Yes, You Can Have A Lawn In The Desert! 5 Tips For Success

Do you want a lawn but live in the desert? Most people assume that a beautiful lawn is incompatible with desert living due to the heat, sun, and high water needs. However, you can have the grass you want even under these conditions. Here are a few tricks to make it happen. 

1. Prepare the Soil

Desert soil may not be amenable to growing many types of grasses. Unfortunately, that means you may have to work harder and water more to make up for this fundamental problem. So start by determining the needs of your particular grass species and use soil amendments to prepare the ground. 

2. Choose the Right Grass

Different grasses have different strengths and weaknesses. Warm-season grasses, for example, tend to have lower watering needs than cold-season grasses. In addition, Bermuda grass or couch grass are often good species for deserts since they can withstand harsher conditions than many others. 

3. Use Strategic Shade

Trees and other structures around the lawn can help keep it cooler and lower the rate of evaporation. 

Look at how the sun moves across your intended lawn area over the course of the day and season. Maximize shadows in various parts of the day by using trees, tall shrubs, lattices, outbuildings, fencing, and the house itself. 

4. Start With Sod

You have two choices to start a new lawn: seed or sod. Because your lawn will start out in more challenging circumstances, sod may be the best choice. Why?

Sod generally takes root faster and more easily than seeds, which is important when you're working against the close of heat and drought. In addition, it's more likely to grow more evenly than seeds, so you may be able to get the whole lawn started at one time. 

5. Keep It Limited

The larger your grassy lawn, the more you'll need to work to keep it happy in the desert. So start out with a relatively limited area and figure out what it takes to get the look you want in your yard. 

Then use grass alternatives, such as ground covers, to extend the green look of the grass without actually using more of it. Or make the grass a centerpiece of the overall landscape, giving it a place of importance and adding a hardscape around it to encourage use. 

Where to Start

Ready to figure out how you can have that lawn you always wanted even though you live where it's not common? Begin by consulting with a professional landscaping service in your region today.

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