Hi Matt. First of all I would like to say that this walkway and stonework is beautiful! Living in an arid climate like you do, you should be thinking xeriscape plants, that is "waterwise". I live in nw Colorado, which is semi-arid, so I also have to think similarly. I don't know anything about Indian Hawthornes, so I'm not sure why they died. Anyway, I think something low growing plants that cascade over the side of the walls would be good. Succulents like ice plant, sedum, and thyme are all waterwise, and some of them flower! Go online or to the library and research Xeriscape or waterwise plants, and you will find a good number of plants that will add some green and color to your walkway.

Xeriscape specialists in your area should be able to find the right plants for this spot.

Do you like the scallopy aspect of the walkway? Personally, I find it a bit overdone and detracting from the actual stone path and would be inclined to remove them. But I agree about using very drought and heat tolerant xeric plants. The Texas Gardening forum is very active and I'm sure you will get any number of suitable suggestions from folks that live in your locale.

Check out garden designer Pam Penick’s blog Digging for lots of great low water ideas for Texas gardens.

http://www.penick.net/digging/

Hi Mat, I agree with gardengal48 as to the scallop effect. Indian hawthorns are tuff plants hence the reason some are still growing in those dry conditions. Personally I would take the sides away, look into gravel or rocks in different colors and patterns as a ground cover, and invest in some Xeriscaping plants

Unique entrance steps. Would create a smooth sloped sidewalk on the right side of it that merges left into the existing smooth sloped sidewalk.

Would leave the steps themselves and the scalloped brick design on the left but would use the steps as a stage for displaying a single large flower pot on each with a cacti in each.

Remove the rest of the raised rock wall(s) in the yard that rise above ground level. See if you can create either an uninterrupted slight slope on each side of your front yard that you could (if grass would grow) mow instead.

Alternately, and if the slope of the yard is to great for that, create a level place close to your home by adding a retaining wall with its top level with the more level ground above and the yard flat, level, with the bottom of the sidewalk below the retaining wall. You could plant the taller growing cacti on the lower level.

If you have room for a front yard patio, you might consider that in the level space closest to your front exterior wall rather than trying to plant grass or anything else.

http://www.empireyardmaintenance.com/gallery.html

Plant cacti with white pebbles and sand around them in the rest of the front yard.

Matt, you now have received a few opinions and professional advice on your landscaping dilemma. The bottom line is, do YOU like the scalloped walls on the walkway? If you do, then enhance them with easy to grow plants that will do well with low water, lots of sunshine, and also the type of soil (unless the soil is crap and needs to be replaced). If you don't like the scallops, have a professional remove them and straighten out the path.

Indian Hawthornes prefer a more acidic, rich, and well draining soil, so I’m not surprised they aren’t doing well. I’ve had them in my yard, and they survived, but never thrived (I’m west of D/FW). I ended up taking them out.

I like the interesting scallop design — the rounded shapes are a nice contrast to the harsh West Texas terrain.

Ornamental grasses/succulents/some softer cacti/various perennials (lantana, gaura, and so many others) would all do well there and once established would require little irrigation. The right mixtures planted together can have a lush, natural look, if you prefer that. Browse and ask at your local nurseries for specific plant ideas or google Tx Xeriscape plants. IMO, the key is just keeping things from encroaching upon the walkway (especially hard spiny plants, which I’d not plant there), but that can still look substantial enough to balance the hardscape ... plus, soften things up some. Someone mentioned “white pebbles” and cacti, I wouldn’t do that anywhere.

Just some ideas I played with, to see what you’re thinking, in terms of scale, textures, colors, etc —

Some nice visual ideas for tough, but beautiful, plants:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/288089707383196704/

Wow! This is all great advice. I really thank all of you for your inputs and I now regret that I did not post any of my other projects here.

I usually do the work myself and I don't really want to go through the removing path. Because there are other things I want to do and on a tight schedule. I really liked the pictures @Dig Doug's Designs(8A) and @Miz_G (Z8a) shared. Can you please also tell what those plants are called especially the flowering ones and I assume they will grow in El Paso area?

Hi, Matt ... I used both yellow and orange lantana, purple salvia, yellow coreopsis, ornamental grasses, soft cacti, succulents, etc. My app has very limited choices, and are pre-selected, so my pics are more for a general idea and starting point of sizes, colors, etc.

Here’s a pretty good list of plants that will work for your area (scroll down for perennials, grasses, etc). It’s isn’t everything, though, so you can google and ask at your local nurseries for even more ideas:

http://www.austintexas.gov/watershed_protection/publications/document.cfm?id=198301

Perennials: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/ElPasoPlants/nativeperennials.html

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/xeriscape/table3.html

Another good website (modify the search to West Texas, it defaults to North Texas when I click it) : http://www.txsmartscape.com/plant-search/get-plant-data.php

Local page: https://txmg.org/elpaso/learn/gardening-in-el-paso-articles/

Good luck ... please update us, I’d love to see how it turns out.