Advice from the Owner

We absolutely love our new front yard! It was positively abuzz with butterflies and bees once the blossoms started appearing. It's nice to have so much color and depth throughout the season as each plant blooms at a slightly different time. I am very much a beginner in the gardening area, while my husband is more of an expert, which was incredibly important in the drip irrigation conversion process. That process took much longer than we had anticipated and was more expensive because of the size of our yard/conversion. I wish I would've spent more time looking at the plans (from Garden In A Box) and ensuring there was plenty of room between the plants, but most everyone has said I can move them if they get too big (with a few exceptions).

Advice from the Owner

Advice from the Owner

This was a great project that we did on evenings and weekends over the course of the summer. The Grass to Garden program opened Pandora's box for us in the garden and we ended up doing a lot more than we anticipated. We used compost to mix into the dirt from a local farm, an old leaky hose as irrigation and poked holes in it near all of the plants, cardboard to sheet mulch between and around the plants to avoid weeds, and then contacted arborists and had them drop off loads of mulch to cover around/between plants. So far this still takes weekly weeding in the summer for bindweed but is a beautiful garden and quite therapeutic!

Advice from the Owner

We kept the black plastic on for 4.5 months and so far no grass has re-surfaced. Also, make sure to seal the edges as tight as possible with wood /rocks or bricks in order to keep the air and sunlight out. Once the plastic is off, we’ve spread mulch generously about 3/4” deep.

Advice from the Owner

The Grass to Garden project was such a helpful way to affordably convert our lawn to a native, xeric, pollinator-friendly garden. We only spent money on our drip irrigation system. We did all the labor by hand. Additionally, we used old newspapers as anti-weed lining, and covered that with mulch from the City of Boulder's free mulch pile. The pink cloud bloom multiple times through the summer and it made me so happy to have the two different native geraniums-- I got to see them bloom in our front yard and on mountain trails!

Advice from the Owner

I like perennial flowers much more than lawn!

Advice from the Owner

Just take it one step at a time. It was some work but it was well worth it. My main piece of advice is to have someone else remove the grass. I wish I had hired someone for that piece of the project. I love seeing all the bees, butterflies and birds that the plants attract. And, of course, the diversity of plants and flowers is much more beautiful and interesting that the lawn was!

Watch the interview with Susi

Advice from the Owner

There are a lot of great things about our new landscaping! This includes our water usage being reduced significantly and utilizing the strips of unused land between the street and sidewalk (aka tree lawn) of a large city corner lot. The Garden In A Box plants are all native and drought resistant - which means they will thrive with basic care. Additionally, we are thrilled with the descriptions of each plant and design plans that came with the boxes. We participated in the Slow the Flow program, Garden In A Box and the Lawn Removal Consultation.

Watch the interview with Amanda

Advice from the Owner

Removing the tired, water-intensive patch of lawn made our small property so much more inviting and usable. We connected our front side and back spaces with a continuous path and planted waterwise, bee inviting, food producing plants. We love it! My advice is to use your imagination. Make a unique space that suits how you want to enjoy your space, and retool the idea of a water-guzzling lawn.

Watch the interview with Betsy

Advice from the Owner

I love the water conservation and beauty of flowering plants. Once established, the garden takes very little maintenance. Overall, I am so pleased with the results on the south side of my property. I am now planning to create a xeriscape garden in front of my home (east side) as well.