My Desert Garden Tour 2022

The year is winding down which means it’s time for another garden tour. I like to show you what’s been happening and also what my plans are for the following year. So, please allow me to take you on a tour of my desert garden!

I’m still busy remodeling the interior (kitchen done, guest bathroom in progress) but in 2023, I really want to put some focus on my back garden. It has beautiful mountain views, and it’s where I spend a lot of my time.

Front Garden

landscape shown of front yard in the Sonoran desert: saguaro cactus, golden barrel clusters, mesquite trees, and landscape rock — *The Golden Barrel clusters glow in the golden hours!*

landscape shown of front yard in the Sonoran desert: saguaro cactus, golden barrel clusters, mesquite trees, cresote bushes and landscape rock — *The Creosote is seeding here & there. I’ve pulled a few of them out because of crowding, but I’m letting most of them be. They’re a big part of the natural landscape here in Tucson.*

The front garden is pretty much done. But wait, is a gardener’s garden ever done?! I want it to be uber-low maintenance (which it is), survive on rainwater only, and of course, look good.

I live in Tucson, Arizona which is part of the Sonoran Desert. Water is scarce here so you won’t see even an inch of lawn anywhere on my property.

Here’s what I did this year:

Added seven more Golden Barrel clusters.

Added to the rock border. The single border wasn’t doing much in such a large space.

Moved and repositioned the large accent rocks to be visually more appealing. Quite a few of them were plunked under the Mesquite Trees so we moved them out which makes a lot more sense.

Re-did the dry river bed.

Topped off the decorative rock ground cover.

one landscape workers raking decorative gravel rock in front yard, the other landscape worker standing next to wheel barrel — *Spreading new decorative rock. The ground cover really needed topping off.*

What I plan to do next year:

Add one Golden Barrel cluster to the Saguaro Cactus grouping.

Plant the Optunia Old Mexico.

Move all 3 of the large rocks from the back garden out here.

Add more rocks to parts of the border that are a bit sparse from the dry river bed in the back garden.

My Desert Garden Video Tour

Back Garden

This garden still has a ways to go. All the windows along the back of the house face this space. Plus, when the desert summer is raging, the pool is the place to be!

open white flower blooms on Cereus peruvianus Montrose — *My Night-Blooming Cereus bloomed after the monsoon rains started. The flowers are huge but only open for about 12 hours or so.*

What I did this year:

Re-did the drip system along the back wall with the more durable PVC pipe.

Built a wall around the pool equipment. Nobody wants to look at that!

Planted more plants along the back wall.

Painted and planted 2 cactus bowls that serve as focal points.

Assembled and planted a raised vegetable and herb bed.

Gave the covered patio seating area (furniture, plants, and pots) a sprucing up. You can read about the patio makeover here.

back patio shown with table and chairs and additional chair seating, a variety of flowers, cactus, and succulents potted and hanging — *My patio off the kitchen got a makeover this spring. You can read about it here.*

What I plan to do next year:

Re-do the pool deck. It’s chipping badly in some places and just plain looks bad. It’ll be resurfaced with concrete in mottled light brown/clay colors for a more natural look. The pool takes up a good portion of the back garden so this will make a big difference.

Plant a Meyer Lemon tree (at least 15-gallon size) behind the Palo Verde.

Do a planting outside my bathroom window with the Optunia Joesph’s Coat pot as the central focus. I have a groundcover bougainvillea that’ll be part of this along with a few other plants TBD.

Create a small raised rock garden to the right of the African Sumac.

Repot the Pencil Cactus into a ginormous pot. I bought a 30″ heavy plastic pot which will be its home base for many years to come.

Repot the Aeonium into a larger pot. It blew over in a summer monsoon storm so I moved it from the patio (it was starting to take up too much space anyway) and it now grows in a corner of the house where I can see it from the living room as well as the patio and pool.

Re-do the river bed and border along the African Sumac bed with rock in a new color.

Move the large grey rocks to the front garden and get at least 5 large new rocks in a different color for back here.

Top off the decorative rock ground cover.

desert landscape shown, creosote bushes, palm trees, and mountain range — *1 of the best things about my back garden is the view of the Catalina Mountains (plus palms too!).*

sun setting in sonoran desert, colors of sunset range from yellow, pink, purples, mesquite bush and saguaro cactus in yard — *I just had to include a sunset pic taken in the front yard. It’s 1 of the best things about Sonoran Desert living!*

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this little tour of my desert garden. It not only keeps up a yearly tradition and lets you know what I’ve been up to garden-wise, but it provides a diary for me to look back on.

Happy Holidays, Happy Gardening!

About the Author
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Nell Foster

Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.