New front yard

We have been busy with our front yard. We (I) decided to switch our yard over to xeriscaping. We will be doing 3 phases of yard transformations over the next 2 years until we move. Phase one involved killing the grass (that didn't grow well anyway), planting low-water-use plants, and covering with mulch. We have finished phase one.

Of  course, everything is so small you really can't see anything. We have a few lantana, yellow bells, mexican bird of paradise, purple fountain grass, morning glory bush, honeysuckle, and a teeny tiny mesquite behind the new block wall.

Phase 2 will include tearing out the excess triangle of concrete next to the driveway, extending the porch with a pergola to cover the front room window, and adding a sidewalk from the street to the extended porch. In the picture below you can see where the new sidewalk will be. The triangular piece of concrete on the left side of the picture is what will be torn out.

Phase 3 will happen right before we move and will basically just involve planting grass in the small area between the future sidewalk and the current driveway, including the area under the concrete triangle we will be tearing out in phase 2.

I finished planting everything a couple weeks ago and the plants are already looking a lot bigger. Our little mesquite has grown almost 18 inches in 2 months. Hopefully with 2 more years of growth, our miniscule plants will actually be visible when we get ready to sell our house when Ryan graduates. I am really excited to see what our yard will look like in 2 years!

For those of you interested, City of Mesa has a landscape conversion program to help offset the cost of changing out your landscape. The web address for the program is http://www.mesaaz.gov/conservation/rebate.aspx
Everyone in the department has been so helpful and prompt. I could not recommend the program more!

SRP has a shade tree program to help homeowners reduce their electricity use through properly placed desert shade trees. The web address for their program is  http://www.savewithsrp.com/RD/shadetrees.aspx
Although the website states they will be 4-6 foot saplings, that was only true with the thorned trees. Most of the thornless ones are truly miniscule, but they grow quickly and are free. How can you go wrong with that? If you are in APS territory, I know they have a similar program.