The key to doing it in Phoenix would be to select native and drought tolerant materials that resemble traditional Japanese materials but can live here.

Pay very careful attention to the watering system.

Plant selection will be important but even more so I think is control, position and density of sunlight at different times of the year.

I will be selecting plants that do well here but also will try plants normally not used in Phoenix if I have a chance to create a micro climate. I think I've been too quick to dismiss many plants. I want to up my game some.

The plant I'm most hopeful for is hacienda creeper. To me it has many attributes of Japanese Maple. Shape of leaves, red stem, color change in winter. Only the form is wrong. If I create a metal frame and with trimming can it appear as a Japanese Maple? Worth a try I think.

I'm looking to Cat's Claw to be a workhorse for shade in summer but can be cut back in fall/winter. Also maybe as a ground cover. Ground cover I think will be a challenge. Lots will grow, but getting the leaf size right and something tight to the ground will be the challenge. Lots to try.

I'm also looking to lots of pines which are abundant in the garden centers this time of year for cheap and hopefully even cheaper after xmas.

Cat's claw will EAT YOUR GARDEN!!!!!

Amen. It's incredibly invasive and almost impossible to get rid of if you change your mind about it. Find an alternative waterbug. If you just want a ground cover, what about dicondra grass? It likes both sun or shade.

Thank you for the standard Cat's Claw warning. I've been growing Cat's Claw several different ways for the last 5 years. It's resilience is what makes it attractive in this climate to me.

If a person plants Cat's Claw in a place that gets good water and walks away for a few years yes, it can become a problem. That's true for many plants.

I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I like my odds in being able to out smart Cat's Claw. Water control, monthly trimming, not planting someplace where the tubers can't be dug or contained is enough.

I find dichondra hard to manage , but I am considering dichondra too. It's good for tight spaces like between flagstone. I think it'll be good under plants too. Thanks.

Wait until you hear I'm going to plant running bamboo uncontained and Giant Reed...boy oh boy. And 9 Aleppo pines and one Afghan pine in a small space...I'm already hearing the warnings from neighbors telling me they get to 80' tall. Doesn't seem to matter how many times I explain they can be managed.

Okay I get that. But there's only so many hours in the day and if I'm spending some of that time on gardening/landscaping issues, it's going to have tomatoes, chili peppers, bok choy and lettuce in it, this time of year. Tomatoes and soil amendment all times of the year. If you have the time for all that management, good for you, go for it. I don't and have to carefully parse my time among various interests. Controlling cat claw is not top of list.

One reason for this garden is to give me more time in the garden. Gardening is something I enjoy so more is better.

Glad you like vegetable gardening. I do too. But I like other gardening too.

In the past 5 years I've spent about 10 minutes once every couple of months to control my Cat's Claw. Cutting back vines. I don't have tons of it, it's located where I can get at all parts, and I control how much water it gets for most of the year. In summer I give it so little water it hardly grows and I've almost lost it a few times. It's only when rains come that I have to even trim it back. I'm OK with that amount of maintenance.

I guess my relationship with Cat's Claw was so ugly that I'm forever scarred. The former owner planted it in six 'wells' around the patio. It grew over the trellised patio cover, mosquito's nested in the mess of vines (I believe it was you _buggy that told me I was mistaken, but I stand my ground on that point). We had to back the truck into the yard and attach a cable to pull the mess out to the alley for bulk trash. I've taken a pic axe to the tuber roots and they still come back. So yeah, I hate cat's claw. That's my story.

I understand Cat's Claw and many other plants are not for every gardener.

It's used a lot in my neighborhood and everyone hates it going by all the stories they tell me about it. It can't be killed...rats live it...it'll break the foundation...the insurance company won't insurance your house...it'll pull the side of the house off...it'll take over. In every case I say I can remove it for you and in every case they say no. When I ask why they say...because it hides my crappy chain link fence and I would have to replace the fence...because it shades the house and I'd have to pay more for electric...etc.

I do see this strange dichotomy of hating it and loving it. I hear the same thing with bermuda grass too.

If I lived in Portland Oregon I wouldn't choose Cat's Claw. Living in the desert yet wanting a lush green garden means I have to work with less than perfect plants. That's what makes it interesting to me.

Cat's Claw is what it is and I can deal with that. Mosquitoes, rats, cockroaches, homeless people nesting in it, tubers that can't be killed with an axe, insurance company cancelling my policy, it pulling down my house, etc., are not things I'm concerned about.Those things can all be dealt with.