PAINTED DESERT PROJECT: Landscaping touch-up

Homeowners work to update their surroundings

Homeowners at the Painted Desert community in northwest Las Vegas have been working to make their surroundings more appropriate for, well, a "painted desert."

The Painted Desert Community Association, which manages the nearly 1,700-home, 460-acre gated community at Ann and Centennial Center roads, decided about a year ago that the community's landscaping needed a desert-friendly redo.

"We are replacing the old plants that were planted when Painted Desert was built in the late 1980s with plants that are more drought-resistant," said Glenn Hoffman, who heads up the community's landscaping committee. "We have looked for plants that will be colorful throughout the year so that we will truly have a painted desert look."

The landscaping committee asked Instant Jungle Landscape, a local commercial and residential landscaping company, to help with Painted Desert's makeover.

"We did desert conversion," said co-owner Launa Norton. "We take away the grass and put in desert stuff that will be low water usage but still pretty, flowering and tolerant to our conditions. The trees we've used are acacias, mesquites, pines and palo verdes. For shrubbery, we've used deer grass, autumn sage and lantanas. Lantanas have a great flower, and the autumn sage flowers three seasons of the year."

"They've been working closely with us to select plants and replace the irrigation to make sure the latest technology is being used," Hoffman said. "All the irrigation had to be redone to make it more water efficient."

Though the project is still in progress, so far the community bounded by Ann, Cimarron, Lone Mountain and Centennial Center roads looks much more deserty, while still being green and lush.

Painted Desert's makeover initiative impressed the Las Vegas City Council. At a July 15 ceremony, Councilman Michael Mack presented the community association with a special beautification award signed by Mayor Oscar Goodman and the entire council.

"(Painted Desert) is probably one of the oldest communities in that quadrant of the northwest," Mack said. "Keeping the older communities up to a higher standard is always a challenge. They took it upon themselves to create landscaping improvements to beautify the perimeter of the community. It fits nicely with the rest of the community, and I thought it was prudent on their part to consult landscaping companies about water conservation. It's a model for other older neighborhoods to follow."

The project has been funded entirely by the Painted Desert Community Association, Hoffman said. The community's landscaping committee includes several concerned homeowners, including Hoffman, master gardener Benneth Morrow and Mel Henkin.

Hoffman, a real estate consultant, said the new landscaping will help Painted Desert compete with newer communities springing up in the area.

"Plants have a lifespan and a tendency to die off unless homeowners are active and recognize the need to replace them," he said. "Plants require a redo in order to keep the community looking good. We did it for the homeowners, prospective buyers and people who live in the area. We're good community citizens."


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