Dick and Tess Peterson, 8407 Slant Oak Drive

Long time Xeriscapers, Dick and Tess Peterson have converted a neglected former rent house to a water-efficient landscape. The front yard has only two small patches of Zoysia grass as "test plot pathways." One is Palisades, the other is El Toro. The rest of the garden is made up of decomposed granite driveways, mulched areas and raised planting beds, creating a style reminiscent of a cottage garden.

A rainbarrel holds water near the front door, while a 500-gallon wooden cistern provides more water for soaker hoses buried in mulch. Pecan, Drake Elm, Monterey and Live Oak trees are quickly maturing, replacing the two original Arizona Ash.

The back yard was originally divided by a lattice fence, so Tess would not have to look at Dick's "service yard" – trash cans, compost bins and stacks of landscaped material waiting for a project. But now, "Dick's side" has matured into a little show place of its own. He still has project piles waiting to happen... but for the most part, it looks like a part of the landscape. So, the original camouflaging lattice has been replaced with double-loop garden fencing.

A 500-gallon fiberglass stock tank harvests rainwater and serves as a goldfish pond for grandsons. Fish emulsion-fertilized rainwater provides many benefits to the vegetable garden.

Qualified as a backyard habitat, the home site has food, water and nesting areas for wildlife. The yard is filled with native and well-adapted plants, very limited tropicals and annuals, and most of these are in a few hanging baskets. Entertaining areas and pathways in the back yard are covered with native hardwood mulch, which requires no water.

Always a work in progress, the landscape requires an early spring cleanup, but after that it is very low maintenance.