set to eat at. Do you need a sofa and table set up for a conversation area. You may even want a bistro set that will not be used at all and its sole purpose is to be viewed as an accent piece.

The wear ability of outdoor furniture sets that will be used under roof will be of less concern than that which be used in full sun. When outdoor furniture sets is in full or even partial sun in Phoenix the heat the furniture retains is also a large factor in which material to choose.  Sunbrella fabrics and similar fabrics will play a key role in your cushion choice for outdoor furniture sets.

In my back yard I opted for no cushions simply because I did not want to deal with cleaning them or moving the outdoor furniture sets in and out of a storage container when trying to protect them from the sun and dust. If you are sitting there scratching your head over this statement, I understand. I know I am probably over thinking this issue.

I was in Paddock Furniture in Scottsdale looking for an outdoor furniture set when I heard a sales person and her customer discussing the difference of spending $1200.00 on a five piece patio set compared to spending $400.00 on some nice outdoor furniture sets. The sales person said that the more expensive set would far out last the less expensive set of outdoor furniture sets. The customer answered yes but I would be able to buy two or three of the less expensive outdoor furniture sets. The sales person’s answer was yes but you will always have a $500 outdoor furniture set. It made sense to me and to the customer also, since she ended up buying the more expensive outdoor furniture set. To date, fifteen years, later the outdoor furniture set shows very little wear.

Now, I do not want to give you the idea that I think you should always buy higher end products. I have also purchased white plastic chairs form Albertsons for less than seven dollars. I painted them, one yellow, one purple and one red. I wanted a Tucson look.

As far as the outdoor furniture set I purchased from Paddock, in this particular instance for me, it made sense for me to spend more money. Outdoor furniture sets are to be the focal point. When looking at a bistro set that will be used more as an accent piece, be more concerned with the colors and the artistic advantage it adds to your landscape design than the quality or the craftsmanship.

Sometimes furniture meant to be used indoors can be used as outdoor furniture sets. Usually this will lead to a more weathered look. Of course even furniture meant to be used outdoors will result in a weathered look. To have a more weathered look more quickly. I once painted a few cheap plastic chairs that I purchased from Wal-Mar. I was looking for “The Tucson” in a outdoor furniture set look. I painted the chairs purple and yellow. It defiantly caught your attention. I really like what I refer to as a Tucson look. The very bold purples, yellows and reds I think it are just fun for outdoor furniture sets.

Rattan looking outdoor furniture sets are another popular option here in the desert. True Rattan, a natural product when used in outdoor furniture sets will dry out here in Phoenix. You probably could seal the natural Rattan outdoor furniture set, but then you create an ongoing maintenance. The Rattan looking outdoor furniture sets are usually made of polyurethane that requires no maintenance.

What started me thinking about doing a blog on raised planters is that I have a client that wanted multi tier raised planters so that she would be able to sit on the wall and garden and then have another that she would be able to access the raised planters.  Since we are working with some existing masonry, a couple of seat walls and a fireplace the raised planters were to be at different heights.

I have been to a few homes where because a necessity the builder terraced parts of the yard with raised planters. I have been in yards where each terrace is about three feet high and three feet deep totaling to as many as five terraces in the yard.

So now to get back to the raised planters, since I already have different heights working off the seat walls and fire place, how about terracing the deeper raised planters. I have the raised planters at eight inches, sixteen inches and twenty four inches. The eight inch high raised planters will not be very deep. The plan will be for her to sit on the sixteen inch tall raised planters and manage both the eight inch and sixteen inch high raised planters. To garden the twenty inch high seat raised planters, we will have flagstone stepping stones placed in the sixteen inch high raised planter and twenty-four inch high raised planter. The stepping stone will have wooly thyme growing in between them.

I am very excited about using varying height raised planters. This will add a great deal of interest to the yard. The flagstone cap will be a nice finish and the flagstone stepping stones placed within the raised planters will a safety and connivance feature.

The inside of the raised planters will be sealed. We are still debating about whether or not to use CMU block or a “Weston Wall” type product. The reason I bring this up is that if we go the Weston Wall direction we will also use plastic to contain the soil. If not we can tar the raised planters.

Although I like the Weston Wall type products, the existing seat wall, BBQ and fireplace all have engineered stone and I do not want to compete with them. This is why I am leaning more the CMU block with a stucco finish. Maybe I will do a flagstone cap with the same cultured stone here and there to bring it all together.

