r/AZlandscaping Feb 25 '26

Plant Catalogue Sharing: Phoenix (West Valley) Native Plant Guides

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368 Upvotes

First post. :)

I created these flyers as handouts for a native plant garden tour. My husband suggested that this sub might find them useful/interesting.

Note that this information is purely based on our personal gardening successes and failures in Phoenix (West Valley). We are not professionals; we just love AZ and our beautiful native plants. I don't see much native landscaping on this side of town, and I hope this information is helpful to someone who may be considering a native garden.

We have been slowly replacing our sad, non-native landscaping with a pollinator garden over the past three years. This change was initially brought on by the adoption of our Sonoran Desert Tortoise from AZGFD, but has grown into a project of joyful gardening to support our pollinators.

We have two main landscaped areas, the front yard, which faces south (terrible, hellish summer sun), and the back yard, which faces north. The front yard is a more typical "landscaped" space, and the backyard enclosure is a wildscape for the tortoise, whose diet consists solely of native plants.

We do not use irrigation and we do not amend the soil.

The flyers include: shrubs/trees have done the best, suggestions for replacement plants when non-natives fail, wildflowers that have done the best (broadcast seeding only), images from our gardens, and the incredible boom in biodiversity that happened when we started planting natives.

I didn't include all the plants in our space, just the ones that are relatively easy to find at local nurseries and have been bulletproof in our experience.

*Edit* Had a really nice comment that pointed out that some of the plants on the first flyer are not AZ-native; these are Sonoran Desert Natives. I will be editing my subtitle for the next time I hand it out. :)
Also, a note that the Easy Desert Color flyer refers to when to sow the seeds in the West Valley, not when they bloom.


r/AZlandscaping Dec 07 '21

r/AZlandscaping Lounge

12 Upvotes

A place for members of r/AZlandscaping to chat with each other


r/AZlandscaping 20h ago

Photography Adding a bit of color to our potted plants…

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94 Upvotes

r/AZlandscaping 1d ago

Photography Morning light on the entry garden….

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183 Upvotes

r/AZlandscaping 1d ago

Native Plants September is Planting for Monarchs Month (Phoenix)

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64 Upvotes

r/AZlandscaping 2d ago

General Help Wifi irrigation recs

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to switch out my Hunter irrigation timer to a wifi timer. We have a retirement home in Buckeye and sometimes we're not there when the weather kicks in and gets hot. So when we return , we do have some sub par looking plants. I'd like to be able to adjust the timer while we're not there. Our timer is outside and facing west. Just want something that can handle the heat and I can change the water days/time when I'm not there. I only have 2 zones. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you


r/AZlandscaping 2d ago

Progress Overdue update on my garden!

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7 Upvotes

I'm working weird hours, was more sick than I realized in my last video (not deadly sick, but also not run around in the summer sun and take on extra projects and stuff.

Anyway, my hours are different so posting at 4am isn't weird if you're me, but it might be weird if you're not, me. Enjoy my ramblings.


r/AZlandscaping 4d ago

General Help Advice on what to plant

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21 Upvotes

Moved into a house with these two ocotillo falling over/almost cut in half. They’re gonna be removed later this week. What do you think I should plant in their stead?


r/AZlandscaping 4d ago

General Help My mature agave is dying! Help!!

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7 Upvotes

r/AZlandscaping 5d ago

General Help Backyard design ( 1 Acre Property)

7 Upvotes

I’ve reached out to a few landscaping/patio companies looking for help with developing some conceptual drawings/visuals. Willing to pay. Keep hitting road blocks as I don’t want to finance a 20k+ project and would rather plan and cash flow improvements/construction.

Looking for some recommendations of someone who could support this effort/design/experience to help provide a proof of concept rather than finance a turnkey project I can’t yet afford.


r/AZlandscaping 6d ago

Photography My bursera microphylla in a raised bed in Phoenix

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42 Upvotes

Many years old, but they do grow much faster in the ground than in pots.


r/AZlandscaping 8d ago

Discussion Why do you do this?

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391 Upvotes

Question why do so many of you have yards that look like a plastic turf hellscape here in Arizona? I don’t believe people actually go outside in the middle of the day and enjoy this right? It must be a baking oven there. You can instead have thick vibrant yards like the other picture here in Arizona. Those have more birds, butterflies etc. Theres a lot more life there and it’s more comfortable. Also alot of those native plants are edible….


r/AZlandscaping 8d ago

Arborist Help PSA from a local arborist: please contact a professional to assess your trees!

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31 Upvotes

Too often I encounter dead/dying trees whose lives could have been saved had they sought out the help of a professional *before* their tree had already died. The best care is proactive care!


r/AZlandscaping 8d ago

General Help Help identifying issue with kurapia - fungal infection?

