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Landscape Design
7 Inspiring Western Landscapes With Fall Color for Dry Climates
Designers use succulents, ornamental grasses and low-water shrubs and trees for rich fall tones in water-wise gardens
Deciduous trees and New England landscapes may steal the spotlight this time of year, but there’s plenty of gorgeous fall color to be enjoyed in temperate and dry climates. In high-elevation desert gardens in the Southwest and coastal California landscapes, for example, landscape designers turn to plants like orange-tinged succulents, tawny ornamental grasses, bright gold sumac and burgundy barberry to light up the low-water landscape.
Take a look at these seven dry-region fall gardens by landscape designers on Houzz for inspiration. Fall is a great time to start a planting project if you live in an area with a mild climate. Otherwise, save these ideas for spring.
Take a look at these seven dry-region fall gardens by landscape designers on Houzz for inspiration. Fall is a great time to start a planting project if you live in an area with a mild climate. Otherwise, save these ideas for spring.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun
Note: Tiger Eyes sumac is less prone to spreading via suckering than North American native staghorn sumac.
Not sure which plants will grow in your yard? Find a landscape designer on Houzz to help
- Tiger Eyes sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’, USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone)
- Texas hummingbird mint (Agastache cana, zones 5 to 9)
Light requirement: Full sun
Note: Tiger Eyes sumac is less prone to spreading via suckering than North American native staghorn sumac.
Not sure which plants will grow in your yard? Find a landscape designer on Houzz to help
2. Subtle Colors and Rich Textures in California
This dry garden by Garden Nest Residential Landscape in the San Francisco Bay Area emphasizes the rich textural differences between the soft, silvery mounds of ‘Elijah Blue’ fescue, the more wiry, golden New Zealand sedge and velvety lamb’s ears. A few accents of darker foliage — the deep-purple Japanese barberry and changing sweetgum leaves overhead — help make the more subtle colors shine.
This dry garden by Garden Nest Residential Landscape in the San Francisco Bay Area emphasizes the rich textural differences between the soft, silvery mounds of ‘Elijah Blue’ fescue, the more wiry, golden New Zealand sedge and velvety lamb’s ears. A few accents of darker foliage — the deep-purple Japanese barberry and changing sweetgum leaves overhead — help make the more subtle colors shine.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun
Caution: Japanese barberry and lamb’s ears can be invasive in some areas. Check with your local nursery before planting.
- ‘Elijah Blue’ fescue (Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’, zones 4 to 8)
- New Zealand sedge (Carex testacea, zones 6 to 10)
- Lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina, zones 4 to 8)
- ‘Ascot Rainbow’ spurge (Euphorbia x martinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’, zones 5 to 9)
- Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua, zones 5 to 9)
- Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii, zones 4 to 8)
- Silver carpet (Dymondia margaretae, zones 9 to 11)
Light requirement: Full sun
Caution: Japanese barberry and lamb’s ears can be invasive in some areas. Check with your local nursery before planting.
3. Pink Haze in Texas
If you’ve spotted what looks like a cloud of mauve that’s landed on a fall garden bed, chances are you’re looking at pink muhly grass. This dry-climate garden favorite is a warm-season ornamental grass (grass that grows in late summer and fall) that has medium-green foliage in spring and summer, followed by spectacular shimmering pink blooms in fall. Pair pink muhly with structural agaves, as D-CRAIN Design and Construction did in this landscape in Austin, Texas, for a striking contrast in plant forms.
If you’ve spotted what looks like a cloud of mauve that’s landed on a fall garden bed, chances are you’re looking at pink muhly grass. This dry-climate garden favorite is a warm-season ornamental grass (grass that grows in late summer and fall) that has medium-green foliage in spring and summer, followed by spectacular shimmering pink blooms in fall. Pair pink muhly with structural agaves, as D-CRAIN Design and Construction did in this landscape in Austin, Texas, for a striking contrast in plant forms.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
- Pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris, zones 6 to 9)
- Agave (Agave sp.)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
4. Hot Colors in California
Many cactuses and succulents take on shades of orange, yellow, red or deep purple with increased sun exposure (at the end of summer) or as temperatures dip lower (at the start of fall). Others offer eye-catching colors year-round.
Landscape designer Gabriel Frank used a mix of brightly colored succulents to create a vivid palette for the front yard of this home in San Luis Obispo, California. Succulents include: yellow-green striped ‘Arizona Star’ Weber’s agave, yellow ‘Bright Star’ yucca, bronze Coppertone stonecrop and others. He reports that the beds only need drip irrigation once every three weeks in the region’s foggy, coastal climate.
Many cactuses and succulents take on shades of orange, yellow, red or deep purple with increased sun exposure (at the end of summer) or as temperatures dip lower (at the start of fall). Others offer eye-catching colors year-round.