I need to think about cost as well. Using the CMU for the raised planters as I mentioned in the previously, she will be able to add the engineered stone at a later date.

Keep in mind none of these raised planters are built yet. I am past the conceptual stage but I am still perusing my options. I keep going back and forth with the eight inch high wall. Although with the flagstone cap it will be closer in height to ten inches high. I may change it to a twelve inch high wall. It probably sounds like I am over thinking this for two inches, but I always tell my clients that it is easier to move things on paper. So what I will most likely do is a quick 3d drawing in SketchUP. This will give both the client and myself views of the raised planters from every imaginable perspective. I can even do a fly through which is a view of the project as if you were waking in it. Being able to give a client options like this takes away any doubt that someone has on how the project lays out in real life.

Keep in mind when you are designing a multi tier raised planters project. These raised planters tiers will not be visual I’m a 2D format. This is where 3D becomes a big plus. It is always important to me that the client understands how the plan is to look and although 3D is more time consuming it is still easier to move things on paper.

I have written a blog about elevations in landscape design. This blog will be narrower in scope. This blog will be on raised planters.

What started me thinking about doing a blog on raised planters is that I have a client that wanted multi tier raised planters so that she would be able to sit on the wall and garden and then have another that she would be able to access the raised planters.  Since we are working with some existing masonry, a couple of seat walls and a fireplace the raised planters were to be at different heights.

I have been to a few homes where because a necessity the builder terraced parts of the yard with raised planters. I have been in yards where each terrace is about three feet high and three feet deep totaling to as many as five terraces in the yard.

So now to get back to the raised planters, since I already have different heights working off the seat walls and fire place, how about terracing the deeper raised planters. I have the raised planters at eight inches, sixteen inches and twenty four inches. The eight inch high raised planters will not be very deep. The plan will be for her to sit on the sixteen inch tall raised planters and manage both the eight inch and sixteen inch high raised planters. To garden the twenty inch high seat raised planters, we will have flagstone stepping stones placed in the sixteen inch high raised planter and twenty-four inch high raised planter. The stepping stone will have wooly thyme growing in between them.

I am very excited about using varying height raised planters. This will add a great deal of interest to the yard. The flagstone cap will be a nice finish and the flagstone stepping stones placed within the raised planters will a safety and connivance feature.

The inside of the raised planters will be sealed. We are still debating about whether or not to use CMU block or a “Weston Wall” type product. The reason I bring this up is that if we go the Weston Wall direction we will also use plastic to contain the soil. If not we can tar the raised planters.

Although I like the Weston Wall type products, the existing seat wall, BBQ and fireplace all have engineered stone and I do not want to compete with them. This is why I am leaning more the CMU block with a stucco finish. Maybe I will do a flagstone cap with the same cultured stone here and there to bring it all together.

I need to think about cost as well. Using the CMU for the raised planters as I mentioned in the previously, she will be able to add the engineered stone at a later date.

Keep in mind none of these raised planters are built yet. I am past the conceptual stage but I am still perusing my options. I keep going back and forth with the eight inch high wall. Although with the flagstone cap it will be closer in height to ten inches high. I may change it to a twelve inch high wall. It probably sounds like I am over thinking this for two inches, but I always tell my clients that it is easier to move things on paper. So what I will most likely do is a quick 3d drawing in SketchUP. This will give both the client and myself views of the raised planters from every imaginable perspective. I can even do a fly through which is a view of the project as if you were waking in it. Being able to give a client options like this takes away any doubt that someone has on how the project lays out in real life.

Keep in mind when you are designing a multi tier raised planters project. These raised planters tiers will not be visual I’m a 2D format. This is where 3D becomes a big plus. It is always important to me that the client understands how the plan is to look and although 3D is more time consuming it is still easier to move things on paper.

The most common plan of using different decking materials for patio designs is when they laid one as a border and the other as the field. Artistic Paver compliments well with Travertine Pavers for patio designs. The Artistic Paver can be laid in the field as a hop scotch pattern with 12 x 12 and 17 x 17 pavers. The border would be Travertine 6 x 12 pavers. The color difference does not need to be drastic. Just by having the two different textures can be enough to add some interest for patio designs. Also keep in mind that since the Travertine is a natural product, the inconsistencies in the product itself can be enough to give the interest we are looking for in patio designs.