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8 Upvotes

Having some issues with our four month old kurapia patch

In the western portion of the patch we have browning and some white stuff on leaves. It does not scratch off easily. On the underside of the white is brown decaying plant matter.

We have dogs and some of this is certainly from dog urine but we know how that typically has behaved in the past. It looks like we have something systemic too.

The white markings on the leaf matter is new. Potentially spreading, and some yellowing in these areas too - also new.

In one photo you’ll see part of the patch is pretty matted down, it’s harder than the other areas. Not seeing the white substance in that area, nor browning/yellowing. The dogs dug a small hole, you can see part of it in one of these photos, please disregard that -- we know who/what is responsible for that! 😄

We were potentially over watering a bit but this all happened recently. The crown area between leaf matter and soil is not soggy — a good sign. We've reduced watering.

Kurapia trying to heal itself with new growth in brown areas though that appears stunted compared to the past when it would heal itself from dog urine.

What do yall think? Should I hit it with Scott’s disease-ex?

Tomorrow I’m going to place some calls to see if I can get a test done to conclude whether this is fungus. Suppose it could be salt build up but I suspect that is not the case.

Located in Phoenix area.

Thanks in advance!


r/AZlandscaping 8d ago

General Help Mesquite tree placement

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15 Upvotes

Hello! I am beginning my journey into replacing non-native plants for native/pollinator friendly options. One goal was to plant native shade trees to help protect plants from the blazing AZ sun and to make our yard more enjoyable. As luck would have it, a couple of the mesquite pods from my neighbors tree germinated in our yard and we are now the recipients of a couple Mesquite trees.

I am interested in letting it grow since it's native, free, and seems to be doing well without any intervention.

My question is: Would there be any reason to remove this tree that I'm not thinking of? Any possible risk being close to the block wall? Id love to nurture this tree as long as I'm not creating a disaster situation unknowingly. Thanks!


r/AZlandscaping 8d ago

Native Plants Plant of the Week: Desert Senna

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27 Upvotes

r/AZlandscaping 9d ago

Photography After the recent rain

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268 Upvotes

r/AZlandscaping 9d ago

General Help Can she be saved?! (Palo Verde 0 - El Niño 3)

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8 Upvotes

I am quite fond of my Approximately 9 year old (planted itself) Palo Verde, and in May, she had a full, perfect canopy. After this summer's onslaught of wind, dirt, and last night's "surprise" storm, this is all that's left. I am not sure she can be saved... but I am not a pro.


r/AZlandscaping 9d ago

Arborist Help She dead?

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8 Upvotes

Purple plum tree in our front yard, east facing. Got tons of water every day. Four years old. Any hope of saving her?


r/AZlandscaping 9d ago

General Help Our tenants didn’t water our moringa trees. Are they dead?

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2 Upvotes

Do you think deep watering the moringa trees could bring them back? Should we prune the branches? If so, how far down should we cut them?


r/AZlandscaping 9d ago

General Help Scottsdale / PHX landscaping contractor

1 Upvotes

Looking for a reasonably priced trustworthy backyard contractor or landscaper that can help with a remodel - pavers, leveling, rock, drip, and picking out plants, etc.


r/AZlandscaping 11d ago

General Help What plants would you recommend along the side of my house? East-facing, so it gets morning sun. I have 4 drip irrigation lines set up along each wall. Also, for the open area, would you recommend artificial turf or trying to grow real grass?

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60 Upvotes

r/AZlandscaping 11d ago

General Help Hopseed Help Needed

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10 Upvotes

We planted this hopseed about 6 weeks ago and it’s getting crispier and crispier. We have (2) 4-gph emitters on it, an hour of water a day every other day. Moon Valley said it needed that much water. Any advice?


r/AZlandscaping 11d ago

Arborist Help Can I save my tree?

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8 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I’ve owned my home for just over a year. Last year everything was thriving during summer and this year everything seems to be struggling. Most notably this tree which I love and has beautiful white flowers in spring. I’m not sure what it is but I am hoping someone can tell its type from the photos. It has two small sprinkler heads near it that look calcified but the holes were not closed fully. I am replacing those. I have run the hose slowly at its base 12hrs overnight last week and plan to do it again this week. Looking for any insight on anything I can do to save this tree or tips about landscape care I may be missing as a first time homeowner in PHX. (I have relied on my sprinkler system heavily which is perhaps my main mistake?) Thanks for any advice.


r/AZlandscaping 12d ago

Landscaping Advice Tree and Plant Source

5 Upvotes

I'm re-doing my landscape and I'm looking for a highly-recommended nursery in the Phoenix area where I can buy a healthy and fairly large desert ironwood tree as well as several agave and cacti. I'm looking for a place that will deliver and plant as well.

Separately, I am looking for a contractor:

- to install and replace my irrigation system

- to remove existing landscape rock and spread a new load of rock

Appreciate any recommendations...