Hello Italian girl, It always seems a shame when someone lives in the desert and has a yard of high water use turfgrass. There are so many more beautiful and water conserving options and it sounds like you want to make a change like that. Good for you! Without losing all your grass you could remove a section along the perimeter areas around the sides and back of your yard. This would then be a place for you to plant the colorful desert shrubs, trees and perenials. This area should include your A/C unit which you could hide with some evergreen shrubs. This side area would also extend to your bare area along the side of your house where you don't have turfgrass and connect with it. Then you can go crazy planting great plants like texas ranger, cassias, deergrass, chaste tree, bird of paradise, yellowbells, agaves, lantanas, penstemons and make something with some real interest to enjoy year round. If you use gallon plants and try to take advantage of sales it wouldn't cost a lot. For screening your two story neighbor you need a tree. You want color and what's more colorful than a palo verde with thier green branches year round, covered in the spring with those beautiful yellow flowers. They grow quickly as do the mesquites and acacias so you could put in a five or fifteen gallon size and in a few years have a nice tree. Just be sure to give them room for thier mature size, usually around 30 feet wide and as tall. Enlarging your patio be easy enough if you use concrete pavers but of course it wouldn't be covered like the rest of your patio unless your husbands good at framing too. You could put in a tree closer to the house (not too close!) for shade that is less expensive but you have to wait a few years for. For your herb garden you want maybe your raised bed or your side yard or pots to decorate your patio if you enlarge it. Your west side area is the hot side in the summer. Herbs are usually very heat and sun tolerant but the reflected heat coming off your house might be too much for them. Hope you get to post some pictures, good luck, Maria

Both the Tucson Cactus & Succulent Society and the Central Arizona Cactus & Succulent Society do cactus rescues where they try to save cactus about to be bulldozed for new developments. They then sell the cactus for the price of the permit plus a little extra to fund the cause - still cheaper than a nursery and helps save native plants. http://tucsoncactus.org/ or www.centralarizonacactus. sam

I came from Illinois, also, in May of 2000. I've learned much since moving here; about illegals, snakes and native plants. Sometimes I learned the hard way. For example, getting too close to the cactus that will jump on you, if you get too close! Ouch! (I forgot the name of that one). The needles are very hard to extract from your skin! I think I suffered more from trying to remove them, than actually having them in my skin. We get several rattlers in our yard, every year. As a matter of fact, one has taken up residence under our home. But, I don't mind, for it has cut down the amount of field mice who like to come into our home in the fall/winter. One time, a rattler was cornered in a hole, from my dogs, a hole my shepherd mix had dug, earlier in the week. All three of my dogs barked a warning to us, keeping a good distance from it, themselves. My fiance' tried to get it back into the desert. But, it was too close to a place where it could get under our house and there it went. Does it bother me that we have a resident snake? Well, if I had young children it would. But, since I've learned about snakes in AZ, how shy they are and how the rattlers make their rattle sounds to warn, not necessarily to attack, unless they felt they had to, I am not as afraid as when I first moved here. When my dog, (two had passed away last year), warns me, now, I just bring her in and let the snake go where ever it wants. Hopefully back out to the desert that backs up to my backyard. Like the others, posting here, I just keep an ear/eyes open and try to avoid them. After all, they were here first and they are good for eliminating mice, etc. As far as the African bees, I can tell you one thing. If you find them in or near your yard, it is best to call a professional. The bees don't like any noise and loud colors on a person. Especially yellow, it seems. Some colors seems to anger them. I was weed wacking one day, (wearing a yellow top), far from their nest,(about 1/4 acre away), when they came after me. Thankfully, I was right near my back door and was able to duck inside before I was hit by many. Only one stung me, so I had to take medication because I'm allergic to bees. If you think you are near those bees, keep quiet, try to wear soft colors, when working outside and keep your ears open. You can hear the bees in their nests, for their buzzing is loud, and when they are traveling, looking for a new hive to start. If they don't pass by, but settle near your home, then call a professional, definitely. They are very aggressive and once they start after you, they won't quit! For more information about these bees, check out: http://phoenix.about.com/cs/desert/a/killerbees01.htm

I'm addicted ! i have a very small backyard so most of my trees are in large pots , some for 3 years . I live in Gold Canyon (east valley (most are 2-3 years old already and many are fruiting ) here is what I have : Anna Apple orange li jujube pinapple guava 5 ice cream banana trees pomegranite blackberry bush Pink guava white sapote Glenn mango coconut mango loquat acerola bush lemon elderberry bush moringa mexicola avacado Addicted ! Yes ! I love it ! they grow just fine here . Just take some time and care .