We got inspired by these desert garden ideas from GardensAll Facebook community member, Linda Gray in Arizona.  No matter your grow zone, you’ll enjoy seeing this desert yoga garden space, with many ideas that can be used in any climate.

Linda, created her own yoga garden sanctuary as a place of solace during the madness of the pandemic. What a great way to use quarantine time productively!

Add some wind chimes, as Linda has, and some water features, like a bird bath with a solar fountain pump and you’re on your way to a peaceful backyard garden experience to relish for years to come.

Other desert landscaping ideas would be to add a stream of river stones – perhaps around a bird bath or pathway. A gently winding layout will give the impression of water features like a running brook without the waste of running water, which evaporates very quickly in the dry air of the desert landscape.

If you’re gardening in a desert landscape, we’d love to see your photos too and can publish them here as well. Just send them to us with captions or descriptions, and we’ll get them up soon with tribute to you.

A Pandemic Yoga Garden

Transforming outdoor spaces is always a wonderful thing and has been an especially popular thing during the Covid pandemic and quarantine periods as everyone was spending time at home.

Linda Gray put her frustrations and fear to work positively for her by creating a lovely desert gardenscape in her backyard. We’re sharing her photos here for some desert landscaping design that may inspire you in your creations.

Photos and captions that follow in italics are by Linda Gray, Arizona.

This is my yoga deck.

A yoga garden for strength and flexibility also creates a space for tranquility and peace of mind.

When it comes to desert garden ideas, if you’re into yoga, you might include a yoga spot. In Linda’s garden, she can lay back in “corpse pose” and stare up at the expansive sky surrounded by the soothing and calming presence of native plants and nature.

“The view from down there is amazing!“

Desert Garden Requirements and Design Ideas

• PLANTS –
  • Drought resistant native desert plants, such as cactus and succulents
  • Heat tolerant plants
  • Sun tolerant plants (or else grown in full to partial shade)
• IRRIGATION: In-ground irrigation is best for maximum efficiency and to minimize water loss to the air, such as:
  • drip irrigation
  • jolla pots

Desert Garden Ideas Include Artistic Decor for Beauty and Whimsy

Linda clearly has a boho artistic flare with well place lovelies. Here’s a list of garden decor we spotted in her gardenscape.

Garden Decor Ideas

• Birdbaths –
  • solar light fountain / feeder
  • solar fountain and bird bath
• Cairns
• Crocs! – notice Linda’s awesome bright and colorful batik-look crocs!
• Dreamcatchers
• Fabric – you can use for whimsy or function:
  • curtains
  • sarongs
  • garden flags
  • other hand painted, tie dye or batik fabric
• Fans – fans placed around can help extend your enjoyment of your outdoor areas. Just beware the drying factor so don’t train them on plants; ceiling fans help here, and especially the tall oscillating misting pedestal fans.
• Lights –
  • Strand lights
  • Solar lights and lanterns
• Plant pots –
  • ornamental and artsy
  • trellis planters – can double as a privacy fence
  • Urns
• Shade screens and covers to keep crops from burning
• Sculptures and statues, like Linda’s turtle and lizard, (and of course we’re fond of gnomes!)
• Stone –
  • stone mulch – we use smooth river rocks and also brick chips
  • stones of all sizes
• Suncatchers
• Tiles, such as garden art tile kits
• Trellises – can also serve as shade structures or garden fences
• Wind chimes
• Yoga mat – is an open invitation to stretch and relax

This list above of garden art ideas all link to options on Amazon, for whom we’re an affiliate. You can check with your local home store for the larger items like stones and stone mulch as well as decorative concrete pots and tiles.

Desert design ideas often include a rock garden or well placed boulders and gravel or river rocs, such as Linda has used in her desert garden landscape.

You may also enjoy making your own CD suncatchers if you still have any CDs.

Yoga Cat!

“Even my cat uses the yoga deck! ❤ ”

Linda’s, “Baby Kitty”, loves sessions in the “yoga garden” too. Linda said that she was a rescued orphan at death’s door when they got her and nursed her back to health through bottle feeding and lots of vet bills. Today, she is a big, healthy, beautiful beloved and loving cat.

Creating a Tropical Microclimate With River Stones and Concrete

“Yes, I can grow tropicals outside year round in a desert climate like Arizona! First you must create a small but effective micro climate!”

Linda’s incorporation of river stones and concrete slabs help retain heat that help the tropical plants survive desert night winter chills.

