A major challenge for those of us living in the Southwest is bringing our landscapes into balance with the desert ecosystems we call home. In El Paso, Texas, for example, we only get about 9 inches of rain a year, and the entire city relies on water pumped from deep underground aquifers and water that flows down the Rio Grande. There are plenty of us that call this beautiful Sun City our home, but not a whole lot of water to go around.
One way we can all play a part in supporting the wider desert ecosystem is to conserve water by planting trees, bushes, and shrubs that are well adapted to the desert climate. Trees like desert willows and unique desert plants like ocotillo don’t depend on much supplemental irrigation to survive, once they are well established.
To that end, we put together a quick video that shares six desert plants that require little water and look great in your water-harvesting landscape. Check it out!