Landscape designer Peggy De La Garza re-imagines a North Scottsdale landscape.

Since its inception in the early 1980s, the Desert Highlands community set a precedent in North Scottsdale. Anchored by a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, the 850-acre development with some 500 homes was one of the first in Scottsdale to comply with the Natural Area Open Space ordinance, leaving wide swaths of desert untouched. With an overall landscape design led by the late Phil Hebets, the community was at the cutting edge of the then-nascent revegetation movement, making use of salvaged desert plants and trees.

In a word, Desert Highlands was—and still is—the epitome of desert living. But when new owners acquired a Mediterranean-influenced abode in the community, they felt that the existing landscape was a tad too “natural desert” and a bit out of sync with the home’s rustic, Old-World architecture. For help, they turned to landscape designer Peggy De La Garza, for whom the area was familiar turf. “The owners found me through a referral,” says De La Garza, a Phoenix Home & Garden Master of the Southwest award winner. “I’ve been working in this community for about 40 years and have done dozens of homes here.” The landscape designer proved to be the perfect person for the project, with knowledge of the land’s undulations and washes, the community’s approved desert plant list and the placement of plant materials to preserve view corridors.

“The home’s existing landscape was never really done right in the first place,”  De La Garza explains of the half-acre site surrounding the 4,800-square-foot home built in the early 2000s. “It just really didn’t have any presence or interest. Also, the house is set far back on the lot, which didn’t give it a lot of room in back for outdoor living.”

Eyeballing the site, the landscape designer decided that the few plants that dotted the site needed to be scraped, save for a few mature mesquite and ironwood trees. In front, working around the existing brick driveway, De La Garza contoured the land and added boulders, redefining a wash with riprap so that water would flow away from the house and driveway. To create a more appealing front garden, she grouped plantings around boulders, mixing height, shape and color to lead the eye toward the home’s entry. One grouping includes saguaros, Argentine giant cactus, agaves and African daisies, while another is anchored by a multistemmed, specimen Yucca gloriosa, which forms a jagged counterpoint to fiery-hued bougainvillea draping across garden walls.

In the entry courtyard, De La Garza expanded the brick pathway and patio, adding a custom fountain, encircled by sago and robellini palms, as well as seasonal annuals, such as red geraniums. “That courtyard is a protected area close to the house,” says De La Garza, explaining her plant choices. “In the winter, the palms stay warmer with heat from the garden walls, and in summer, the mature mesquite provides shade.” There, she also employed her tried-and-true technique of keeping cactus to a minimum near outdoor living spaces. “I don’t like to plant anything close to the house that’s going to poke you,”  she says with a laugh. “It’s easier on the skin. If I use any cactus, it’s usually contained in pots.”

“This is not technically a Sonoran Desert landscape. ‘Lush desert’ would be the best description, because there’s greenery, color and unusual plant materials.”

—Peggy De La Garza, landscape designer

In the shallow backyard, which De La Garza describes as “patio, pool, planter,” she worked with the existing hardscape, changing out the plantings in the poolside bed. There, spiral and columnar juniper add form to the setting but keep views of the adjacent golf course and mountains. Off to one side, the landscape designer sought a variance to push out the landscape some 12 additional feet to be able to add a fire pit and patio. “This landscape needed more livable space,” she says of the expansion, which allows room for relaxing, socializing and enjoying views.

Now mature, the updated landscape enhances the home’s architecture and adds visual grace, not to mention giving the owners more room to live outdoors. “What would I call this style of landscape?” asks De La Garza rhetorically. “This is not technically a Sonoran Desert landscape because that would be all bursage, brittlebush and creosote. ‘Lush desert’ would be the best description, because there’s greenery, color and unusual plant materials.”

Sources

Landscape designer: Peggy De La Garza, Trademark Landscape Inc., Phoenix, trademarklandscapeaz.com. Pots: The Plant Stand of Arizona, Phoenix, plantstandaz.com.Pavers: belgard.com