No. 97 Landscaping · Desert & Southwest
Desert Front Yard with Illuminated Walkway
In this desert Southwest front yard at night, warm landscape lighting and path lights illuminate a curved concrete walkway, terracotta stucco, adobe walls, and steel planters filled with flowering perennials, agave, and tall saguaro.
Design notes
Desert and Southwest design is shade, earth and sky. Look for stucco or adobe in earthy tones, flat roofs with deep overhangs, decomposed granite and gravel instead of lawn, and planting of agave, yucca, saguaro, ocotillo, palo verde and desert wildflowers. Corten steel, concrete and rammed earth handle the sun; ramadas, shade sails and pergolas make midday usable; and lighting stays low so the stars can compete.
What to look for
- Three layers: canopy, shrubs, groundcover
- How hardscape and planting share the edges
- Plants suited to the climate, not just the photo





