Poolside Plants for the Arizona Desert

Here are some perfect pool friendly plants that will flourish in the Arizona summer Heat.


Foxtail Agave - (Agave attenuata)
This is a slow-growing ornamental succulent with bluish-green leaves. It will produce a pale-yellow flower after it reaches 10 years of age and will die after it blooms. The Foxtail Agave will generate offshoots from
the mother that can be transplanted in the yard. This plant will make a bold statement in your landscape and it offers tropical appeal. Agave's do well in our soil and the Foxtail Agave does not have any sharp spines.

The Foxtail Agave does better in light shade to part sun with regular watering in the summer. It will need frost protection in the winter below 30°. It is perfect for containers, borders, rock gardens, or planted in groups.



Twisted Leaf Yucca (Yucca rupicola)
The Twisted Leaf Yucca us a small trunkless plant with olive-green leaves that twist as they age. It produces spikes of creamy white flowers in summer that can grow up to 5 feet tall. The main rosette can reach 2 feet high by 3 feet wide and dies after blooming. It produces several offsets that will regrow. The Twisted Leaf Yucca has eye-catching blooms, has low-water use and is very heat tolerant. It is hardy to -10°. This plant does well in full sun to partial shade in well-draining soil. Remove spent flower stalks. It is great for small spaces, xeriscape gardens and as an accent plant or in pots.



Elephant Food (Portulacaria afra)
This is shrublike succulent with twisted red branches that are lined with green fleshy leaves. It can reach 12 feet tall and wide and produces tiny pink flowers in summer. This plant is a fast grower, drought-tolerant, requires low maintenance, and can easily propagated from cuttings. It requires very little water. It prefers full sun to part shade and needs frost protection. Prune frost-damaged foliage in spring. The Elephant Food is great in containers, can be grown in groups for an informal hedge or can be utilized as screening. It is also perfect for use as a bonsai plant.


Yellow Yucca - (Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Yellow’)
The Yellow Yucca is a clumping perennial that grows to 3 feet tall and wide. Creamy yellow flowers appear late spring through fall on spikes that reach 6 feet high. The blooms are long-lived, the plant is drought-tolerant, cold hardy to -20°; handles reflected heat.
The Yellow Yucca can be planted in full sun. It is tolerant of most soils but must have good drainage. Extra summer watering helps plant develop faster. Remove flower stalks after blooming. It is striking when grown in masses or alongside red-flowering flora. Perfect for xeriscape and cactus gardens. Once established, it requires little or no irrigation. All in all, yellow yucca is one of the toughest and most maintenance-free plants.

Early Spring Garden Maintenance

It's time to prepare your garden to transition from the cool-season flowers and plants to the warm-season planting. Pull spend plants and weeds, rake up leaf debris, and layer 4 to 6 inches of compost or manure on top of the soil to dig in before replanting.
Fertilize roses every six weeks to prepare for their major spring bloom period. This starts in April. If you didn't feed your citrus trees in January, then do so now with one third of the trees' total annual nitrogen requirement. Apply nitrogen to deciduous fruit trees when they begin to leaf out. Winter Rye grass needs fertilization once a month. Your bermuda lawn also needs nurishment to prepare for it's spring arrival. Wait to fertilize tropical plants until danger of frost is over. The last frost is usually mid-March. Native plants do not need fertilization. Pinch or snip off spent annual flowers to promote continuous bloom.

When in doubt, contact a local Landscape Contractor for you lawn maintenance or installation.

Sprinkler Irrigation Tip

Every so often you may need to flush out the debris that may have accumulated in your sprinkler system. The debris can be tiny particles of dirt, hard water, lime, etc. All you do is twist off the sprinkler heads and run the water through the system for a couple of minutes. This will clean out all of the dirt/debris that may be in the system and ensure that you have good coverage at all times.

Chaste Tree - Vitex agnus - castus

Vitex agnus - castus, Verbena Family ( Verbenaceae ), Chaste Tree. Also Called: Monk's Pepper is a large irregular shrub or multistemmed deciduous tree, sometimes single stemmed. Considered pool friendly. Also considered butterfly friendly. Smells Great! Most flower types are purple but there are other colors that are a light purple - pink.
Height: About 10 to 25 feet. Same spread. Flowers: On purple spikes 7 to about 12 inches long, drooping from terminal portions of branches, appearing in the late spring and early summer. Blooming Time: April to June. Stems/Trunks : An attractive rough trunk; multistemmed deciduous tree, sometimes single stemmed. Leaves: The leaves are palmately compound; with an odd number of linear leaflets (usually 5); dark green above, lighter underneath. Seeds: Small hard round seed, smells like pepper, dark purple when ripe. Can hurt if stepped on barefoot. Elevation: 0 - 2,400 Feet. Habitat: Landscaping. Grows great in the Arizona desert. Will be a nice patio shade tree or small ornamental yard tree. This tree does go dormant in the winter.

Online Special 10% off packages extended

Check out our online discount extended through Feb 28, 2009. We also added 2 more landscape packages and coupons to our website. We now have a complete package for both the front and back yard in either desert or tropical theme. Spring is almost here and it is time to enjoy your yard again. We need to think about preparing your lawn for summers arrival and taking care of those weeds. Give us a call 480-390-4477 for an estimate.

Arizona Planting Zone Chart

Arizona consists of Zone 7, 8, and 9. The low desert of the Phoenix valley is zone 9 and the outlying desert areas are zone 8/9. The mountains are zone 7.

Featured Tree: Desert Willow

The Desert Willow tree grows to be 15' - 25' feet in height and has a spread of about 10' at full maturity. This tree grows at a medium growth rate. (13-24" of growth per year) and does well in full sun. The Desert Willow grows in acidic, alkaline, drought tolerant, loamy, sandy, well drained, wide range, clay soils(perfect for Arizona desert trees) and cannot grow in wet or heavy soils. The Desert Willow has a rounded, spreading or horizontal shape. The leaves are long dark green leaves. The blooms are fragrant and pink and it flowers from late spring into fall through the summer. It produces a ten-inch long seed-pod that persist throughout the winter. The Desert-willow requires little maintenance and produces flowers at peak season. It should be grown in full sun and is extremely drought-tolerant. While the trees will grow better with adequate moisture, they will not tolerate over-watering. The multi-trunked, well branched habit of growth and thick growth make Desert-Willow well suited for a wide screen or tall hedge. Groups can be planted in a large-scale landscape for a splash of color. The seeds of the Desert Willow are eaten by wildlife and the flowers often attract hummingbirds. It can provide a nesting site for desert birds and ground cover for other animals. The branches of the Desert-willow have been used to make thatch roofs. This tree resembles a willow in appearance, but is not related.