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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

>  My houses faces west, the worst possible direction in phx.  If I  
> had dsert landscaping the rocks would absorb the western sun all  
> afternoon , making my house/property hotter during the already hot  
> days, and then throw part of it toward the house in the evening ,  
> making it even harder to cool the house.....bobford

The key is not the ground but the shade. Mesquite trees are well  
adapted here. They shade the ground, whether that ground is covered  
with grass or gravel.