Creating a Tucson Yard

I often chuckle in disbelief when I see homes being redecorated on HGTV from discarded furniture and accessories stored in the owner's attic.  Oh, sure, I think to myself.  How realistic is that?

Attic with furniture treasures

But now I am eating my words. My husband Wayne and I are following the same principle in populating our new Tucson Yard - digging up volunteer plants from other parts of the yard, taking cuttings, dividing larger plants, and moving large rocks.  

We created the Tucson Yard because we wanted to get rid of a large area of water-gobbling bermuda grass, and we have been impressed by the landscapes of Tucson, Arizona.  The Tucson gardens are xeriscaped for low water use, but they are also varied and colorful.  Too often in my home town of El Paso, Texas, we think of desert yards as being only lots of rock and a few hardy cacti. I have heard some cynical gardeners refer to our local yards are being "zeroscaped".

First we had to create the "bones" of the new  Tucson garden by contracting out the creation of pillars and a brick walkway as well as the placement of large beams.

Tuscon Yard Structure

Then the fun part began.  We walked around the property, discussing where we could find plants and decorations for the new yard.  The first selection was a spineless prickly pear cactus that had long ago outgrown its pot.

Spineless prickly pear cactus

We knew we had to try to transplant a Mexican Bird of Paradise, because they grow prolifically (some might even say invasively) in our yard.  This plant will grow rapidly and produce exotic yellow flowers.

Mexican Bird of Paradise

Another favorite we had to try to duplicate was the candelilla plant.  It is grown in the Big Bend region of Texas and was formerly harvested to make wax.  This new plant, created by digging up part of an existing candelilla, is already producing small white flowers on the stems.

Candelilla

It wasn't just plants that we discovered for the new area.  We also found a old pot that paired well with a red yucca dug up from the front yard.

Red yucca and pot

This cow skull, of unknown origin,  now has a prominent place in the new yard.

Cow skull

The ocotillo was another plant that we have had success with in the past.  The branch cut from an existing ocotillo did not survive, but the little ocotillo that had been a volunteer plant in our yard is green.

One ocotillo success and one failure

To me, the best addition to the Tucson yard was a metal sculpture of Mother Earth that Wayne made recently.  She had been hanging on a wall in the courtyard, but I think she gets lots more attention between two pillars in the new area.

Mother Earth

The one new little plant in the Tucson yard that we are babying is the greasewood, or creosote bush. These plants grow wild on our property, but we have never  transplanted one successfully. One of us checks it every day for signs of new growth, and it has been touch and go.  Sometimes the plant looks like it has given up the ghost, only to put on a few green leaves the next day to give us hope. Greasewoods are mostly responsible for giving the desert a wonderful aroma after a rain shower.  To me, they smell delightfully like witch hazel.

Is the creosote alive or just stringing us along?

We hope we have created a worthy replica of a Tucson Yard.  And putting it together slowly from odds and ends has been lots more fun than having those HGTV landscapers come in with crews to finish the project in one day.  At least I think so....