Midcentury Garden with a Desert Look Ideas and Designs

Drought tolerant and native plantings frame the mid-century facade and provide for architectural and sculptural interest at the front yard landscape
Medium sized retro front xeriscape full sun garden in Orange County with a desert look, gravel and a metal fence.

San Rafael Eichler - Mid-Century Modern Back & Front Landscape Remodel

Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

The front and back areas surrounding this Eichler home were updated with the mid-century modern design aesthetic in mind. ing grasses, other Mediterranean plants and several succulents. The Front landscape takes on a minimalist design with architectural Barrel Cactus, Artichoke Agaves, stately Thatching Reeds, a Blue Palm (Brahea 'Clara') a Mediterranean Fan Palm and other easy-care plants. The corten steel sculpture offers a striking focal point adjacent to the front doorway.

Palm Springs in Scottsdale - Mid-Century Modern Design with Custom Breeze Block

Shearon Design Collective

Transformed and transported this Desert Mid-Century Modern from Palm Springs straight to this North Scottsdale home. Every detail was highly considered, even down to the customer made breeze block to create this on-trend screen wall. Everything is new, all plants, cactus, agave, succulents, plants, and lighting. A very large thank you to our incredible client. We are thankful to have been part of this special project!

Mid-Century Bungalow Back Yard

Remodel Boutique

This mid-century modern home features a bench with an integrated planter and multiple lounge areas
Photo of a medium sized retro back xeriscape full sun garden in Austin with a desert look, concrete paving and a wood fence.

Palm Springs in Glen Iris

Davidson Design Studio

A Palm Springs inspired, arid garden provides a beautiful backdrop to this stunning modern home by Latitude 37 Homes. The open nature of the architecture and natural building materials frame views to the garden and allow the indoors and outdoors to work as one.

Backyard Hillside Drought-tolerant Design

Flores Artscape

Photo of a large retro back xeriscape partial sun garden for spring in Los Angeles with a desert look and decorative stones.

Mi Century Encino

Bonilla's Landscapes Inc.

MID CENTURY MODERN LANDSCAPE RENO SCOPE OF WORK • DEMOLITION • CONCRETE • POOL COPING • iRRIGATION •fENCING •CUSTOM SEATING • PLANTING + IRRIGATION

Casa Del Sol

Groundswell Gardens

This is an example of a medium sized midcentury front xeriscape full sun garden for winter in Melbourne with a desert look.

Pierre Koenig Midcentury Home

Suarez + Benz

Inspiration for a midcentury front driveway garden for spring in Los Angeles with a desert look.

Mid-Century Bungalow Back Yard

Remodel Boutique

This mid-century modern home features a bench with an integrated planter and multiple lounge areas
Inspiration for a medium sized midcentury back xeriscape full sun garden in Austin with a desert look, concrete paving and a wood fence.

Front Landscape - Eichler

Jeff S

Recent front yard renovation. Replaced old wood fence with Concrete Breezeway Blocks Phoenix Style from OurBlockCo.com Front landscape changed from grass to low water landscape

Palm Springs, California

Palms Landscape Inc.

Inspiration for a retro front xeriscape garden in Other with a desert look and decorative stones.

Palm Springs in Scottsdale - Mid-Century Modern Design with Custom Breeze Block

Shearon Design Collective

Backyard Hillside Drought-tolerant Design

Flores Artscape

Design ideas for a large retro back xeriscape partial sun garden for spring in Los Angeles with a desert look and decorative stones.

Mid-Century Modern Jacksonville

Helix Green Designs

Before + after of the front garden transformation for this single family home in Jacksonville, FL. This project included the design of a new entry way and porch that would complement the existing architecture of their home. Long linear concrete stepping pads were added to break up the long expanse of lawn and the bold architectural plantings add interest and mimic the homeowners mid century design aesthetic.

Low Water Love

Sweet Smiling Landscapes

Tiered of the looking out at a shabby brown lawn in their front yard and unwilling to use the water to keep it green these homeowners decided to go for something different. The wife in this household worked from home and was motivated to have a better view from her home office. As an enthusiastic bird watcher, I wanted to give her a view that included happy birds fluttering about. The husband was annoyed by the fact that some of the neighbors allowed their dogs to use this corner lot a toilet without having the curtesy of cleaning up after them. My job was to create a low water landscape (also known as xeriscape) that attracted birds, bees and butterflies but kept the dogs off. We started with directing down spouts in to catch basins called infiltration swales. These swales capture water storing it in the soil where it can be accessed by plants months after the rains have stopped. Then we integrated primarily California native plants and succulents into the design. Special attention was payed to the water needs of the plants and the ideal growing conditions for each species so that the combination of earthworks and plant choice and placement this landscape can get by with zero supplemental irrigation after the period of establishment this landscape. By incorporating flowering California native plants, native birds and insects flocked to the site in a neighborhood otherwise dominated by lifeless landscapes. By surrounding the garden with decomposed granite and succulents we created a space that was unpleasant and unappealing for dogs to relive themselves while remaining appealing to more human sensibilities. Today this property sits on the corner in a suburban neighborhood of Goleta, California. Hopefully serving as inspiration to take out lawns and build beautiful gardens that work to integrate the man made landscape with the natural ecosystem in which it is built.