That being said, I have at times called out for contrasting borders in patio designs using a darker color in the alternate material. This usually works best when working in a larger area. Using larger sized pavers for patio designs also seems to look better on larger projects. This means when laying a hop scotch pattern instead of using 12 x 12 and 17 x 17 pavers you can opt for a lager pattern of 17 x 17 and 24 x 24 in patio designs.

Another more dramatic look patio designs can be using 12 x 12 Cantera pavers or tile and 3 x 9 brick. The brick can be an engineered stone like a McNear product or fired product like a Pinto Paver.

The way I see using these two complimenting products for patio designs is having the Cantera as a walkway leading to the engineered stone laid in a herringbone pattern. Depending on what else is involved in the project the Cantera and be reintroduced as the cap of a seat wall, the detail of a fireplace or water feature. I can also see using one of the complimenting products as a tile on the “C” pillars of a fence block wall for patio designs.

If you are using Pinto Pavers for patio designs as one of the complementing products they are thick enough to make a statement even when bing introduced on top of a six foot high wall.

When thinking of complementing products for patio designs, keep in mind what textures work well with each other and what colors seen to blend well with one another for patio designs. One dilemma for patio designs is that can easily arise when worrying with different mediums is products with different thicknesses. It will make for a much less stressful project if the complementing products for patio designs are the same thickness or at least close in thickness.

Another way to use a complimenting decking material for patio designs other than as a border is to use them in field. Think of this the same way a carpet is placed on a floor. The different is that the complimenting decking material is imbedded in the field. I have called out for the complimenting decking material for patio designs being laid as a rectangle, octagon and a circle in the decking field.

Yet another way of combing complimenting decking materials for patio designs is this. Envision a three piece paver pattern or a Versailles pattern as the field. Now think of just drawing shapes on top of the field pattern, rectangles, squares and or semi circles. The center of these shapes will be that of the field pattern for the patio designs. The shapes would most Lilly be the same ads what is being used as the border.   I hope this makes sense to you.

If you were using pavers for patio designs, although difficult to lay them when they are two different thicknesses, it still can be done fairly quickly by qualified laborers; different thickness on tile can be another story. I have never inflicted this on any installer as of yet. I imagine that you would need to build up the concrete that the thinner tile is to be laid on by floating a layer of concrete for the difference in depth.

Of you have any comments you can post them or send me an email.

It was 118 degrees today. This is the fourth hottest day on record! It will this way for a couple of months. I started trashing the annual flowers. I have in my hanging pots and scattered throughout the yard. A month ago I had a very colorful backyard of annual flowers including marigolds, petunias, lobela and annoys. Now they all just look like they are on life support except for the marigolds and whirlwind whites (scaevola hybrid). These annual flowers just seem to look a little worn and tried. I dead headed them and I just hope the buds open.

I think the petunias died for a number of reasons. One is lack of sufficient water. I have the pots of annual flowers on a separate valve on the drip system but on these particular pots I use a soaker rather than an adjustable emitter and it just not as consistent as using a variable emitter..

So now I am thinking this may be a good time to experiment with annual flowers. This is what I am thinking for plants and annual flowers. In my hanging pots I may plant some lantana, prairie zinnia, moss rose, Mexican sunflower, zinnia, verbena and southwestern cosmos. Of course I don’t expect to plant all of these annual flowers much less find them all. I would only plant healthy looking specimens of these annual flowers. Although when I an orphan plants on sale I do take Them home. When the temperatures are this hot I need to pass those opportunities.

I am not sure how difficult it will be to find some of these plants and annual flowers. I know finding the lantana will not be a problem. In fact I plan on planting yellow and white lantana in the same pot. I also plan on call a couple of wholesalers that I buy from to see what they have on hand as far as annual flowers. I may find something I hadn’t thought of.

I would be concerned about buying anything right now from any big box store or even retail nursery. But that is not to say that I will not buy some annual flowers to plant now. I do buy most of my annual flowers from lows and home depot because of the connivance. I do read the tags as far as the zones and the amount of sun they would require. Many of the annual flowers sold here came from California. This means that when the tag says full sun, it means full sun in California not here in Phoenix. This is why in the beginning I said planting now would be an experiment.

