Barrel Cactus Checkerboard: A Low-Maintenance Desert Garden

Escondido resident Peter Bailey replaced a thirsty lawn with a 700-sq-ft grid of 2-ft concrete squares, crushed rock, and golden barrel cacti. The goal: look good from ground level and second-story windows. After leveling soil and laying weed barrier, he set 25 precast squares in five rows, 2 ft apart. Crushed rock fills gaps, harmonizing with granite boulders. At rock intersections, he cut holes in the barrier and planted 16 golden barrel cacti. Drip irrigation is used rarely (twice monthly in summer). One square was replaced with a tree aloe, its leafy topknot echoing nearby palms and agaves.