Most of our 3.3 acre lot is designated natural open space, which means that it must essentially remain unimproved with the exception of adding or replacing native plants. Paths are permitted for access. A small wash bisects our lot behind the house, and we have left the acreage beyond the wash to the south and west untouched except to work on repairing eroded areas where old horse trails used to be, and to revegetate a very bare area where a major drainage pipe was installed by the developers of the subdivision.
One of the reasons we bought and built in this community was because of the natural open space restrictions, and because there was a designated building site for each of the 3.3 acre lots that define the western edge of Sweetwater in the Foothills.
Having a designated building site (generally in the center of each lot) meant a guaranteed amount of space between neighbors, and allows most of the native desert on these lots to buffer our community from Sweetwater Drive. This native desert also is much more receptive to and supportive of the wildlife that we enjoy watching every day.
A couple of benches placed in the shade of palo verde trees provides a quiet spot to watch birds or a sunset over the Tucson Mountains.
A Reliable Water Source is a Necessity in the Desert
The self-filling water station on the west side of our house lets us watch wildlife from a large window. This water station is made from a 24" diameter concrete saucer, connected by 1" copper pipe to a PVC water container with a float valve in it, which in turn is supplied with water by a quarter inch copper pipe that runs underground from the west side hose bib. We had to have a hole drilled in the side of the concrete saucer so that the PVC pipe and the rubber gaskets that hold it in place and keep it from leaking could be attached to the saucer.
The water level inside the PVC container (made for swimming pool filters) must be the same as the level you want the water to be in the large open saucer when full, so getting these components aligned correctly is critical, but once you do, when the animals drink it down (or the water evaporates), it will refill on it's own. Note that we have some slanted and flat rocks placed in the dish. This is to help things (like baby quail) that might fall in get out easily. The water depth when the dish is full is about 4".
Large animals (deer, javelina, coyotes, bobcats) plus rabbits, birds, lizards and snakes all use this waterstation. We've even seen burrowing owls bathing and drinking in it when it was nearly dark.
The mule deer and javelina that visit the station soon learned to wait a few minutes for the dish to refill when they had drained all the water. On many occasions, we've seen coyotes drinking early in the morning.
The Enclosed Back Yard Mini-Oasis
We have a relatively small area enclosed by a view fence (slump block and wrought iron) that is our back yard mini-oasis. About a third of this area (about 20 x 25 feet) is hybrid bermuda (tiffgreen) grass. The remainder of the yard gets summertime filtered shade in some areas from Willow Acacia and Desert Willow trees. Plants include several varieties of salvia, lantana, verbena, blue plumbago, honeysuckle, ruellia, seasonal wildflowers and some cacti. While some of these plants take a little more water than the true natives, most are low-water use plants, and the flowers are attractive to birds and butterflies.
We also have a water feature here — a copper fountain that looks like a three-stemmed yucca. The base holds water at about a 6" depth, and rocks around and in the base disguise the float valve that keeps it filled, and provide perch areas and escape routes for animals and birds who use it for drinking and bathing. And, we love the sound of the falling water when we're sitting on our back porch.
A lesser goldfinch on the top of the fountain, and a house finch on the railing.
The Front Entry Mini-Oasis
Our front entry area is a mix of potted sub-tropicals (including a philodendron that escaped its pot and rooted in the ground) and low-water use flowering perennials (Mexican primrose, salvia, Nurembergia, fairy-duster, day lilies, dwarf nandina, lantana) and annuals. Hummingbirds are frequent visitors to this area, as are butterflies. Since it is accessible to bunnies and squirrels, some plants are more successful than others so it is continually evolving! A birdbath provides water.
Baby bunnies sample EVERYTHING! A product called Liquid Fence has been helpful in training rodents not to eat things I don't want them to - it's made from natural ingredients including garlic and smells just awful when in its liquid state, but when dry, only the critters can smell it. But some things are just too tempting even with the Liquid Fence applied, so I have to use chicken wire enclosures until they get large enough to withstand "browsing".
A desert
cottontail enjoys a little grass in the late afternoon.
Above:
Lesser Goldfinch browse on a Russian sage plant
Supplemental Food
You can have a backyard wildlife habitat with just a permanent water source and native plants that provide nectar, seeds and vegetative material, but you will attract additional birds and more kinds of birds if you are willing to add some additional food sources (hummingbird feeders, bird feeders). While these require more work to maintain and cost money to buy and keep filled, if you like watching wildlife, particularly birds, it's a relatively low-cost hobby.
We have hummingbird feeders on both our front and back porches, and a couple more in areas of the yard where we can see them from windows.
I have two thistle (niger) seed feeders. One of these is an "upside down" feeder, designed mostly for lesser goldfinch (seen below), which can and do hang upside down on the perch to get the seed. Some of the house finches finally learned this trick too, but instead of hanging upside down and feeding steadily, they "twirl", grabbing seed on each rotation!
Above: Rock squirrels are very acrobatic - this one is out on the end of a palo verde tree branch getting the seed pods.
Above: A Harris' Antelope Squirrel collecting seed-filled fruit from a cholla cactus. This photo was taken in September - by February, the squirrels and birds will have cleaned off nearly all the fruit from these cactus.
Above: A verdin gets nectar from a Red Salvia