Las Vegas is a beautiful place to live in, but its weather isn’t ideal for lawns. So if you dream about having the best landscaping in the neighborhood, it’s smart to go with front yard drought-tolerant plants.
This guide discusses lawn alternatives suitable for Las Vegas drought weather. Here are the best options residents have to make a low maintenance drought tolerant front yard!
Best Drought-Tolerant Landscaping Ideas
It’s not easy to have a beautiful garden when there’s no rain, or you are facing water use limitations. The good news is many plants can succeed in dry environments. Combine that with using front yard drought tolerant landscaping techniques to maximize water efficiency, and you’ll have a gorgeous garden. These ideas will help make your yard look impressive!
Reduce Your Lawn
A carefully maintained lawn looks dazzling, but these grass areas require a lot of water. If it’s drought season, you’ll need regular irrigation to keep a lawn luscious and green. But if you want a drought-resistant front yard, the idea is to lower water use. Therefore, you should consider the space lawns take in your landscaping. You can use a mixture of hardscape elements and perennials to compensate for that reduction.
Plant Your Parking Strip
Did you know that the room between the sidewalk and the curb can be particularly dry and hot? As a result, it’s the first location where your grass will start deteriorating. If you don’t want the area to look unappealing, it’s time to adjust your strategy.
The best low-cost low maintenance front yard landscaping involves using drought-tolerant plants. For the parking strip, you can choose artemisia. It can collect rainwater before it ends up on the concrete and evaporates into the atmosphere. Some other smart choice include evergreens and ornamental grasses. The right selection can contribute to water conservation and decrease soil erosion.
Use Decorative Hardscape Elements
Those luscious plants look great, but if you have limited water available, they aren’t an option. You can improvise by using other items to improve the visual attractiveness of an area.
Here are the hardscape decorative elements to consider for your low maintenance drought tolerant front yard:
- Use pavers. A walkway will decrease the grass and plant area, which will reduce water consumption.
- Find groundcovers tolerant to drought. You can choose epimedium, periwinkle, or thyme. They will make a dense ground cover and can grow between big stones.
- Garden art. The classic option includes a garden gnome or whimsical cat. But there is no reason you can’t get creative with the sculptures.
Install a Water Feature
You might be wondering how a fountain fits a low-maintenance drought tolerant front yard design. If you go with a smart design, the fountain can collect and recycle water.
The best option is to make an elevated pond. You’ll place a small water feature inside it for aesthetic reasons. You can use Japanese forest grass and similar plants to enrich the area. The fountain structure will have stone dominating the area, so consider placing groundcovers. Periwinkle doesn’t only give a better appearance, but it delivers a cooling effect that counteracts the stone’s warmth.
Heat And Drought Tolerant Plants
The crucial component of a low maintenance drought tolerant front yard is choosing the right plants. You need those that can succeed when the temperatures increase, and the water use remains low.
Here are the perennials to choose for your garden:
- Agastache – If you need a plant that will bloom in dry conditions, Agastache will meet your expectations. They call it the Desert Sunrise, and it has beautiful orange flowers.
- Yarrow – You won’t find many plants that handle heat better than yarrow. It doesn’t require dedicated maintenance, and most pests don’t rush to it. You can pick between different colors, ranging from white and pink to red and yellow.
- Russian Sage – This plant grows up to six feet, making it great for areas with little foot traffic. You’ll love the violet-purple blooms that succeed in dry conditions.
- Purple coneflower – These grow up to five feet and look beautiful with their pink blooms. If you need flowers for a bouquet, you can count on the coneflower. And if you like butterflies, this plant attracts them like crazy.
And here is a pro tip – use a big boulder between the plant structures. It will attract attention and add to the overall aesthetics of the area.
Pick Porous Materials
It’s not only about reducing water consumption but also maximizing the efficiency of used water. A low maintenance drought tolerant front yard should have hardscape elements made of porous materials.
The idea is that at least a portion of the water that reaches the stone structures continues to the plants. If it rains, the porous compounds will help the soil utilize that water.
Another useful hack is to place mulch between the chosen plant. It’s a simple but effective addition to your inexpensive drought-tolerant landscaping. Apart from improving water use, mulch will help suppress weeds.
