Landscaping plays a major role in the appearance of your vacation rental home – it’s one of the first things a guest will notice upon their arrival. A clean, neatly kept lawn, with thriving plant life, assures your guests they’ve chosen a well-cared-for place to spend their vacation. No one wants to be greeted by a brown, weedy lawn, overgrown shrubs, and broken tree branches!

 

In addition to contributing to your vacation rental homes’ first impression, your choice of landscaping styles can have dramatic effects on the costs of operating your vacation rental – especially here in the Arizona desert! As a vacation rental homeowner, you certainly understand that operating costs directly affect the profitability of your property.

That’s Not From Around Here…

 

Common sense would dictate that plant life indigenous to an area will also be the most cost-effective to maintain, right? So keeping a large yard full of beautifully manicured green turf in the middle of a desert definitely comes with a price tag – both in terms of maintenance and water usage. 

 

Water is expensive in the Phoenix area, and since our state has been in some degree of long-term drought for over two decades, it’s our responsibility to use this resource wisely. And since our area of the world is known for its uniquely beautiful native plants, we’re fairly certainly visitors aren’t vacationing here expecting it to look like Oregon.

 

What Desert Landscaping Would Mean to You

 

If you’re maintaining a lawn full of greenery now, take a look at your monthly water bill and imagine what it might be without having to thoroughly soak that lawn 3-5 times a week during hot weather. (WE’RE imaging it would be a LOT less.)

 

And what about maintenance? In order to keep a green lawn looking nice, weekly mowing and edging are necessary. Are you doing that work yourself – or are you paying to have it done? While you may still need to have your desert landscape tended to on a weekly basis, without mowing the time spent on weekly maintenance will be drastically less than a green lawn.

 

There are also seasonal expenses  – such as re-seeding/over-seeding  – associated with keeping a lawn green year-round, so don’t forget to consider those when imaging your lowered cash outlay (and increased profit!)

 

But Desert Landscaping Sounds So Bland

 

Are you kidding right now? The Arizona desert has so many cool native plants – and many of them produce colorful flowers! In addition to being drought-tolerant, our varieties of sage, yucca, bougainvillea, trumpet plants, and fairy dusters will bring the stunning colors of the desert right into your yard! (Bonus: many of these plants also attract hummingbirds and butterflies, sure to delight your visitors!)

 

If you absolutely can’t do without at least a “patch” of grass here or there, check into the vast array of artificial turf products on the market today. Some of these options can even provide a cooling effect, similar to natural turf. Artificial turf is green year-round – and NO MOWING!

Other Enhancements

 

Many people add pops of color to desert landscaping through the use of potted flowering desert plants  – some even choose nice-looking, high-quality artificial plants or flowers for even less maintenance

 

Making the Switch

 

If it sounds as though desert landscaping might be a good choice for your vacation rental property, but are worried about the cost of making a change from green lawn to a desert landscape, the biggest favor you can do yourself is to enlist the help of a reputable landscape designer to give you the facts.

 

If you’re working out a brand new plan, take into consideration any existing desert flora you want to keep, and the location in relation to any swimming pools or spas. There are a few native trees and plants that should be kept as far as possible from those areas. Palo Verde trees and bougainvillea, for example, “shed” periodically and can be a nuisance to clean up, especially once wet.

 

In many cases, the cost of renovating your lawn from grass to a desert landscape will easily be recouped within a year or so of savings in water usage and maintenance costs. And the savings and benefits of having a desert landscape continue month after month, year after year!

 

Moxie Girl Can Help Make the Most of Your Vacation Rental Home!

Moxie Girl, the Valley’s vacation rental specialist, has years of experience in the cleaning industry and focuses on the care of vacation rental homes throughout the Phoenix Metro area! Click here to see how Moxie Girl can help your vacation rental property reach its full potential!