Learn what’s possible for local yards at the Landscape Tour

Pahrump may be known as a harsh and hot environment but there is still plenty of plant potential as well as ample opportunity to incorporate yard art and structural features into one’s landscaping.

Next month, residents can learn all about the variety of trees, flowers, shrubs, cacti, vegetables and fruits that can be cultivated right here in the valley and draw inspiration from the creative yard elements to be found at the Pahrump Valley Garden Club’s 18th Annual Self-Guided Landscape Tour. So set aside the morning of May 9 and take a jaunt around town to get a first-hand look at this year’s featured properties.

“The preparations for this year’s event are going well. We have three local businesses selling our tickets and they are ready to be purchased,” Pahrump Valley Garden Club Secretary Sandy Nelson told the Pahrump Valley Times this week. “We have six sites for the 2026 tour, including five local properties and the Demonstration Garden at the UNR Cooperative Extension. Two of the properties feature homeowner-designed and built landscapes and they are all very different in using plant materials for their landscapes. So people get to see a great variety of plants that grow well here. There are a few raised beds with flowers and vegetable, flowering shrubs and trees. As you visit each landscape, you can see what grows well in our Mojave Desert.”

Tickets for the Landscape Tour are just $7 per person and all those who purchase their tickets before May 6 will be entered into the Garden Club’s prize drawings, with items such as gardening tools, books on cultivating plants and even a few gift certificates included in the raffle. And the destination for the funds raised isn’t the Garden Club’s own coffers, either. Instead, the group uses the event to raise funds for local causes.

“All profits from the Landscape Tour are given back to local nonprofits,” Nelson explained. “The profits from our 2025 tour were given to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #10054 Veterans Food Pantry, the 4-H Garden Club, the NyE Communities Coalition, Sleep in Heavenly Peace and United Methodist Church Food Pantry.”

The Landscape Tour is also a great way for the Garden Club to spread the word about its activities, which are open to anyone interested in joining the group.

“As always, we welcome new members,” Nelson detailed. “A typical meeting will have a presentation on a garden topic. These topics include summer and winter vegetable gardens, which types of trees and shrubs do well, garden pests and more. Members sometimes request a topic and we also take time to devote to garden failures and wins. Members bring in any extra garden items they no longer want or excess vegetables or plants. We also do a seed exchange twice a year. We have members who love to vegetable garden as well those who like to create a lovely retreat in their backyard, so we have something for everyone! And everyone at the meetings is part of the free raffle, too.”

The Pahrump Valley Garden Club meets the second Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. at the Pahrump Valley Museum, 401 E. Basin Avenue, with the exception of May due to the Landscape Tour. Membership is $12 for one person or $21 for a couple.

The 18th Annual Self-Guided Landscape Tour is set for Saturday, May 9 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For more information call the Garden Club at 775-537-7553.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com