Advice from the Owner

We love all the butterflies, birds, and bees that now call our front yard home. We initially planted a little sparingly due to budget constraints but four years latter in has really started to fill in and we get compliments on it all the time. Rarely if ever needs watering, now that it's established and let it overwinter naturally before cutting back in earlier March. We had a tarp over the existing lawn for two weeks before rototilling the lawn under (should have done it a week or two earlier). Our first round of lavender plants didn't survive but since learned that you fill the bottom of the hole with pea gravel before planting lavender in our heavy clay soils and every replacement lavender plant has flourished. Can't recommend gorilla hair mulch enough, even though its more expensive it really holds up to the Colorado climate.

Advice from the Owner

I got rid of the former lawn using different approaches in different areas. Some of those approaches were much more effective than others. If I did it again and felt like I had a lot of patience, I would kill then expose then re-kill a patch. Then, I would repeat this process over the course of at least one whole year. I think this would eliminate the grass coming back. Additionally, I think it would significantly reduce weeds. Of the many different ways that I killed grass, I found the lasagna method with cardboard to be most effective over the long run and newspaper second most effective.

Watch the the interview with Jenifer