Very nice. It looks like you have flood irrigation available, are you going to use it?

Thanks waterbug_guy. Yes, we do have flood irrigation and I designed the yard to continue to take advantage of that for the grass area. The water comes in at the east end of the back yard and all the desert landscaping is at the west end so the grass will flood but not the desert part. We put in a drip system for the desert landscaping as well as a passive rainwater harvesting system (the landscaper said we might eventually be able to turn off the drip system and only use it to supplement the rainwater).

Very cool. It is true desert plants, once established, can go off water, but they still look better and do better imo with water.

I've often day dreamed of doing a lush desert landscape on a flood irrigated lot.

Very, very nice! I really love gardens that combine lawn and desert. The contrast is always so exciting visually. I really like what you're doing!

What's the new tree in the desert section in your back yard? I can't quite see from the pic.

Keep us posted, it's really fun to watch your project develop! Continued good luck!

Take care,
Grant

Thanks Grant. I kept the grass partly for my husband who is not a desert rat like me and partly because I really liked the idea of the wide "swath" of grass following the curve of the raised bed in the back. With the front yard the path just made a natural break.

The tree in the back is a Palo Rojo. I was going to put in a Palo Brea which I LOVE but then I heard about the Palo Rojo and decided it just sounded too cool to pass up. It has a lot of similarities to the Palo Brea but "Just like its name suggests, the wood of the Palo Rojo morphs to hues of red and maroon as temperatures begin to drop in the fall.The Palo Rojo retains these striking colors in stark contrast to the bright green foliage. By May, the trunk and limbs return to a rich green color as the tree races back to a season of rapid growth." That description just sounded awesome and, indeed, the trunk is turning a dark maroon color now.

There is also a Texas Mountain Laurel which got completely pummeled about 2 days after it was planted in the heavy rain we got early last month. It got flattened and hasn't recovered.

-Maureen

Love what you've done to your yard!

Awesome! Thanks for the information on the trees, too. I thought it looked like a Palo verde (I saw online that the Palo Rojo is a hybrid Palo verde--really neat, please post pics of it if/when it develops that red color--sounds really neat!!!). I'm sure if your Texas Mountain Laurel is staked up it'll recover eventually.

Everything looks really great. Definitely post updates on this project. You've got great taste!

Take care,
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: Palo Rojo entry from Baker Nursery