24 Stunning Desert Landscaping Ideas Perfect for the Heat

Embrace Desert Color Palette

Design your desert garden with a desert color palette in mind. The classic desert landscape palette has earthy colors ranging from warm terracotta and sandy tones, to cool blues, grays, greens, and purples. You can find such colors in succulents, cactuses, and desert wildflowers. Desert sunrises and sunsets illuminate a garden with gorgeous muted colors.

There are many ways to integrate bright or subtle colors, including using stones or planting containers. You can add colorful touches of yellow or red to draw the eye, perhaps cobalt-blue glazed pots for a vivid spot of color.

Understand the Difference Between a Cactus and Succulent

Most people consider cactuses and succulents the most commonly found in plants in desert climates. A cactus is a succulent, but a succulent is not necessarily a cactus. The definition of succulent is a plant that can store water in its stems and leaves and can, therefore, survive a long time without water. Cactuses also store water but tend to be identifiable by "hairs" or pin-cushiony growths, and they do not grow leaves.

Pick Drought-Tolerant Perennials for Front Yard

Pick from many drought-tolerant plants that do well in desert gardens. These include flowering Russian sage, sedums, agastache, fountain grass, Mediterranean herbs like rosemary and lavender, and many salvias.

Add a Container Garden

You can forgo traditional gardening for container gardening, especially if you have sandy, dry, or rocky desert soil. Containers give you great flexibility for creative designs. Terracotta pots have warm tones that complement succulents' greens, grays, and blues for a natural look. Glazed ceramic pots provide more color possibilities and conserve water better than unglazed ones.

Clay or earthenware pots are recommended for keeping the soil at a more consistent temperature. Water your container plants in the late afternoon for maximum vitality and water conservation.

Incorporate a Dry Stream Bed in Your Front Yard

Dig dry stream beds to help prevent runoff and conserve water. They can also work well for naturally occurring slopes or gullies. Dry stream beds are functional and beautiful, even in a front yard.

Plant Agaves

Plant fleshy blue-leaved agave succulents with their large size and chunky foliage to make a dramatic statement. Their pale blue and silvery hues are a classic choice for the desert garden. They're also incredibly heat and drought-tolerant.

Opt for Natural Mulch

Though gravel or stone is a common replacement for traditional mulch in desert gardens, sometimes natural mulch is a better choice. Natural cedar or pine mulch is a good choice if your garden has small trees with root systems that appreciate mulch's insulating and moisture-retaining properties.

Amend the Desert Soil

The chartreuse and blue Euphorbia rigida, also known as gopher spurge, is a colorful, sprawling ground cover that is drought and heat-tolerant. Like most desert plants, euphorbias have shallow root systems.

Desert soils are sandy and often dry. Plants still need nutrients and ways to help the roots gather available water; organic compost is one of the best soil amendments for plant life. Trees and shrubs also benefit from a wood-chip mulch covering to keep moisture from evaporating and weeds from sprouting.

Use Gravel and Stone

Rocks used in landscaping allow rainwater to absorb into the soil instead of creating runoff. Larger stones look attractive next to the pointed and spiky shapes of succulents. The rounded river rock in this bed provides a beautiful textural contrast. When creating walking surfaces, use gravel or stone instead of mulch; it's more natural in a desert landscape.

Lay Out Some Artificial Turf

Opting for artificial turf over traditional lawns helps keep maintenance low and conserves water. Conventional lawns are hard to maintain in a desert climate because of high water demand. Many Southwest landscaping companies specialize in artificial turf, as it's a popular choice for desert lawns.

Add Color With Native Wildflowers

Plant wildflowers in your garden; plenty of varieties can grow happily in the desert. The coral plant, also known as fountainbush or firecracker plant, puts out bright red, lacy sprays of flowers for weeks. Other brightly colored Southwest natives include Mexican gold poppies, desert mallow, and desert rose. These all grow from seeds available from vendors specializing in heirloom and native plants.