Creating a microclimate for tropical plants using concrete tiles and stones of all sizes, adds beauty, texture and radiant warmth that helps protect plants from cold desert nights. This expands your desert garden plant options ornamental plants like spider plants and extended vegetable growing for the poblano peppers Linda is growing.

“This spider plant, who is native to Africa, has been in this spot for 2 years now! This spring it will getting split into 6 separate pots! “

Spider Plants for Desert Garden Ideas

Place spider plants in a location with filtered sunlight, shade or partial shade for the healthiest plants. These plants are perennial plants in hardiness zones 9-11.

“Also, I’ll be planting a grape near the empty wire trellis (visible in the back of this photo) so it can grow over the yoga deck!“

Trellises like this wall of star jasmine can also double as shade structures and privacy fences.

Native Plants for Desert Garden Ideas

Desert plants include a wide range of hundreds of options, so we’re including some of the most popular in these lists to get you going with ideas. If you’re new to gardening in a arid climate, you’re in for an adventure with new plants to get to know and love, and year-round growing opportunities.

Edible Desert Plants

• Agave, Agave spp. – edible parts: flowers, leaves, stalks, basal rosettes, and sap
• Barrel Cactus, Echinocactus grusonii – fruit and seeds
• Cholla, Cylindropuntia – immature flower buds, ripened fruit and young, non-woody joints
• Desert Chia, Salvia hispanica – seeds and fresh or dried leaves for beneficial tea
• Mesquite, Prosopis spp. – wood from the mesquite tree for grilling & BBQ, seed pods for mesquite flour or powder used for baking and protein powder, and also made into syrup
• Piñon Pine, Pinus spp. – bark, needles, resin, nuts, and cones
• Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia Velutina – a common favorite edible cactus, with many uses for the pads (nopales), and skinned fruit
• Saguaro Cactus, Carnegiea Gigantea – fruit

Favorite Plants for Desert Gardens

• Agave / Foxtail Agave, Agave attenuata
• Aloe Vera, Aloe
• Bottlebrush, Callistemon
• Bougainvillea, Nyctaginaceae
• Flaming Katy, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
• Ghost Plant Succulent, Graptopetalum paraguayense
• Golden Barrel Cactus, Echinocactus grusonii
• Jade Plant, Crassula ovata
• Mexican Feather Grass, Stipa tenuissima
• Paddle Plant, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora
• Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia velutina
• Spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum
• Texas Sage, Leucophyllum frutescens
• Yellow Bells, Tecoma stans
• Yucca, Yucca gloriosa
  

There are hundreds of edible desert plants, and cactus fruits are known for being high in vitamins A and C, while other parts of desert plants provide good sources of protein.

Contributor, Joanne Zeterberg for ExperienceScottsdale.com

Potted Plants for the Desert Garden

• Agave 
• Aoe 
• Bougainvillea
• Hibiscus
• Mandevilla vine
• Petunia
• Sedum

Groundcover Plants for Desert Gardens

• Hardy Ice Plant, Delosperma – zones 5-9, this hardy succulent, is a perennial ground cover with daisy-like flowers in purple, pink, yellow and white varieties^[1]https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/ice-plant/growing-hardy-ice-plant.htm
• Hens and Chicks
• Sedum
• Sempervivum

Fruit that Grows in a Desert

Fruits and nuts Linda is Growing in her Desert Yoga Garden

• Grapes, red seedless
• Lemons –
  • Eureka lemon
  • Meyer lemon
• Naval orange
• …and more!

Vegetables That Grow in a Desert Climate

Most garden vegetables can be grown during prime growing season in desert climates, especially with adequate water and protection from too much sun

Vegetables Linda is Growing in her Southwestern Desert Garden

• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Greens –
  • lettuce
  • spinach
• Herbs –
  • basil
  • lavender
  • oregano
  • rosemary
  • rue
  • sage
  • thyme
• Peppers –
  • Bell
  • Anaheim Chilis
  • Poblano peppers
• Squash –
  • crookneck
  • zucchini
• Tomatoes

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Drought Resistant Flowers That Grow in the Dessert

• Bougainvillea
• Bottlebrush, Callistemon
• Bulbs
• Hibiscus
• Kalanchoe
• Mandevilla vine
• Petunia
• Star Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides – intensely sweet fragrance and leaves and flowers have medicinal benefit.
• Succulents –
  • Mother of a Million (and many more)
• Sunflower
• Yellow Bells, Tecoma stans

Find more edible flowers here.