Photography by Jeffrey Green Herbs tucked among pavers take visitors on a fragrant journey toward a cat’s claw-draped arch leading to Denise Halvorson’s courtyard. Yellow bells flanking the arch provide many months of vibrant flower clusters.

Denise Halvorson’s Colorful Las Vegas Garden Flourishes with Drought-tolerant Flora

My husband, Michael, and I purchased this property seven years ago for its fantastic city views,” Denise Halvorson re-members. However, their 2.5-acre desert lot in Las Vegas was so far on the outskirts of town that they couldn’t entice anyone to take on the redesign of their yard.

Eager to get started, Halvorson decided to dive into landscape design on her own. Although she was an experienced gardener in her home state of Minnesota, she took classes at the Las Vegas Desert Demonstration Garden (now known as Springs Preserve) and completed the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Master Gardener course to get up to speed on local growing conditions.
 
“Volunteering as a docent at the demonstration garden and Springs Preserve inspired me to create my own botanical garden,” she recalls. Even with her newfound knowledge, Halvorson admits that she was a novice when it came to designing a desert landscape from scratch, and one that incorporated outdoor living spaces and hardscape.
 
“I tried to proceed logically, one step at a time, beginning at the back of the property and working my way forward,” she explains. “I was lucky that my neighbor was in the construction business and used his heavy equipment to handle laborious tasks such as earth-moving and building raised berms.”

Denise Halvorson encourages winged creatures with her plant selections. This purple butterfly bush attracts butterflies to her courtyard.

Where to Begin

Realizing that more roads and development would reach their property eventually, Halvorson focused on ways to combat traffic noise and maintain privacy. The previous owner had surrounded three sides of the lot with an oleander hedge, which Halvorson left in place as effective screening. For additional layers of soundproofing and privacy, she trucked in soil to form parallel raised planting berms on the southern border, which someday will face a road. The berms add elevation and visual interest while providing good drainage and easy digging for anything she chooses to plant.
 
Halvorson then transplanted low-water-use, desert-adapted trees on the berms for shade and privacy. “On the inner berm closer to the house, I planted smaller trees or large shrubs, such as hopseed bush and vitex, which won’t block our views.” To maintain city views to the east, she planted chitalpa, a flowering tree with an airy, “see-through” canopy. On the outer berm, she added taller or fuller trees for screening, such as desert willow, shoestring acacia, Texas honey mesquite and evergreens.