Another thought I have is to mix perennials in with the annual flowers. I do this a lot when I plan a rose garden. I call out for assorted annual flowers to be planted with them. The plan is to always have something in bloom, or at least not have tired looking plants or annual flowers in yard.

In the front of my house I have a pot that I have a few cacti. It is time to change that up also with some annual flowers. I was thinking of still keeping it cacti, maybe a 3 foot tall saguaro or so and a few golden barrels. The pot is about two feet tall with a tapered base. I want to plant a few trailing annual flowers for color but I don’t want it to get too busy either. I may just put the tapered pot inside a wok pot and plant the trailing ground cover plants in the wok pot for some color. Yes, once again, this is thinking outside the box.

Some people plant “Iron Plants” so they do not need to think about the heat, sun or water. Although there is no color with “Iron Plants”, you cannot beat the texture it creates.

One of my neighbors thinks they have found the solution. They use artificial plants. They have tree that is probably 8 feet tall along with hanging planters and others in pots. This is my first summer viewing them, so I am curious to see what the summer sun does to them as far as fading and I also wonder if they will change them out with the seasons. I am also thinking this could be considered “being green”? They use no water at all, can that be considered Xeroscape Gardening?

To summarize the next two months will be the most difficult time of the year for annual flowers, but I think not annual flowers would be just sad.

I will keep you updated on the experiment.

Living in the desert it almost seems weird to think about desert shade plants in such a sunny area. Until of course you discover or create an area that is in the shade, gets partial shade or just morning sun with afternoon shade.

I have an étagère on my covered patio that is always in the shade, this where I experiment with desert shade plants. Keep in mind that all the plants on me my étagère are in pots. Here are the desert shade plants that I have now, Kangaroo Paw, Fortnight Lilly, Hearts and Flowers, Foxtail Fern, Bat Faced Cupea, Fuchsia, Bulbine, Torenia, Coral Bells, Begonia, Coleus Tropical Bird of Paradise, and Madagascar Palm.

I have one small part of my backyard that gets morning sun with afternoon shade. Here I have desert shade plants that are Red Hibiscus, Purple Hearts, Fire Sticks, Elephant Food a Golden Barrel Cactus with a few assorted cacti. The Fire Sticks are recovering from being transplanted this spring. It has new growth but no red, just green. I had a Pencil Plant in the same location a few years ago that did really well until it was hit with frost and died.

Recently I started growing a few Desert Rose plants. I have three. All of them are hybrids that were grown from seed. The flowers are amazing and the plant is very easy to care for. I’m hooked on these desert shade plants that I am at the point now where I have started searching out particular hybrids. I am looking for a dark purple one. These desert shade plants get more morning sun till about one in the afternoon. I have these desert shade plants on a table under the covered patio and for the past few weeks I have moving more into the sun. I also have a Crown of Thorns or Euphorbia milii var. hislopii. I am treating the Crown of Thorns the same way as the desert rose plants, except I do not think I will need to bring it in the house for the winter. I plan to keep its own frost blanket on hand for it and possibly a couple others of my desert shade plants.

If you have a desert shade plants that does well in its existing location until the temperatures reach the 100′s what you need may be a shade cloth. A Shade cloth is the equivalent of what a frost blanket does for desert shade plants in freezing temperatures.

I also have few desert shade plants that are succulents that are under the covered patio also. They are donkey Tails or Sedum morganianum, Sedum cauticola ‘Lidakense’ , Sempervivum, Echeveria ‘Afterglow’ and a sorrento Sedeveeia Hybrid. I also have an unknown desert shade plant that is a euphorbia in a separate pot. I have all my desert shade plants that are succulents in one pot except the Donkey Tails which are in a hanging pot. The pot that most of my desert shade plants that are succulents is in a rod iron container with plastic liner and moss to contain the soil.

You can pick up a readymade desert shade plants that are succulent that are succulents in planters from Walmart. I have seen desert shade plants in other nurseries and big box stores, but Walmart seemed to have the nicest looking arraignments for only about $20.

I like having the more exotic or desert shade plants that questionable concerning sunlight in pots. If I need to move them in or out of the sun, or as in the case of the Desert Rose into the house, it becomes much easier. I bring the Desert Rose into the house around October and the back outside in the spring. If the nights are cold I bring them in and then back out when it warms up.

