Let Nature Inspire Your Landscape: Devise a Desert Garden
Looking for the ultimate low-maintenance plant picks? Nature is way ahead of you
Dave Demers
March 3, 2013
Houzz Contributor Dave Demers is a horticulturist and landscape designer trained and traveled on 4 continents. Now established in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Demers also writes for various national and international publications. His company, CYAN Horticulture, offers design, construction and maintenance services.
Houzz Contributor Dave Demers is a horticulturist and landscape designer trained... More
Deserts are some of the most extreme environments our blue planet offers. While they may bring to mind extreme isolation, a blatant lack of hospitality and boredom, we should reconsider our position and visit, at least in photos, some dry and remote locales to steal cues for our own gardens. The results could be spectacular.
The Antarctic and the Arctic are considered the largest deserts on the planet. With very limited precipitation, these cold deserts, mostly covered in snow, offer few plants of garden interest, so let's overlook them for now.
In the temperate and hot deserts we find plants that manage to accomplish feats with only a few sparse drops of water. To do so, they have developed various ingenious mechanisms that are quite often particularly pleasing to the eye.
In this case, far in the desert of southwest Bolivia, this carrot relative named yareta (Azorella compacta) grows slowly into a thick, mossy mound, limiting evapotranspiration.
In the temperate and hot deserts we find plants that manage to accomplish feats with only a few sparse drops of water. To do so, they have developed various ingenious mechanisms that are quite often particularly pleasing to the eye.
In this case, far in the desert of southwest Bolivia, this carrot relative named yareta (Azorella compacta) grows slowly into a thick, mossy mound, limiting evapotranspiration.
A little farther away, on an isolated island of rocks and poking out of an immense salt flat, this candelabra-type cactus adds a conspicuous life form to an otherwise barren landscape. Can you imagine the spectacle when these all bloom simultaneously?
Cacti have varied shapes; this golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) is a good example of an architecturally interesting choice. Growing among it here is a sky-blue senecio (Senecio serpens). Both are frost sensitive.
Among the most favored of all garden cacti is the paddle cactus (Opuntia sp). Some species are native to the Canadian prairies, making them hardy to zones 3 or 4 — hardy, maybe, but drenching sunshine and super well-drained soil are still mandatory.
Here, we have a charming duo of Opuntia x ellisiana and Yucca glauca.
Here, we have a charming duo of Opuntia x ellisiana and Yucca glauca.
All but one species of cacti are found in North America. In Africa, the cactus-looking native plants are, strangely enough, often members of the Euphorbia family. Both families and their horticultural selections offer endless possibilities for gardeners blessed with a hot, dry climate.
These plants may be used in innumerable ways: Some gardeners pack them tightly, like they would annuals; others show more restraint, like in this section of the Berkeley Botanical Garden in California, leaving some sand and rock exposed.
These plants may be used in innumerable ways: Some gardeners pack them tightly, like they would annuals; others show more restraint, like in this section of the Berkeley Botanical Garden in California, leaving some sand and rock exposed.
The agave is another desert favorite. Beyond its role in tequila making, agaves are unparalleled for their dramatic rosettes of fleshy, often gorgeously colored leaves.
Incapable of holding on through most real colds nights, agaves are happier in California and the southern United States. For those in colder climates, agaves make fantastic and easily cared-for potted plants.
Incapable of holding on through most real colds nights, agaves are happier in California and the southern United States. For those in colder climates, agaves make fantastic and easily cared-for potted plants.
In the same vein but much hardier (zone 4 and up) are yuccas (Yucca flaccida 'Golden Sword' is shown here). Their rosettes of spiky foliage play a major role in any desert garden design; being so charismatic, they are the anchor around which other plants evolve. A creeping verbena fires off this combination.
Wisely combined, these dryland plants are perfect for stark, contemporary plantings.
Drylands have, by definition, too little water to sustain lush growth. The result is often an environment sparsely populated with plants and, during the driest season, somewhat drab. While some think this boring, others consider it minimalist on a budget.
Here we have a forest of quiver trees (Aloe dichotoma) in South Africa.
Here we have a forest of quiver trees (Aloe dichotoma) in South Africa.
Yet when rain finally arrives, this bleak territory often bursts into a short-lived riot of colors. Bulbs and annuals, like these Cape daisies (Ursinia sp), cover the ground long enough to complete their cycle from bloom to seed.
A similar phenomenon happens in the dry hinterland of Oregon, with this spidery cleome. It is easy to imitate this in garden settings by sprinkling seeds of annuals (California poppy is a good choice) between the existing permanent plants.
When the climate turns too cold or moist for proper desert plants, substitutions are key — look for better-adapted plants with similar looks. For example, this knawel (Scleranthus biflorus) may replace the yareta we saw earlier on.
Thus stonecrop, like this 'Matrona' sedum (Sedum 'Matrona'), is invited to the coldest dry gardens. Hardy to zone 2 or 3, this succulent plant is pretty much indestructible.
Some of the lower grasses are also welcome additions to the dry garden. With their fine foliage and tufted growth habit, they sway in the wind, contrast with thicker succulents and don't mind getting parched. Blue fescue (Festuca spp) and this Ponytail grass (Stipa tenuissima) are some of the best choices.
It would not take much more than a drift of these grasses, along with some choice cacti, to transport you to a far removed patch of desert. And if your garden proves so convincing, may we even expect vicuñas and flamingos to pay a visit? Let's hope so.
More in this series: Shape a Sea-Inspired Garden | Ideas for a Woodland Garden
Grasslands to Garden | Mighty Mountain Gardens
More in this series: Shape a Sea-Inspired Garden | Ideas for a Woodland Garden
Grasslands to Garden | Mighty Mountain Gardens
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Look into Chihuahua desert plants. It's a colder one than Sonora and you may be more properly in it. You can check out http://cals.arizona.edu/cochise/mg/desertgardening.htm and other neighboring county Master Gardening websites. Other resources include, Desert Survivors Plant Nursery and AZ Desert Sonoran Museum in Tucson, Peter Gierlach's Spadefoot Nursery in Pearce, AZ and Civano Nursery on the east side of Tucson. Many wonderful plant businesses in Tucson and research institutions, too.