Desert landscape turf conversions
Turf where you want green, granite and desert planting everywhere else. The layout that suits this landscape and passes design review.
Turf where you want green, granite and desert planting everywhere else. The layout that suits this landscape and passes design review.
Wall-to-wall green is a Midwest idea imported to the Sonoran Desert. What actually works here — visually and practically — is a designed composition: a turf panel where you want softness underfoot, decomposed granite everywhere else, and desert plants doing the real work.
It looks deliberate rather than transplanted, it costs less than turfing an entire lot, and it is what actually suits a Scottsdale property.
Under the last program year, conversions over 1,000 square feet needed at least 25 percent of the remaining area replanted with Arizona-friendly plants measured at mature size. Conversions under 1,000 square feet had no plant requirement at all. That is a far lighter condition than programs in neighbouring states, and a turf panel framed by palo verde, desert willow, agave, red yucca and lantana clears it comfortably.
Rebate terms change between program years, so confirm current requirements with Scottsdale Water. Our rebate page has the detail.
Under a window you look out of. Where children or dogs actually play. A clean rectangle or soft curve visible from the street. Turf in the corner nobody visits is money spent on nothing.
The transition between turf and granite is the detail that decides whether this looks designed or improvised. We use steel edging or paver borders to hold a crisp line, so granite does not migrate into the turf and turf does not fray into the granite. On a front yard this is the most-photographed six inches of the project.
Scottsdale gets little rain and then gets all of it at once. The composition has to shed a heavy August storm without washing granite across the turf or ponding against the house.
Plant coverage is assessed at maturity, not at installation. Spacing that looks sparse the first year is usually correct.
A 600 square foot conversion might be 250 square feet of turf, 350 square feet of granite with fifteen to twenty desert plants on drip, steel edging throughout, and a shade tree or two. Priced between $4,200 and $8,400.
The same principle applies behind the wall, usually with a larger turf area since that is where the yard actually gets used. Pool surrounds, patios and dog runs all integrate into the same composition.
Desert conversions often price lower per square foot than full turf because granite is cheaper than turf. Most Scottsdale front yards land between $4,200 and $8,400 before the rebate is applied. Full pricing breakdown.
Most estimates are scheduled within 48 hours.
Images are representative of the work we do.
Tell us the space and we’ll give you a firm, written price. No pressure, no obligation.
