Succulents like Agave attenuata, Echeveria elegans,В or Aloe вЂBlue FlameвЂ™, along with desert favorites Red Yucca, New Mexican Privet, and Desert Museum Palo Verde, all beg to be used as accents in planting designs. Many desert plants have the gravitas to hold their own as accent plants. Check out this Sunset article to see beautiful cactus landscaping ideas in the PNW. ItвЂ™s good to note that cacti, agave, and succulents grow well in many regions outside of the arid Southwest. Consider adding boulders to round out the space. Like xeriscaping, desert-style landscaping relies on permeable gravel groundcovers, like pea gravel and decomposed granite, and adds the beauty and intrigue of drought-resistant and drought tolerant plants adapted to survive in hot, dry climates. We also love mixing ornamental grasses, like Silvergrass, Lomandra, Fountain Grass, Cape Rush, Pink Muhly Grass, and Boulder Blue Fescu, to create a modern, organic look that mimics the look and feel of a warm, wild, summer meadow. Bouteloua gracilis, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Panicum virgatum are all excellent grasses with broad native ranges, well-suited to anchor grassland designs. We recommend using native plant species when creating a grassland-inspired design - theyвЂ™ll require the least help from you to succeed. Whether arranged in neat rows or loose masses, clean hardscape boundaries make striking frames for these loose plantings. DonвЂ™t intermix too much - the goal is fewer, more emphatic planting gestures. To evoke these drifts, cluster grassland plants in masses - this makes designs legible from near and far. In the wild, grassland plants grow in large, swooping вЂњdriftsвЂќ (clusters of a single species), densely covering the ground and changing character with each season. Grassland planting style has a backbone of ornamental grasses punctuated by occasional perennial accents and the odd shrub or non-flowering perennial for textural contrast.

Landscape design ideas front yard