Judith Legg
Thanks for having me out. Your backyard already has good bones to work with: a mature Lysiloma in the corner, a twisted myrtle against the back wall, and a queen's wreath vine already established on the wood fence. We're going to build around what's there and fill in the rest with plants suited to each specific spot, sun exposure, and how much room they actually have to grow.
Below is a breakdown of every area we discussed and what's going in each one.
Before We Plant
Before any planting happens, the irrigation in these areas needs to be repaired. This can be done by an irrigation professional of your choosing, or we can help connect you with someone if you'd like.
- Fix the irrigation. We're recommending bubblers in every area rather than drip. All these beds are well contained, so we can flood them for deeper watering and better establishment. The bigger reason is PVC line: with a puppy in the yard, drip line is going to get chewed and dug up. PVC holds up.
- Lay down compost. A quality layer across all planting areas before anything goes in the ground.
- Lay down mulch. On top of the compost, before planting.
All areas discussed below are currently bare dirt.
Area 1 — South-Facing Wall (Native Pollinator Spot)
This spot takes direct sun almost year-round, so it's a tough one. Everything here is native or desert-adapted, built to handle the heat, and chosen to flower and pull in butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. We also picked plants that establish quickly, since a young planting bed and a puppy don't always mix well.
All of these are low-water once established. Two bubblers should cover this whole bed, and once it's established you're looking at watering once a week.
| Plant | Qty | Placement |
|---|---|---|
| Red baja fairy duster | 1 | Back / center |
| Desert milkweed | 2 | Flanking either side |
| Perry's penstemon | 4 | Middle ground, intermixed |
| Greg's mistflower | 6 | Middle ground, intermixed |
| Salvia | 3 | Middle ground, intermixed |
| Chuparosa | 1 | Front, where bed juts out |
Area 2 — West Wall In-Ground Bed
The pallet already up against the wall stays right where it is. We'll grow a seasonal food vine up it, something like peas, watermelon, cantaloupe, or squash depending on the time of year. This adds more green climbing up the wall and gives some shade to whatever else is growing in the bed below.
Before planting, bring in quality compost from AZ Worm Farm and work in about 3–4 inches across the top of the bed.
Maricopa County Planting Guide — What to Plant and When in Phoenix
Plant selection for this area is left open based on the calendar and your preference.
Area 3 — Northwest Corner (Existing Queen's Wreath)
This is a true corner: the wood fence with the existing queen's wreath faces west, and the block wall it meets faces north. There are two ways to get vine coverage across both walls. Either works well, it just comes down to how fast you want coverage and whether you want to add a trellis.
Option A — Extend the Existing Vine
Add a trellis against the block wall and let the current queen's wreath continue spreading onto it. This keeps everything as one connected plant, but coverage will take longer since it's relying on a single vine to stretch across both walls.
You'll need to source and install a trellis for this option.
| Plant | Qty |
|---|---|
| Hibiscus | 3 |
| Pink ruellia | 6 |
Option B — Add a Second Queen's Wreath Vine
Plant a second queen's wreath directly against the block wall and let it grow toward the existing vine on the fence until they merge. No trellis needed, and you get faster overall coverage since two vines are growing at once instead of one stretching further.
| Plant | Qty |
|---|---|
| Queen's wreath vine | 1 |
| Hibiscus | 3 |
| Pink ruellia | 6 |
Either option, the medium layer is hibiscus (3), which will be the focal point of this corner once filled in. Red blooms best here, though yellow, orange, and white all grow decently too. In front of the hibiscus, up against the patio pavers, a row of 6 pink ruellia gives a low, low-maintenance band of color and fills the space in at ground level.
Area 4 — Between the Twisted Myrtle and Lysiloma
Tight space, not a lot of sun. The best fit here is another vine to cover the block wall, something that tolerates more shade than the sun-loving vines elsewhere in the yard.
Area 5 — East-Facing Wall, Under the Lysiloma
This is a hedge planting, and it's your call on which direction to go.
For More Color
Tecoma — either yellow bells or orange jubilee. Both work well in this spot.
For Green, Less Color
Hopseed or Arizona rosewood.
Two plants of whichever option you choose.
Area 6 — Pergola Bed
The pergola sits on the patio pavers, but there's bare dirt about 2-3 feet away. We'll plant a vine there and train it up one of the pergola legs. Since the pergola has slats rather than a solid roof, the vine will grow up and across, giving color and dappled shade right over where you sit.
Front Yard
Right now this is mostly bare space. We'll plant Texas sage in a loose U-shape, then relocate the bottlebush that's currently against the front of the house, where it's getting too much shade, to sit in front of the U.
Next Steps
That covers everything we walked through. Once these are locked in and you know what you'd like to plant in each area, including a decision on the Area 3 corner option and the Area 5 hedge choice, we can put together pricing for the planting work.
We're happy to help however makes sense from here: we can do the planting ourselves, walk you or your landscaper through the process, or just be available to answer questions as things move forward.