Palm Springs in Glen Iris

Davidson Design Studio

Creating a midcentury modern, arid style garden to complement a new build by Latitude 37. Inspired by the wonderous residential landscapes of Palm Springs and using plants to suit Melbourne's climate.

Palm Springs inspired Deakin Project

Manuka Gardens

Our Deakin project’s oversized yellow feature pot has been the talk of the town. Our design brief was to create a Palm Springs inspired, low maintenance garden to compliment their mid-century modern influenced renovation. The addition of the yellow pot was the request of our clients and as you can see it’s a stunning focal point for their front garden.

Tropical Villa Landscape

ecore habitat Studio

Midcentury modern style landscape design for the full yard and rooftop. The landscape design proposed for a family to enjoy the tropical outdoors and sense the feeling of an oasis in the desert.

Backyard Hillside Drought-tolerant Design

Flores Artscape

Inspiration for a large midcentury back xeriscape partial sun garden for spring in Los Angeles with a desert look and decorative stones.

Midcentury Garden with a Desert Look Ideas and Designs

A beautifully designed midcentury garden is as important as the emphasis we place on the designs of our interiors. After all, our grounds (however modest) frame our homes and contribute to first impressions not only of our houses, but also of the households within. Options for garden designs can be as elaborate or low maintenance as your lifestyle and preferences permit – consider both your aspirations for how it should look and how much time you can invest in garden maintenance. Consulting a gardener or landscape designer will ensure you have a garden that suits your lifestyle, the local climate and soil conditions. But don’t forget that with Houzz your first stop can be collecting images of garden ideas and designs you love in order to inspire your garden plans and potentially share them with a landscape gardening professional.

How do I come up with a midcentury front garden design?

The priority for a front garden is kerb appeal. Begin by considering the area immediately around and leading up to your front door. You may want to opt for front garden designs that blend well with the style of your home – for example, abundant foliage and flowerbeds will perfectly complement a period property, whereas man-made materials, geometric shapes and contrasting textures are great ideas for a contemporary garden design. Even if your front garden is a small space, keep it tidy – if you have more space, make the most of it with garden ideas and features such as a manicured lawn, gravel driveway, water feature or garden fencing. If you don’t have the time or commitment to devote to gardening, then neatly pruned hedges, statement paving, hanging baskets, garden benches and outdoor lighting are all decorative, low maintenance garden ideas for your midcentury front garden design.

How should I design my midcentury back garden?

Back gardens typically offer more space than front garden designs and serve a more recreational purpose, so it’s important to know how you want to spend time in your garden before you design it in order to build in the features that you will enjoy. If you love relaxing in the garden and dining al fresco, think about patios, decking, garden furniture and BBQs. For the more horticulturally-inclined, incorporate flower beds, greenhouses or vegetable garden designs. Your landscape gardening professional can help you install structures such as sheds, pergolas and gazebos that complement your garden design, and artfully-placed garden ideas such as lawn edging and lighting will add definition to your chosen design.

How do I create a low maintenance garden?

The great news is, gardens aren’t exclusively for the green-fingered. Whether you’re not horticulturally-inclined or simply don’t have the time for a bit of landscape gardening, you can still have a midcentury garden design that looks the way you want by making some smart design choices. While many of us favour low maintenance gardens like urban gardens, roof terraces and patio gardens, lovers of greenery don’t need to sacrifice grass for paving slabs. Whatever you want from your garden, there are a variety of gardening solutions that can be built in to make life easier. For example, labour intensive features such as vegetable patches, greenhouses and flower beds can be optimised with an automatic irrigation system. These can be offset with fuss-free garden ideas such as hard landscaping, including gravel, paving or decking, and hard-wearing evergreens that require minimal upkeep. You might even consider replacing your garden fencing with slow growing hedging, which can be maintained less regularly than wooden fence panels. If having a lawn is important, there are different types of grasses in varying degrees of durability and maintenance. You may choose to take a more relaxed approach to your lawn – “wild” garden designs can have great charm if the grasses and flowers are chosen carefully. If you prefer a manicured lawn, it’s a good idea to invest in a “mulching” lawn mower that will recycle clippings and remove the need for cleaning up. Finally, there isn’t a more low maintenance garden lawn than artificial grass which can look highly realistic and keep your garden looking green. Garden ornaments are a great way to add interest to your low maintenance garden design – go for smart garden ideas such as solar garden lights which are both decorative and functional. Find some of the most popular design ideas on Houzz.

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