I am making another succulent pot of desert shade plants and it will include Crassula capitella, sometimes called Crassula erosula.  This succulent has also been called Red Flames or Campfire Plant a Haworthias and a Crassula Rupestris or Rosary Plant.

I hope you found this blog interesting. Feel free to leave a comment.

Using Trellis Plants I feel Trellis plants or vines are underused in the desert. If you like a lush look you gravitate toward grass and if you like Xeriscaping and xerogardening you lean more toward cactus and succulents with a touch of sage and groundcovers. Vines or any trellis plants can soften a blank wall in one season. Usually you will need to do some sort of “trellis” for the vine to climb on. I have a few that I favor. One is metal the other is fishing line. The first is self explanatory meaning a metal  creating squares, circles or some other shape that is dug a foot or so into the ground and the vine will adhere itself to it. Another is a mesh. For this the mesh is hung from the top of the wall and the trellis plants are then attached to the hanging mesh. The other is fishing line that is at least 50 lb. It is attached at each end of the wall where the vine is to grow. Depending on the length of the wall a center supports may be needed to keep the fishing line from sagging. The center supports can be as simple as rebar, green plant stakes, a Sheppard’s hook or even nursery stakes. I have a 30 foot blank wall in my yard that I originally planted three Bougainvillea attached to fishing line. Because of the maintenance and thorns I took them out. I also needed to use a mesh in front of the bougainvillea to control it. I created a box in sort for the bougainvillea to grow in.  This spring I planted a Baja Passion Vine in a 24 inch pot on a 16 inch pillar that sits behind my water feature. This trellis plant should grow about 20 feet wide creating an espalier affect. An espalier becomes a living sculpture in the garden and is especially effective against a blank wall. I am using the nursery stake that the plant came with as my center support. I feel trellis plants look best when they are supported as naturally as possible. I hope that makes sense to you. I plant desert vines or any plant in the pots because I want the immediate height. In this case that more of the desert vine that shows from behind the water feature the better. I fertilize the pot once a week with the backwash water from my Koi pond. It is a very mid fertilizer. I put the backwash pipe into a two gallon container and empty that into the pot that contains the desert vines. In time I may need to remove it from the pot and plant the trellis plant in the ground or build a raised planter box for it. I am using the Baja Passion desert vines because I really like the exotic flowers, however I have also thought of using a Pyracantha vine to have both flowers and the red berries in the winter. I tend to use fragrant desert vines as trellis plants in courtyards planting with jasmine, trumpet vine and honeysuckle to name a few. There have been times I have combined desert vines. This came from the idea when combing white and purple lantanas for an interesting affect. I used a lilac desert vine to block the afternoon sun from hitting the back door. The back part of this trellis plant looked very sparse and woody because of a lack of sunlight, so added Arabian Jasmine. They both flower at different times so they will not compete with each other. Being a landscape designer my backyard is always a transitional experiment being in one phase or another. Actually for that matter my front yard is always changes as well

Living in the desert it almost seems weird to think about desert shade plants in such a sunny area. Until of course you discover or create an area that is in the shade, gets partial shade or just morning sun with afternoon shade.

I have an étagère on my covered patio that is always in the shade, this where I experiment with desert shade plants. Keep in mind that all the plants on me my étagère are in pots. Here are the desert shade plants that I have now, Kangaroo Paw, Fortnight Lilly, Hearts and Flowers, Foxtail Fern, Bat Faced Cupea, Fuchsia, Bulbine, Torenia, Coral Bells, Begonia, Coleus Tropical Bird of Paradise, and Madagascar Palm.

I have one small part of my backyard that gets morning sun with afternoon shade. Here I have desert shade plants that are Red Hibiscus, Purple Hearts, Fire Sticks, Elephant Food a Golden Barrel Cactus with a few assorted cacti. The Fire Sticks are recovering from being transplanted this spring. It has new growth but no red, just green. I had a Pencil Plant in the same location a few years ago that did really well until it was hit with frost and died.

Recently I started growing a few Desert Rose plants. I have three. All of them are hybrids that were grown from seed. The flowers are amazing and the plant is very easy to care for. I’m hooked on these desert shade plants that I am at the point now where I have started searching out particular hybrids. I am looking for a dark purple one. These desert shade plants get more morning sun till about one in the afternoon. I have these desert shade plants on a table under the covered patio and for the past few weeks I have moving more into the sun. I also have a Crown of Thorns or Euphorbia milii var. hislopii. I am treating the Crown of Thorns the same way as the desert rose plants, except I do not think I will need to bring it in the house for the winter. I plan to keep its own frost blanket on hand for it and possibly a couple others of my desert shade plants.

