What is with all the rocks?? (Phoenix, Chandler: homes, buyer, gated)

[MotleyCrew]

I would rather look at endless rock yards with low/no water vegetation than run out of water.

[LeavingCA2016]

And yeah, I get that Phoenix is in the desert and there are plenty of other places with lush green lawns, including where we are paying an arm and a leg to live now, but we are moving for a job, not for love of the desert. We're just trying to make the best of it for our kids :-)

[R_Cowgirl]

As for taking care of weeds, whether on rocks or a lawn, I'm loving that stuff I mentioned earlier - The Garden Guy's Extreme Weed Preventer is amazing! I'm blown away. When I bought my property it was nothing but dirt and rocks in the front and back yards. I landscaped using pink rocks and put in a 14x28' lawn in the back, and then installed a little rock river with 3" river rock, and installed pink rocks in the rest of the back yard. I have 1/3 an acre, so it's a lot of rock! Then I planted what my kids call 'nekkid cactus' -- the Totum cactus without prickly stuff on them.

All went well until a couple of years ago when it appears the birds and time have worn down the heavy plastic under the rocks. I wound up with weeds everywhere in my pink rocks. I found the Garden Guy online because I was looking for some non-toxic solutions to the weeds. I have used white vinegar in the past on weeds and that's good in a pinch, but it doesn't work on the worst weeds. Check out his site. You can order his products or go to a nursery like Summer Winds and they carry it or can order it for you. He's down around the Mesa area - so if you're close to that, you can just drop in and pick some up. I have had maybe 3 weeds pop up since I started using his corn meal product. SWEET!! He also has diatomaceous earth, which you can sprinkle around the outside of the house and along walls to control ants, cockroaches and scorpions.

I don't work with or for him, but I love love love his stuff.

[kell490]

Stop building ugly red tile roof, stucco track homes the desert we won't ever run out of water.

[smoochaz]

Originally Posted by LeavingCA2016

I know this is going to have some eyes rolling, as I have read all of the comments about how implants are more freaked out about pests than necessary, but bear with me, I'm a beach kid, I can't help myself. :-)

In looking at houses (renting for one year first), houses with grass yards are so few and far between. With 3 kids, a backyard would be a deal breaker for us. Do people generally not use their backyards in phx metro? I keep seeing listings that say "great backyard to play in" and it's covered in rocks. My kids aren't going to do cartwheels and have picnics on rocks. Is this a drought thing, or a critter thing, or just a rental thing? If I do find grass, is it going to be unsafe for the kids to run around in and sit on because of scorpions or something else (we plan on paying handsomely for good pest control)? Easy maintenance desert landscaping seems to be such a selling point, where here that would be bizarre and no one would be interested in a house with rocks behind it.

Coming from the "Garden State" I can relate!! There are nice pockets throughout Phoenix area with lush grass and tropical plants - depends on where you want to live and your budget... check out mccormick ranch for example in Scottsdale beautiful lakes (natural) and the green belt - genius master plan for managing flood zone...

[Zippyman]

Definitely don't rule out rentals as having no grass based on the front yard - both my rentals have rocks in the front, but a decent-sized grass area in the back. Irrigation systems need love pretty frequently, rocked areas need a dose of surflan 2x a year to keep the weeds down, there really is no free lunch.

[adriver]

Don't forget the 3-5 months of mowing the grass at either, 6 am or when its over 100 degrees.

[LeavingCA2016]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

Definitely don't rule out rentals as having no grass based on the front yard - both my rentals have rocks in the front, but a decent-sized grass area in the back. Irrigation systems need love pretty frequently, rocked areas need a dose of surflan 2x a year to keep the weeds down, there really is no free lunch.

I need an owner like you lol. I've been checking google earth to see what's in the back but assuming if the listing doesn't show the backyard it's either rocks, or dirt and they don't want to highlight it.

[Finger Laker]

Originally Posted by gbpakrfan

I was really looking forward to moving to our new home with desert landscaping. One thing I always hated was mowing the lawn, watering the lawn, trimming the lawn, raking the lawn, fertilizing the lawn. Need I go on?

However, my dreams of a maintence-free desert landscape were quickly dashed when I was invaded by hordes of weeds of every size and shape. Don't get me wrong, I still love my desert landscaping, the rocks, the cacti, etc., but my God...the weeds!!!

Speaking of rocks, it seems like my rocks are gradually disappearing or eroding. So, my weeds are multiplying and my rocks are subtracting. I never knew there would be so much math involved in desert landscaping.

Did you drop a pre-emergent?

[MotleyCrew]

We saw some artificial grass at Robson Ranch this weekend. I could not believe it wasn't real. for the grass lovers here...use that and save some water...please.