Contrary to the popular misconception of the lack of green life in the desert, an enjoyable desert landscaping is possible. After all, the desert is like any other habitat on Earth, and it holds a large and interesting array of green life, and you can take it to your backyard!

Desert landscaping is hot right now because is a great way to make a garden easy to maintain and to save water as well. You can make just part of your garden landscaping as a desert, or you can convert all your landscaping into xeriscape. Xeriscape?

Xeriscaping: the fancy word for desert landscaping

Xeriscape is the discipline of creating a garden landscape with desert plants, using minimal amounts of water.

Xeriscaping has many advantages, being the most interesting that it's eco-friendly. Since desert plants need low amounts of water, you'll be enjoying your beautiful landscape all year round without using the much-needed water for human drinking. Most places in our country suffer from droughts from time to time, thus leading to water consumption bans or regulations.

The downside, however, is that desert plants grow slowly. One solution is to use rocks for decoration, to fill it, at least for s short time. You can use mulch, pebbles or even lava rocks. You can sketch a basic design and include the rocks in it. Rocks and pebbles have a lot of creative potential. Another option is to buy older or bigger plants, especially if you lack patience.

What to plant?

Cacti are the most popular and versatile plant in desert landscaping. When shopping for cacti for your desert landscaping you will find a large variety, both in size as in shapes and colors. You will be surprised when you learn that there are cacti several feet tall and others small as a couple of inches. Flowers are not uncommon in cacti, and the variety is also large, though they don't bloom for a long time. One exception is the prickly pear, named after its fruit. This cactus produces a beautiful yellow flower in summertime.

Of course, you also plant other type of desert plants such as aloes, periwinkles and several types of heathers. Make a visit to your local gardening store for further information on what type of plants you can add to your desert landscaping project.

Another good source of information is your local botanical museum or park, where you can see the plants and cacti from different parts of the world.

Desert landscaping is a fast growing landscaping idea, and it's going to become more popular in a few years.