If you have a desert shade plants that does well in its existing location until the temperatures reach the 100′s what you need may be a shade cloth. A Shade cloth is the equivalent of what a frost blanket does for desert shade plants in freezing temperatures.

I also have few desert shade plants that are succulents that are under the covered patio also. They are donkey Tails or Sedum morganianum, Sedum cauticola ‘Lidakense’ , Sempervivum, Echeveria ‘Afterglow’ and a sorrento Sedeveeia Hybrid. I also have an unknown desert shade plant that is a euphorbia in a separate pot. I have all my desert shade plants that are succulents in one pot except the Donkey Tails which are in a hanging pot. The pot that most of my desert shade plants that are succulents is in a rod iron container with plastic liner and moss to contain the soil.

You can pick up a readymade desert shade plants that are succulent that are succulents in planters from Walmart. I have seen desert shade plants in other nurseries and big box stores, but Walmart seemed to have the nicest looking arraignments for only about $20.

I like having the more exotic or desert shade plants that questionable concerning sunlight in pots. If I need to move them in or out of the sun, or as in the case of the Desert Rose into the house, it becomes much easier. I bring the Desert Rose into the house around October and the back outside in the spring. If the nights are cold I bring them in and then back out when it warms up.

I am making another succulent pot of desert shade plants and it will include Crassula capitella, sometimes called Crassula erosula.  This succulent has also been called Red Flames or Campfire Plant a Haworthias and a Crassula Rupestris or Rosary Plant.

I hope you found this blog interesting. Feel free to leave a comment.

The first thing I think of is the many stains, finishes and additions that I can add to the concrete.

With an existing concrete driveway my initial plan is always to enhance it. I may suggest adding a border of pavers on each side. Another thought may be to add 16″ to 24″ of exposed aggregate to each side. Sealing it would take it to another level. You would not need to stain the entire drive, just the new band.

If you want to get a little more ambitious, saw cut a few bands across the existing driveway then fill this new space with pavers, exposed aggregate or some other complimenting medium.

Some additional materials to consider are concrete with Mexican beach pebbles on its side. This is done by hand placing each stone. The work is tedious but you can come up with some pretty cool designs. The process really brings out the Spanish influence in a project. If you want to bring out the color of the beach pebbles you would need to seal it.

My next thought is staining the concrete. I am not referring to coloring the concrete. When I suggest staining to a client I am thinking of using two or more colors. I usually lean toward the earth tones, but the materials that we are using in the project is what ultimately dictates what stains to use.

Something else worth mentioning with staining is texturing. Sometimes what is done while the stain is still wet is placing leaves on the surface. I have seen people scratch or roll patterns into the stain. Your only limitation is your imagination.

One quick story concerning staining and texturing took place a few years ago. I went to a client’s home to discuss doing a landscape design for the backyard. The homeowner had already done some work himself. He had extended the patio himself with stained concrete. I commented to him how good a job he did and I asked him about the textures that were in the stain. He and his wife looked at each other and laughed. Apparently after he finished staining the patio a big wind blew leaves from a ficus tree all over the patio. He ran to get the leaf blower but after all the leaves were gone the damage was done, or so he thought. The next morning when he and his wife came out and looked at the patio they commented to each other about the unexpected unique look. It looked really good.

Earlier I mentioned exposed aggregate as one finish to consider. The most common finish is broom finish. Usually the broom marks go in one direction. Think about alternating the brush strokes between pads. The effect shows up when the sunlight hits the pavement. The look is subtle but will still draw your attention because every other pad appears to be a bit darker. DC Ranch in Scottsdale has this type of finish for their walkways.

Something that seems to go hand in hand when I speak about concrete with clients is acrylic overlay. Personally, I am not a fan of acrylic overlays. To me most of the patterns just do not look real enough. That being said, I was in Fry’s Market Place on Shea and Tatum in Phoenix. Although the stone pattern that was in the entrance was not real stone, it still looks very good. That’s what important.

As usual feel free to comment.