Ordinarily I would find myself in agreement with almost anything Gardengal would recommend, but not in this case. Setting concrete stones at or slightly below the level of existing grass is going to result in constant dirt washing onto the soil with a sandy soil mix, and in a high desert with the constant need for irrigation for a lawn, it will also tend to wash the dirt onto pavers. I personally wouldn't want all that lawn in a climate where it will increase your water bills so tremendously, but recommended mowing heights for a Tall Fescue/Blue Grass lawn mix will be 3 inches, so having it slightly raised about 1/2 to 3/4 inches isn't going to create problems for the lawn mower. Don't forget that when rain does tend to come, as infrequent as it is, it can be the season total all at once, again likely to wash soil onto surfaces that are set too low. As to a pathway set right up against the house, it is a more common design detail in contemporary as well as spanish influenced designs, and can be a classic Spanish/Californian design detail. A desert garden doesn't lend itself to the PNW garden style with tons of foundation plantings; more widely spaced plantings and more sculptural plants placed in a more architectural or natural to the desert way seems more sympathetic to the surroundings to me. I can understand the desire to have a large green lawn in the high desert, especially if you are used to British Columbia conditions, but it is not practical in the long run, and lawn substitutes make more sense. I guess you will have to suffer through ever increasing water bills and constant battles to keep the lawn alive and looking good to understand the potential wisdom of working with your climate instead of against it. A Kentucky Blue Grass lawn doesn't even make much sense here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they tend to want to go dormant in the summer heat and take much more water and care to keep looking decent than other lawn grasses. I'd suggest that you look into real water miser grasses such as Buffalo Grass for the high desert. Admittedly it will go winter dormant in your area, but it fills in quite quickly with desert heat, and needs hardly any water in comparison to cool season turf grasses such as Tall Fescue or KBG. If your area has a good low water demonstration garden to visit, I'd recommend a visit. Most California Water Districts do have such a display garden to show the merits of plantings that take less water and care. There is a very nice Display garden in Las Vegas, which isn't exactly close, but is similar in climate to your conditions, and illustrates the wealth of plants that actually make sense in your climate.

Let me clarify on the word fast. :-) I needed fast info, not fast pest relief! Haha Fortunately we haven't used any chemicals on the lawn before it was made into a garden spot. I am going to guess for sure 9 years of organic, I would have to ask my husband before that as I did not live here with him. I am planning on planting a fall garden, but not the entire thing, and ALL will be amended with compost, as much as I can afford, anyway. Next year,, i will be more choosy on what I plant, and when I plant it. I learned a lot this year, by failing at most of it, unfortunately.

I got so many seedlings going right now, and more to get going. I take a pot with a hole at the bottom let it stay out in the sun during the day and put the pot in bigger pot that holds water at night. In other words I water from the bottom so I want mess up my seeds that havent sprouted yet. I never knew dahilias grew so fast from seed, omw. They have surpassed my poppies, gailardia, and salvia way far. When I started the dahilias like weeks later. Amazing!

Laura- The palms love it but my garden not so much. We went the 1st three weeks of July with no rain. I knew that pumpkin plants prefer cooler highs (75-80) but I always thought that tomatoes and pepppers love the hot weather. A farmer I know told me that that is not the case. They would prefer 78-80 and anything mid-80s and above puts strees on the plant regardless of how much you water. That may be why none of my tomatoes or peppers have ripened. My pumpkins are ripening too quickly because of the heat and my understanding is that pumkin farmers are having the same problem. That said the palms do love it. I've seen as fast a growth as I've ever seen. cooling of though starting tomorrow, mid 80s with mid-high 60s at night is the 10 day forecast.