Photos by Richard Maack Mexican evening primrose scrambles over an octopus agave in the backyard wash at this desert home. A small patch of adjacent lawn was added for the homeowners’ dogs.

Jan and Roy Wilkins Create a wildlife habitat Close to Home

While house-hunting in 2001, Jan and Roy Wilkins were delighted to spy a Western tanager near a waterfall at a Scottsdale property. The vivid red-yellow-and-black birds often are elusive, so the couple took his presence as a positive sign and purchased the home. “Jan and I enjoy being surrounded by nature and believed this landscape offered us the opportunity to create a peaceful retreat,” Roy says.   

When they moved in, the backyard contained several trees, a swimming pool, a rock waterfall and a shallow natural desert wash running lengthwise across the yard. Lots regulated by the city of Scottsdale’s Natural Area Open Space ruling must set aside a percentage of an environmentally sensitive desert property as open space; so the couple has kept the area beyond the walled backyard as native desert.

Rainwater travels along the wash, entering and exiting through screened culverts on either end. “Our initial plan was to divide the walled backyard in two lengthwise, using the wash as the dividing line,” Roy recalls. Plans for areas on the side of the wash near the home included a barbecue, dining area, kiva fireplace and spa. For the remainder of the space, the couple envisioned another way to immerse themselves in Arizona’s outdoor lifestyle: “We chose to transform the desert wash into a naturalistic feature filled with plants and creatures that we could enjoy without leaving home,” explains Jan.

Roy and Jan Wilkins enjoy wildlife drawn to their desert garden.

Roy set about enhancing the wash to slow the flow of rainwater by creating slight depressions where water can pool and soak into the ground around ironwood, mesquite and palo verde trees. His labors paid off. Instead of rushing across the property, rainwater now funnels slowly from one end of the landscape to the other, providing roots with a healthy deep soaking. Water remaining in the wash flows into a retention basin.

Numerous creatures live in the vicinity, including coyotes, foxes, javelinas, and even bobcats that stroll on top of a perimeter wall. Snakes also visit the yard. “I use snake tongs to return them to the other side, unless they are too big,” says Roy. “Then I let them return when they want to,” he adds with a smile.

The Wilkinses lined the desert wash with vegetation. “I think certain plants will look good grouped in a specific place, and Roy knows if they will thrive because he completed the Desert Landscaper School at Desert Botanical Garden, as well as a Master Gardener course,” comments Jan. “And, if they don’t thrive, one of the great things about cacti and succulents is that they are fairly easy to move around to different locations,” notes Roy.

Jan’s sister, Pattie Johnson, is a Tucson artist, and several of her glass-and-metal sculptures now sit among the garden’s flora. “I love the orange colors in the glass and thought they’d make great focal points,” Jan remarks. Later, she found some small low-voltage glass lights that reminded her of glass pieces by Dale Chihuly and incorporated them throughout the landscape. “At night, the lights’ orange colors resemble little flames, and they help unify our design,” she comments.

The homeowners grew most of their cacti and succulents from offshoots and cuttings. Planted poolside, they create a naturalistic setting.

To create an area with soothing ambience, the couple transformed a small side yard into a secret garden infused with fragrant plants and the trickling sounds of water from a wall fountain. “We wanted a cottage-garden feel that was completely different from the rest of the yard,” explains Roy.

The secret garden’s entry is marked by honeysuckle, jasmine and roses that are visible through a gate. Plants are protected from the western exposure by a mesquite tree. “The Lady Banks’ rose grows all the way to the top of the house and is carpeted with tiny yellow roses,” reports Jan. “It’s a refuge to sit out there surrounded by the smell of jasmine in spring.”

When it comes to enjoying Arizona’s outdoor lifestyle, the three family dogs get into the act by lolling around on their own lawn. “It’s a small patch of grass that takes me about 12 minutes every week or two to trim, mow and hand-weed,” says Roy. Because the yard is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat, the couple avoids using pre-emergent herbicides or any other pesticides to control weeds in the grass. “However, I replace the sod completely every few years to keep it healthy, because the dogs are quite hard on it,” Roy notes.

In the past, the Wilkinses lived and gardened in diverse climates, but when they arrived in Arizona, they embraced the Sonoran Desert’s uniqueness. “Many people want to re-create where they came from,” says Jan. “But the desert offers so much natural beauty of its own if you just take the time to look.”

Playful outdoor lights add a warm glow to the landscape. Here, one is seen tucked among barrel cacti, purple verbena and desert marigold.

Blue-tipped five spot, bright-yellow tidy tips, and desert bluebells make a striking combination in the garden.

Roy Wilkins added gentle mounds and scattered planting pockets to slow the flow of rainwater through the desert wash.

 

SOWING WILDFLOWERS
In fall, Roy Wilkins scatters seed over decomposed granite mulch along the wash for springtime wildflower displays.

“I initially spread quarter-inch decomposed granite around the wash, but a few years later I topped it with one-half- to three-quarter-inch granite because larger, coarser gravel offers deeper pockets that give the seeds more protection from birds,” he explains. “I’ve noticed much better germination and more flowers since I made the change.”

Each spring, the wash brims with a kaleidoscope of California poppy, chocolate flower, desert bluebell, desert marigold, five spot, Perry’s penstemon, tidy tips and purple verbena.

“We let most plants go to seed and self-sow to come up where they will because nature makes good site selections,” Roy remarks. “However, I do control Mexican evening primrose from taking over by pulling it up as needed, because it spreads like crazy by underground runners.”