Landscaping with native plants

Yuma sits in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, the hottest, driest part of North America.

And plants native to the Sonoran Desert are the best landscaping choices for this area, says Karen Reichhardt, a botanist with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Yuma Field Office.

Local gardeners tend to have better success with native plants, which are adapted to desert conditions, have low water and fertilizer requirements and are insect resistant, she said. They also attract birds, pollinators and wildlife.

Native plants are also better for the local environment than non-native plants, which can become invasive, she said. They can displace native vegetation, deplete soil nutrients, increase allergens and fuel unnatural and destructive desert fires.

Invasive plants commonly used in Yuma landscapes include fountain grass, Bermuda grass and vinca (also called periwinkle), she said. Giant reed, tree of heaven, African sumac, salt cedar and giant salvinia are also invasive plants.

For environmentally friendly landscaping in the Yuma area, Reichhardt recommends using native plants (see box) in desert settings, such as gravel as opposed to near lawns. After all, one reason for desert landscaping is to replace lawns, which require a lot of water as well as gas or electricity for mowing.


Native plants for local landscaping

Trees

• Velvet mesquite

• Screwbean mesquite

• Honey mesquite

• Foothills palo verde

• Blue palo verde

• Ironwood

• Feather tree

• Desert willow

• Sweet acacia

Tall desert shrubs

• White thorn acacia

• Catclaw acacia

• Desert hackberry

• Quail bush

• Barberry

• Desert lavender

• Gray thorn

• Wolfberry

• Ocotillo

• Hopbush

Short desert shrubs

• Brittlebush

• Chuparosa

• Fairy duster

• Indigo bush

• Four-wing saltbush

• Jojoba

• Ruellia

• Yellow bells

• Mexican bird of paradise

Cacti and succulents

• Agave

• Cactus

• Cholla

• Prickly pear

• Saguaro

Wildflowers

• Desert marigold

• California or Mexican poppy

• Owl’s clover

• Penstemon

• Paper flower

• Globe mallow

Grasses

• Purple three-awn

• Deer grass

• Big galleta

• Sacaton

Ground covers and vines

• Trailing indigo bush

• Mexican evening primrose

• Queen’s wreath

• Coyote gourd

• Verbena

Native plant sources

• Local nurseries

• Native Seeds/Search: www.nativeseed
search.org

• Desert Botanical Garden: www.dbg.org

• Boyce-Thompson Arboretum: www.btarbo
retum.org

• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: www.desert
museum.org