Owner
Mike
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
1,000+ sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2023
Time Commitment
More than 40 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Drip irrigation system, Berm/swale, Shrubs, Boulders
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
Disposal of sod is challenging: the only option in Boulder I found is Boulder Recycled Aggregate on Valmont.
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Owner
Bob
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
250 - 500 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2023
Time Commitment
11 - 20 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Retaining walls
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
Had the folks from Resource Central’s lawn removal service take the grass out. Planted the garden on Memorial Day weekend. Five weeks of rain sure helped!
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Owner
Dawn
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
1,000+ sq ft
Project Location
Side yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2023
Time Commitment
More than 40 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Drip irrigation system, Raised/tiered beds, Pathways, Boulders, Patio/sitting areas
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
What I like most about the landscape is that it is waterwise and we used more fire-wise plant options. All the rock hardscape will help with our fire mitigation efforts. The Resource Central and Garden In A Box staff was helpful and informative during the process and I appreciated all the varieties of flowering plants for the landscaping. I'm hopeful that after several growing seasons, the rocks will take a backseat to the lovely flowers and plants.
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Owner
Bryan Bowen
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
250 - 500 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2022
Time Commitment
less than 10 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Drip irrigation system, Pathways, Patio/sitting areas, Shrubs
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
Have them flip your sod instead of removing it - we really liked the outcomes using this approach and it saved money and energy.
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Owner
Ben
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Expert
Project Size
250 - 500 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2022
Time Commitment
More than 40 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Pathways, Retaining walls, Raised/tiered beds
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
The raised beds were a ton of work to implement, but well worth it. And the paths between them really help to break up the space. The walls are made of strip stone, and the pathways are breeze stone. After I had a rough idea of what I wanted, I used a tool called gardenPlanner to help me with my designs. Its nothing fancy, but it helped me to figure out the square footage of my retaining walls and paths, which was incredibly helpful when ordering materials. The pictures that have the yard flat are before photos. The ones I added here are about 4 months after planting. I have the Shades of Summer and Hummingbird Delight Garden-in-a-Box sets, and they are both lovely!
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Owner
Nancy GH Harrison
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
1,000+ sq ft
Project Location
Backyard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2022
Time Commitment
31 - 40 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Drip irrigation system, Raised/tiered beds, Pathways, Veggie gardens, Patio/sitting areas, Boulders
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
Great areas to sit, garden, play in the small grass area! We had a mix of DIY and professional help for the larger things and bringing in soil that worked well. Beautiful native plants from Garden in a Box made it easy to plant a large area.
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Owner
Linda
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Beginner
Project Size
Less than 250 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2022
Time Commitment
More than 40 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Drip irrigation system, Pathways, Native or drought-tolerant plants
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
The plants in our Garden in a Box (full sun) have established well and the kit instructions made it very easy to decide where/how to plant them. The Native Blanket Flower, however, is a favorite snack for rabbits, so those have grown less well. We did not expect it to take so many hours of hard labor to complete this project, but it has been fun!
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Owner
S
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Beginner
Project Size
Less than 250 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2022
Time Commitment
21 - 30 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
It took a lot longer than expected and is much more beautiful than expected. The bees love it and it has already saved in water usage/sprinkler time!
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Owner
Shelley
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
1,000+ sq ft
Project Location
Backyard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2022
Time Commitment
More than 40 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Drip irrigation system, Pathways, Veggie gardens, Patio/sitting areas, Native or drought-tolerant plants
Resource Central Programs
None
Advice from the Owner
In the last 2 1/2 months I’ve able to remove the remaining grass areas in my front, side and back yard. Using the sod, I then created raised garden rows in the back yard and leveled the sloping side yard for a new walkway. ( At this point the raised mounds of sod in the back looked a bit like a body farm!) In the front yard, I created a flagstone patio, connecting it to the backyard with a flagstone walkway. The patio and walkway were finished within 1 1/2 weeks of beginning the project. After amending the soil in the newly created garden rows with compost, worm castings and Biochar, I covered all the garden areas with recycled cardboard. At the end of May a large at-risk willow tree was removed from the back yard. This not only flooded the yard with light, it also provided mulch for the entire garden. The lawn sprinklers were converted to drip irrigation for the garden beds and eliminated in the front yard patio area. Once mulched, I planted the backyard garden rows with a variety of winter and summer squashes from seed, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, potatoes, herbs and flowers. Aware that some of the soil’s nitrogen might initially be tied up as the soil bacteria worked on the freshly cut wood chips, I’ve been conscious of regularly fertilizing the yard with green fertilizer I make from nettles and comfrey in addition to liquid seaweed. I believe the layer of cardboard separating the wood chips from the soil along with the addition of compost and worm castings have served to protect the soil. However, I haven’t had luck with bush beans or some of the flowers I’ve tried seeding. I’m confident they’ll do much better next year. It’s now 2 1/2 months since I began the project at the end of April and I’m already harvesting strawberries, zucchini, patty pan squash, peppers, basil, parsley, rosemary, shiso, thyme, lemon verbena, oregano and more from the new garden. In addition, there’s a beautiful new patio area in the front yard connecting to the backyard via a level flagstone walk. Much of the cost of the project has been covered by what I would have spent on lawn maintenance for the year. By reusing the sod, I’ve been able to save my yard’s topsoil and put it to use growing more veggies. Piling the sod upside down in rows also meant I wasn’t forced to use chemicals or plastic to kill the grass first. I also didn’t use any landscaping fabric under the patio or walkway, just breeze and flagstone. Some tenacious weeds do find their way through, but a once a week spray with horticultural vinegar keeps them under control and by next year, I don’t expect they’ll be a problem. The sod removal and piling along with the construction of the walkway and patio were done with the help of a great all-round local handyman, who also helped me add the mulch to the gardens. Everything else I’ve done myself. Snow and waiting for the tree to be removed slowed things down by a few weeks. From beginning to eating, this entire project realistically be completed in under 2 months. I’m already planning what I’ll plant next year!
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Owner
Adam
City
Boulder
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
250 - 500 sq ft
Project Location
Backyard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2021
Time Commitment
11 - 20 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Drip irrigation system, Retaining walls, Patio/sitting areas
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
The plants grow much bigger than you think! So pay attention to the spacing guidelines...
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