Stunning and Sustainable Colorado Xeriscape Landscaping
The most stunning landscapes in Colorado showcase trees, shrubs, and flowers, in all colors, shapes, and sizes that provide beauty and interest all year round. How is this possible in such an arid climate? By incorporating xeriscaping into the landscape design!
Your landscape is an investment in your comfort and in the value of your property. According to Colorado WaterWise, a properly designed xeriscape landscape will increase your property value by as much as 15% and can also reduce water and maintenance costs by up to 60%.
Xeriscape is a specific type of low-water usage landscape design approach that is ecological, sustainable and beautiful! By using drought-resistant flowers, shrubs, and trees that are well suited for Colorado’s arid climate, your landscape will not just survive but it will thrive all year-round. Imagine enjoying watching your landscape transform from early Spring with buds and blooms to lush Summer shade. Vibrant Autumn leaves and flowers bring another burst of color and the Winter frost and snow provide a glistening protective blanket throughout your entire yard. All the while you are also enjoying the money savings from using less water on your landscape and enjoying a landscape that has been designed to need less maintenance!
Our team at The Landscaping Company are experts in xeriscape landscaping. We understand the challenging Colorado climate and are knowledgeable about the flowers, shrubs, and trees that will thrive in the Denver metro area. You can achieve a beautiful outdoor environment that will add value to your property with xeriscape techniques!
Colorado Xeriscape Advantages
The advantages of xeriscape are many, and the long-term savings are considerable. Xeriscape plants:
- Require less water
- Provide long-lasting bloom color
- Require less maintenance
- Eliminate or reduce the amount of lawn to mow
- Improve soil water retention
- Offer environmentally friendly gardening
Many people confuse xeriscape with zero-scape, thinking that choosing a xeriscaped yard means landscaping with mostly rocks or other hard services and sprinkling in a few unattractive plants. In reality, this couldn’t be further from what xeriscape is. A proper xeriscape design is a multi-step process that begins with a thorough site evaluation to identify the various shady and sunny area and incorporates an understanding on how the different seasons and position of the sun affect the various areas on your property.
It is equally important to evaluate the existing soil of your entire landscape. Heavy clay soil is a common soil type in Colorado and a tree or shrub planted in heavy clay soil can easily suffocate as the clay soil surrounding the plant’s root zone act as if the plant was in a clay pot and can prevent water filtration and prevent oxygen from reaching the roots. Another common soil type in Colorado is sandy soil. Sandy soil is common around lakes and streams and even abandoned irrigation or drainage canals. For all intents and purposes, sandy soil has the opposite properties of heavy clay soil. Water applied to plants in sandy soil may drain too quickly and even with regular watering, plants may wither and die. The variety of potential soil types in Colorado landscapes range from heavy clay through sandy with every combination of soil type in between these two soils types imaginable. Thus, beginning any landscape design with an understanding of the soil is critical. Appropriately amending the soil with organic material before planting will help ensure that your soil is healthy, has the proper watering holding/drainage properties and helps your plants establish quickly in their new environment and flourish for years to come!
Also, xeriscape does not mean that you can’t have a lawn or turf area. Research has shown that a grassy area provides numerous benefits such as increased home value, ambient cooling of surrounding structures and let’s not forget a comfortable place to relax or play with kids and pets. Understanding how much lawn area you want and how you are likely to use a turf area will help the design team at The Landscaping Company Inc. identify the best turf options, both species and coverage area, for your project.
Another important element of xeriscape design is to group plants by their moisture requirements. Efficient irrigation systems will address these plant groups and ensure that your landscape will benefit from every drop of water. Applying an organic mulch around your plants will also help the soil retain moisture. A cover of mulch in your garden will reduce weeds, thus reducing maintenance. As the mulch breaks down over time, the decomposing mulch will improve your soil and replenish soil nutrients.
Last, but certainly not least, is the art of plant selection. The folks at The Landscape Company Inc. work with some of the leading plant suppliers in our area such as Plant Select®, the country’s leading brand of plants designed to thrive in high plains and inter-mountain regions. Proper plant selection will provide seasonal color and year-round interest.
To summarize, there are seven principles of xeriscaping:
- Planning and Design
- Soil Improvement
- Practical Turf Area
- Efficient Irrigation
- Mulch
- Low Water-Use Plants
- Appropriate Maintenance
During the past 20 years, we have worked with homes and businesses throughout the Denver metro area, including Lakewood, Littleton, Englewood, Castle Rock, and Aurora, with landscape design using xeriscape landscaping! Contact us online or call (303) 922-9889 to get started on your new xeriscape landscape!
