An Arizona Family Ditched the Green Grass and Brought the Desert to Their Backyard

by anastasiakaufman-chime-me

With a $750,000 landscaping budget, the Paradise Valley homeowners added earth-tone hardscaping and native plants

The Green Room Collaborative, a Phoenix-area landscape architecture studio, completed this Paradise Valley project in 2022 for a 15,000-square-foot refurbished home. JASON ROEHNERBy J.S. MarcusFeb. 16, 2023 10:00 am ETSHARETEXT

ILLUSTRATION: SYD WEILER

In booming greater Phoenix, a desert style is taking over the landscaping of homes, as more give up green lawns and trimmed hedges for the new fashion of native plant species, wild grasses, and the muted colors and rich textures inspired by the city’s wild Sonoran setting.

“The dialogue has really changed,” says Charlie Ray, founder and principal of the Green Room Collaborative, a Phoenix landscape architecture studio specializing in upscale, desert-based residential projects. Mr. Ray recalls the bad old days, as recently as 10 years ago, when new arrivals fresh from other regions of the U.S. expected what he calls “a French garden look.” Now, Mr. Ray and his colleagues make an effort to convince clients to give up the grass and the boxwoods, in favor of salvaged ironwood trees, yuccas, agaves and dynamic grasses….READ MORE>>>https://www.wsj.com/articles/desert-landscaping-4b07cce6?st=lkv7cny88moqehv&mod=e2fbrlst&fbclid=IwAR3cBxQaFmz3uK3uKyExBfw48V7SmobNxOQwsI9jjWop1RJfZPEWrsGgh7c