Research Plants and Add to Your Plan

Explore Your Options

I personally enjoy the research part of planning for my landscape area. Even though we live in a very arid and extreme enviornment, life does flourish with a little bit of help. Some plants that are perennials in other climate zones are annuals in the Las Vegas valley. Some plants that flower year-round in other climates may have a shorter flowring period. It doesn't mean you can't grow them, it just means there may be some limitations or extra care needed.
This site will give you an idea of the types of plants and trees you can grow, but by no means is it an end all. There are so many options. I highly recommend taking a trip the Springs Preserve botanical garden so you can get some ideas. Once or twice a year they also host a plant sale. Another great place to view spectacular landscape is at the various large hotels on the Vegas strip. Take pictures of plants and trees that you like and bring them to your local nursery for identification and specifics.

Make Notes

When you come across plants that tickle your fancy, be sure to jot them down. I like to keep a small notebook to list the name and a few details such as the amount of sun needed, the mature plant size and the growth rate. For my bordering walls it was important to find shrubs that kept their leaves year-round (evergreens) and had a fast growth rate. Once you have decided on plantings, add them to your plan and be sure to note the spacing needed for each item. This helps you to know how many plants are needed for each area. When I first started planting I would head to the nursery and just pick out what I thought looked great at the time. Without any information I would over or under buy. I also ended up with plant crowding because I did not do my homework on the plants I was putting in.

Click on any of the images above to see more information on the plant category.