Drive By

Several months ago, Matthew at ¡Ay Chihuahua! took a desert walk near his neighborhood. He brought along his camera so that his readers could see some of the flora he sees every day. Since then, other garden bloggers have provided a visual tour through their neighborhoods, pointing out the different landscape and housing styles of their areas. I really enjoyed reading those posts, so I thought I would do the same in my neighborhood.

My tour was done by car for two reasons. First, it's still too hot to walk. The properties are quite large and spread out so I would have a heat stroke before the end of the block. Second, there are no sidewalks in my neighborhood. In addition, I was nervous about blatantly taking photos of others' property--so I took the stealth approach and used the drive-by method.

I took photos that represent the prevailing architectural and landscape styles in the area. My neighborhood is new--only a few years old, so there are no towering trees, mature landscaping, or anything of historical significance.

This home is what I call faux Tuscan. It is typical of this popular style with its use of a rounded turret entry. Both the entry turret and pony-wall are faced with stone. The landscape is considered "desert landscaping" and it utilizes both artificial turf and granite. The house color is a common southwest color.

This home is considered a Southwest Traditional style with a pony-wall courtyard entry. The landscape ground cover is granite and rip-rap, another common feature in desert landscaping. The small blue-gray palm tree on the left is a Mexican Blue Palm.

This is another faux Tuscan with the rounded entry turret and clay tile roofing. It has a paver stone circular driveway. The landscape granite is a darker color to match the dark neutral color of the house. Notice the ubiquitous pony wall--something that is used extensively to create a modified front courtyard. The palm on the left is a Queen Palm, commonly used in the Phoenix area, but not really suited to this climate. These palms never really look good here. It's just too hot and dry for them.

This is a Southwest Contemporary with a high pony wall and courtyard entry. The circular driveway is decomposed granite that has been treated with a product that hardens it. The landscaping plantings are all native to the Sonoran desert.

The deciduous Chinese Elm shown here is another popular tree in the Phoenix area. It takes more water than the typical desert trees, but homeowners like it because it grows fast and can provide a tremendous amount of shade as it gets older. The house and landscape have all the elements that are common here; granite, riprap, courtyard pony-wall, stone facings, and iron entry gate.

This is my favorite. It is a combination Pueblo/Santa Fe/Southwest Ranch with a wood entry gate. It's a great example of well-balanced desert landscaping. This place also has artificial turf, which is being used more and more.

This home has two other elements that are very popular here, a rounded iron and glass entry door and a courtyard fountain.

Well, I got through the tour without anyone calling the police to report suspicious activity, and I think I've hidden any identifying elements that neighbors would find objectionable. Hope you saw something interesting.