Embellish Front Yard With Dramatic, Simple Shapes

Drama can arise from even the most simplistic designs. The unusual shapes of cactuses and succulents, the colors and angles of desert light, and the presence of stone and sand are all inspiring design elements.

This minimalist design is from a gorgeous landscape at a home in Palm Springs, California. It features smooth river rock, small boulders, and only three kinds of plants with varying shapes and textures.

Plant Closely to Save Water

Choose native plants as they tend to thrive with available rainfall. Another good trick for maximizing water use is to plant things close together. Desert heat makes water evaporate quickly, and sandy desert soils don't retain moisture very well. Close together, the plants shade each other and prevent soil moisture evaporation.

Plant Mediterranean Flowers

Design the garden of your dreams with Meditteranean flower gardens. Many colorful Mediterranean plants do well in desert gardens. A mix of warm and cool tones works well in desert gardens, which have such dramatic light at dawn and dusk and often seem somewhat monochromatic to gardeners used to colorful temperate zone gardens.

Build Raised Beds for Veggies

Vegetable gardening in a desert is possible with raised beds. Water as needed by hand, and do not bother with irrigation. These raised beds provide a lush array of delicious greens and a verdant oasis within this somewhat shady garden, mostly made with gravel and stone.

Adorn With a Pergola

A pergola is an attractive way to provide shade in your garden. You can choose a pergola made of lumber or opt for one made of metal, bamboo, deadfall wood, or driftwood. A pergola creates a pleasant outdoor seating area and provides a structure for a patio or other open space. Choose drought-tolerant vines such as crossvine, Carolina jessamine, pink trumpet vine, or Lady Banks' rose for desert climates.

Add a Firepit

Having a firepit or fire dish will be nice when the temperatures dip on a cool evening in the desert. A firepit is a fair bit of work and a more permanent fixture, but there are many options for portable fire dishes. Some require wood, while others, like this stone fire bowl, use propane, which some prefer for a cleaner heat source.

Plant Yucca

Though they only flower every few years, yucca has striking spiky foliage and various sizes and colors, making them a good choice for desert landscaping. Variegated varieties like the gold and green 'Color Guard' will add plenty of pizzazz to the desert garden.

Work With the Landscape

Incorporate the natural landscape. If your desert landscape includes large boulders or sloping hills, use them in your design. The most dynamic desert garden designs often arise from the land and are inspired by the immediate surroundings. Use found objects like rocks and desert driftwood for edging or sculptural accents.

Go for a Water Feature

Although water is scarce in desert regions, the peacefulness and tranquility flowing water brings have significant benefits. Water features, such as a bubbling fountain, create a pleasant, relaxing sound, drown out urban noise pollution, and attract wildlife that may be in desperate need of a drink. Consider a fountain with an underground reservoir instead of a surface-level pool to prevent evaporation or animals drowning in the basin.

Show Off Your Rock Collection

Whether your landscape already has rocks naturally existing or you want to incorporate more rocks than plants to keep your garden low-maintenance, go for it. Rocks, stones, gravel, river rocks, or large boulders don't need watering or special care.

You can plant around existing rocks without changing the terrain to make a particular plant the focal point or use rocks around a particular plant to make it the focal point. Rocks used in place of mulch will also allow water to permeate the ground and keep moisture from evaporating.

Follow the Hardscaping as Your Guide

Consider hardscaping or all the features built into the home's exterior space, such as walkways, and patios, or outdoor features like a pergola, fountain, or seating area. By planning all the plantings and landscaping to complement what you already have, you can make your desert oasis a reality.

Get Drought-Tolerant Ornamental Grass

Many ornamental grasses tolerate sandy soil, little water, and high temperatures. If you want some green in your landscape with little fuss, consider blue fescue, blue oat, feather reed, switch, or fountain grasses. Most have a mounding or clumping growth habit.

Keep Cool With Shade Trees

Shady trees, like palo verde, Arizona cypress, Chinese pastiche, and desert willow, are the best way to give you some respite from a blazing hot day. These trees are accustomed to little water and full sun. Planted near a home, they can help keep a home a little cooler in summer.