Landscaping: High Desert Utah

My 4th residential landscaping project!

High desert gardening at 5,280 feet with hot dry summers and occasional snowy winters.

Environmental and Usage Considerations

• Utah Zone 6a

• Annual average rainfall 11” (64 days per year)

• Average snow 17”

• Soil is red sandy clay type

• Very flat 

• Existing features: decorative rock, sprinklers, no trees, grass lawn, hollyhocks, roses and mullein herb

Style and Goals

• Garden area for food 

• Rock Gardens and natural sculpture elements

• Stumpery Garden beds (Victorian trend early 19th century gardens) In lieu of ferns use Utah native fernbush, caryopteris 

• High desert planting, Utah native agave

• Seasonal/Trial Garden beds walkway by front door

• California and Prickly Poppies (Argemone munita) flowering tobacco in park strip

•  Pinyon Pine edible nuts, gamble oak (scrub oak)

Landscaping Needs

Soil

• Half raised half dug plots as the soil is very hard and compact. Amend with fresh and completed compost, bark mulch, branches and logs.

Hardscaping

• Minimal pathways needed in yard

• Croquet course ??

Plant Lists

Park Strip

• Poppies, grasses

• Rock rose

• Mojave sage

• Flowering tobacco

• Stonecrest early spring blooms

• Seafoam artemesia

• Globe mallow

Seasonal Garden beds next to walkway

• Bearded iris

• 2 juniper bushes (evergreen)

Rock Garden Desert plants (hawk moth and moth garden)

• Utah agave Agave utahensis

• Alpine Plume Grass

• Columbine

• Ice plants

• Sacred datura

• Primrose

• Firecracker penstamon 

• Globe mallow

• Desert 4’oclock

Stumpery (fern-like plants, grasses and 2 trees)

• Fernbushes

• 3 trees 1 Evergreen (Pinyon pine) 2 deciduous (gamble oak)

• Spring carpet Mount atlas daisy (fern like)