Owner
David
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
750 - 1,000 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
Veggie gardens, Native or drought-tolerant plants, Retaining walls
Resource Central Programs
None
Advice from the Owner
After the fire of 2021 and a parched spring in 2022, I let the yard go without watering for the rest of the year. Most of the surface returned to bare ground but some grass remained in the shady spots. I scarified the yard late in the fall and spread a meadow grass mixture with compost and straw over the yard for the winter. Spring and summer of 2023 brought an amazing variety of color and texture to the yard, and the evolution of species continued throughout 2024.
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Owner
Peg
City
Longmont
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
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds have been regular visitors all through the summer. We need edging around the curbside garden to help keep encroaching grass out. Much harder to dig weeds out of gravel than bark mulch. I collect rocks to edge center section.
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Owner
John
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Intermediate
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
I was surprised that so many plants bloomed this year - I thought it would take a few years to mature. I dug out 144 sq ft of good sod with shovels - NEVER again! Very consuming of time and energy, and no one wanted the sod. Next time I will rent a sod cutter from Home Depot.
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Owner
Shawnee & Jaret
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
500 - 750 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, Pathways, Boulders
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
We rented a sod cutter and removed the sod ourselves so we could use our Resource Central credit toward plants. The cardboard sheet mulching worked great - we used landscape staples to hold it in place. We recommend waiting to put the cardboard down until you have your landscaping substrate ready to put down - it curled and lifted with all the rain we got this year. Also, connect with your local native plant groups! In addition to our Garden In A Box plants, we were also able to pick up some great plants from a native plant swap in our area. Can't wait to see it grown in!
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Owner
Christopher
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Beginner
Project Size
250 - 500 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2021
Time Commitment
less than 10 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Pathways, Patio/sitting areas
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
This entire area was covered in river rocks. The previous owners used it for RV parking. We don't own an RV, so we added some color and dimension to our front yard with a Garden In A Box kit. I raked the rocks to the side, added mulch, and planted 20+ native, drought-resistant plants in 2021. Thanks to all the rain this year, the garden sprung to life. We have pollinators, purples and yellows, and a thriving garden. Thanks!
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Owner
Terrie Leisher
City
1628 Sunset St., Longmont
Skill Set
Beginner
Project Size
750 - 1,000 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
Sept 2022 - Ongoing
Time Commitment
More than 40 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Drip irrigation system, Pathways, Berm/swale, Shrubs
Resource Central Programs
Garden In A Box, None
Advice from the Owner
Envision what you want your space to become, even if you have no experience. We did not want a desert garden with too much rock. We wanted beautiful, drought-tolerant plants that grow well in Colorado. Lots of research, especially Resource Central, helped us learn more about what we were doing...and we're still learning. A number of plants were lost due to our hard winter and late spring. They have now been replaced and everything is growing...some plants faster than others. With all of the rain this year, we are still trying to adjust to a suitable watering schedule, creating a deep water/deep root growth system. I would caution people to pay attention to the size that your plants will be in 2-3 years...gardens start out looking sparse but may overcrowd each other in 3 years.
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Owner
Chris
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
1,000+ sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2022
Time Commitment
11 - 20 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
I converted RV parking on the other side of my driveway (we don't own an RV) to a waterwise yard, and I was so happy with the results that I decided to do the same thing to my front lawn. I smothered the grass with cardboard and covered the cardboard with black mulch. I needed WAY more mulch than I estimated (roughly 80 bags total). I recommend waiting until mid to late summer to mulch as many places offer decent sales then. One mistake I made on the driveway gardens was separating plants by the "mature growth width" without considering the width of the plant next to it. So, if mature growth was 24" and you plant it next to another plant that's mature growth is 24", they need to be 48" apart. This may seem obvious to most people, but I am an English major. So, for the front lawn, I erred on the side of more distance between plants to avoid crowding.
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Owner
Emily
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
250 - 500 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
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, Boulders
Resource Central Programs
None
Advice from the Owner
We were tired of paying a huge water bill and wasting water on a mediocre lawn in out desert landscape. Instead, we wanted native and drought resistant plants that only needed a small drip line. I am so proud that we did 100% of the labor ourselves from removing the sod, to replacing the edging, to swapping out spray irrigation heads for drip line heads. It was a ton of hot, labor-intensive work, but I am happy with our result in the end. I am glad we called 811 so we didn't accidentally hit a utility line. When we do our boulevard strip in the near future, we will be more realistic with our timeline and budget- this is not a job for one or two weekends. The ~400 sf patch took us over 40 man hours and due to the cost of steel (edging) was ~$1500.
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Owner
Emily
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Beginner
Project Size
Less than 250 sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
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
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
I love how wild it looks! The bees and butterflies love it, and today we had a hummingbird checking it out! I wish that I had spaced some of the plants a little further apart - they sort of exploded. So some of them are big and really close together, and I have patches where others didn't make it and I'll need to replant.
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Owner
Blanche and Ron
City
Longmont
Skill Set
Intermediate
Project Size
1,000+ sq ft
Project Location
Front yard
Sun Exposure
Full sun
Year Completed
2021
Time Commitment
less than 10 hours of labor
Project Cost
less than $500
Other Project Elements
Native or drought-tolerant plants, Drip irrigation system, Raised/tiered beds, Pathways, Patio/sitting areas, Boulders, Berm/swale, Shrubs
Resource Central Programs
Advice from the Owner
It took ‘special approval’ from our HOA, was a lot of work for two senior citizens, and took longer than we thought it would, but we are so fortunate to have the will and ability to do almost all of the work ourselves! So many with expertise freely shared with us, such as staff at Resource Central, Boulder County Parks and Open Space, Harlequins Gardens (Boulder), CSU Extension, and Denver Botanical Gardens. Waterwise Webinars are highly recommended; they helped us embrace a new kind of gardening and get started with drought-resistant perennials. Sod removal (great job, Resource Central!) and electrical were hired out. Now, our yard is much more interesting to us than the rectangle of sod that it used to be!
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