Landscape designer Gabriel Frank used a mix of brightly colored succulents to create a vivid palette for the front yard of this home in San Luis Obispo, California. Succulents include: yellow-green striped ‘Arizona Star’ Weber’s agave, yellow ‘Bright Star’ yucca, bronze Coppertone stonecrop and others. He reports that the beds only need drip irrigation once every three weeks in the region’s foggy, coastal climate.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun to bright, indirect light
- ‘Arizona Star’ Weber’s agave (Agave weberi ‘Arizona Star’, Zone 8)
- Coppertone stonecrop (Sedum nussbaumerianum, zones 9 to 11)
- ‘Bright Star’ yucca (Yucca gloriosa ‘Bright Star’, zones 6 to 11)
- Dyckia
- Senecio
- Pincushion plant (Leucospermum sp.)
- Echeveria
Light requirement: Full sun to bright, indirect light
5. Tawny Grasses in Washington
While Bainbridge Island, Washington, falls at the rainier end of the spectrum for a story on dry gardens, the plants that landscape designer Tish Treherne of Bliss Garden Design included in this meadow-like planting all tolerate low water once established. The grasses’ billowing, upright forms blend together in a tawny gold mass amid gray-green foliage of spurge and accents of orange blooms.
While Bainbridge Island, Washington, falls at the rainier end of the spectrum for a story on dry gardens, the plants that landscape designer Tish Treherne of Bliss Garden Design included in this meadow-like planting all tolerate low water once established. The grasses’ billowing, upright forms blend together in a tawny gold mass amid gray-green foliage of spurge and accents of orange blooms.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun
- New Zealand wind grass (Anemanthele lessoniana, zones 8 to 10)
- ‘Blonde Ambition’ blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’, zones 3 to 10)
- Spurge (Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii, zones 8 to 11)
- ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, zones 4 to 9)
- Rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa, zones 3 to 8)
Light requirement: Full sun
6. Aloes and ‘Sticks on Fire’ in California
By fall many aloe leaves start to pick up pink and orange tones with more exposure to bright sunlight. Depending on variety, coral, orange, yellow and red flowers follow in January and February, carrying the colors of fall into duller winter months. In this garden in Santa Barbara, California, landscape designer Margie Grace used aloes planted with tufts of grass to fill in a rocky slope.
By fall many aloe leaves start to pick up pink and orange tones with more exposure to bright sunlight. Depending on variety, coral, orange, yellow and red flowers follow in January and February, carrying the colors of fall into duller winter months. In this garden in Santa Barbara, California, landscape designer Margie Grace used aloes planted with tufts of grass to fill in a rocky slope.
In other areas of the same garden, vivid ‘Sticks on Fire’ milk bush stands out in contrast to silvery blue common sotol.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun to bright, indirect light
Plant list:
- ‘Sticks on Fire’ milk bush (Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’, zones 10 to 11)
- Common sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri, Zone 6)
- Aloe
Light requirement: Full sun to bright, indirect light
7. Golden Fall Foliage in New Mexico
This vibrant border in Sandia Heights, outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, comes alive in fall, when the intense heat of summer has passed and the leaves of the skunkbush sumac turn from green to gold tinged with red. Native to western North America, from the Great Plains to California and south through Arizona and northern Mexico, skunkbush sumac thrives in areas with poor, rocky soil. Try planting this shrub alongside other dry-climate plants that appreciate quick drainage, such as late-blooming Russian sage or ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
This vibrant border in Sandia Heights, outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, comes alive in fall, when the intense heat of summer has passed and the leaves of the skunkbush sumac turn from green to gold tinged with red. Native to western North America, from the Great Plains to California and south through Arizona and northern Mexico, skunkbush sumac thrives in areas with poor, rocky soil. Try planting this shrub alongside other dry-climate plants that appreciate quick drainage, such as late-blooming Russian sage or ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop.
Plant list:
- Skunkbush sumac (Rhus trilobata, zones 2 to 9)
- Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, zones 5 to 9)
- ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 10)
- Sage (Salvia sp.)
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus sp.)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Fall foliage of skunkbush sumac (Rhus trilobata)
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Great Garden Combo: 3 Soft-Looking Plants for a Dry Climate
Find a landscape designer on Houzz
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Great Garden Combo: 3 Soft-Looking Plants for a Dry Climate
Find a landscape designer on Houzz
Watermelon pink Texas hummingbird mint and brilliant orange Tiger Eyes sumac light up this desert garden designed by Waterwise Landscapes in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The tube-shaped, nectar-rich blossoms of all Agastache species attract hummingbirds, butterflies and bees (which often bite the base of the flower to access the nectar). Tiger Eyes sumac is a dwarf staghorn sumac cultivar that provides excellent fall color in dry gardens at higher elevations.