Advice from the Owner

I love the amount of neighbors who stop to ask me about the plants in my yard. I also love seeing the bees so happy. From people to wildlife, everyone seems to enjoy our new yard.

Advice from the Owner

We love that there are always flowers blooming and no weeds...The easy maintenance and less water use is terrific. We can enjoy the front yard with hardly any effort now!

Advice from the Owner

Love how quickly it filled in. This is the first season and we didn’t plant until June.

Advice from the Owner

Love how our project turned out! We paid for the design and did the work ourselves. A lot of work but worth it!!

Advice from the Owner

Gardens were added in 2022 and 2023. We used 50/50 soil, a mix of compost and soil. I believe this makes a huge difference in plant growth. We have been stunned with how quickly the plants grew and the gardens filled in. There are many bees and butterflies stopping by daily. We love the colors and scents.

Advice from the Owner

Less grass. Less water. Pretty plants. Lots of pollinators.

Advice from the Owner

We received all the help that we needed from Resource Central. The turf removal went smoothly. We purchased two gardens . The wet summer helped the plants to thrive. All of the plants look great. We have had several blooms. We love the time saved from mowing. The greatest benefits are saving water and bringing more pollinators into our yard. We’d like to remove more turf next year. Thank you, Resource Central.

Advice from the Owner

We are saving 50% on our water bill and not having to use the gas mower as much either is a double win.

Advice from the Owner

It's a lot of work and worth all the time and labor. I didn't go with a waterline system, as we do not have sprinkler system. Instead, I water by hand 3 times per week. During that time I am taking in and enjoying my yard, the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds that visited this year! So happy with the results. The plants are just at the right spot to plant when you pick them up. I was a bit reluctant about planting in the fall, but so glad that I talked to the staff about my concerns. They are all passionate about their work and helping talk through concerns and questions. Now we have this amazing yard to enjoy!

Advice from the Owner

Second year of our waterwise garden-- it's filling in beautifully!

Advice from the Owner

This is a year 2 garden. They plants have easily tripled in size and are just beginning to bloom. We have seen several bees and hummingbirds coming to see if the flowers have opened yet. You need to be patient! Several neighbors have already stopped to ask us about it, and the neighbors across the street put in a small one last fall.

Advice from the Owner

I love the look of the mulch. I can't wait for next season to see the growth. It was a lot of work, I did it all myself (with some help cutting down the tree), I took my time and I'm very happy so far!

Advice from the Owner

From April to September there’s always something blooming. I love watching the pollinators, especially when the bumblebees fall to the ground inside a flower bloom they’ve knocked off a stem. I also like experimenting with different plants, seeing what comes back and what didn’t do well. We continuously struggle with the same handful of areas where plants start out strong and then fail. We can’t figure out why. The most challenging part is digging up the mulch to find the drip lines to create more options. And this year’s pest is the flea beetle. But the biggest win for this space, I think, is conquering the bindweed. I also love all of the wildlife that brings balance to the garden. Garter snakes, finches nesting on the house, the feral cat napping under the echinacea, the ladybugs all over the sage. It’s a paradise from top to bottom. And I love that we’ve created a space for this.

Advice from the Owner

We love not having to mow and water a front lawn. We erected a slab of sandstone on which we painted a mammoth, a bear, and a chamois in the style of 35,000-year-old cave paintings in France. We wanted to make our garden unique! Advice: The tender young plants we got from the Garden In A Box kit were being eaten by rabbits. We sprayed a cayenne pepper spray to keep the bunnies away.

Advice from the Owner

Loved the inspiration given me by the company who completed this. Their vision was perfect.

Advice from the Owner

I love that this has replaced bluegrass! The only disappointment was that I wanted to use the existing sprinkler system to add drip irrigation to the garden, but the current configuration wouldn't allow it to be tapped due to pressure, and other plant watering times on the zone. I didn't have the money or the time to add another zone to the system. I can't wait to see it next year as it matures!

Advice from the Owner

I love flowers. The more color. the better. I designed each section to be functional, visually attractive and independent but in all, it's coordinated. No more dragging out the lawn mower and timing a water hose. The bees have been visiting and I can't wait for more blooms. Best part? My front yard is no longer a brown bomb. It's alive.

Advice from the Owner

I removed the sod myself by cutting it and flipping it over. Then chopping it up and letting the grass die. This provides nutrients into the soil. I found free large river rock on Craigslist to border the garden. I used free mulch from the city of Westminster. I got the Garden In A Box kits for free because I removed the sod. This project cost me nothing other than my own labor. The plants are nice healthy plants. I highly recommend the Garden In A Box kits and it's great to stop watering so much grass.

Advice from the Owner

I love that this new landscape will bring in more butterflies and bee's. Also, this created space and opportunity for me to meet more of my neighbors. People approached me with smiles, questions, hello's and water to keep me hydrated. This project has inspired others in the neighborhood to get started on their own lawn projects. I learned a lot over the last 5 months; 1: It takes time to get to where you want to be, 2: Be patient and even when you want to give up, don't give up, 3: Even though it is the pits to cut out holes in the weed block ground cover to place over the ground and around the plants, do it. It will save on weeds in the end. 4: If you don't mind keeping the grass that was removed, do it, it will feed your plants and support evening out your landscape, or creating little hills and contrast in the yard.

What worked well; allowing myself enough time to really figure out my design. Once I had it drawn up, I was able to work from that vision, and it changed, over and over again. Being able to just be creative was also fun. It was my project and I did it my way. What I would have done differently? The retainer wall, I would have probably read more about it and took more advice from people that have done it. It took me 4 try's before it was done right. I am not in a place of regret though, I am in a place of accomplishment and happiness. I cannot wait for next spring.

So grateful to this program and all of the resources that are available. Thank you Resource Central and everyone that I met along the way!

Advice from the Owner

I recommend laying out all of the plants before placing any in the ground. Pay careful attention to the planting guide, and amend the soil with squeegee, as required. Search "squeegee" on resourcecentral.org to find a soil amendment basics article.

Advice from the Owner

My garden was absolutely huge after only one season! I credit really working to loosen the soil and work squeegee into it, plus following the watering recommendations. No fertilizer or any other products were used.

Advice from the Owner

Love the water wise plants and landscape. Thanks to our landscapers, Resource Central, and Westminster for bringing this all together. Can't wait for the two or three years for it to fill up the space. Thank you all again. Doing our part to reduce unwise water use.

Advice from the Owner

When comparing July's water bill this year and last year, we saved 10,000 gallons of water! We leveled the soil and placed growth inhibiting fabric before placing the plants. The plant layout provided by Garden in a Box was great, but I did have to adjust it for our garden size and layout. I will say, we did not have all of the ground prepared by the time the plants arrived and they had to wait in their pots for 3 weeks before we got them in. Some of them were the worse for wear after that, but almost all of them survived. I would make sure everything is ready by the time the plants get here. We love the increased bee and butterfly visits, as well as the hummingbirds. We also are thrilled at how much water we have already saved. We are the first in our neighborhood to do this and have had many neighbors stop and inquire about how much effort, time and cost we incurred. Hopefully, more neighbors will follow our lead. I can't wait until spring blooming season!

Advice from the Owner

No more lawn mowing and watering!

Advice from the Owner

Our project was difficult because a 60’ maple lived in the yard prior to the xeriscape. We had to use a pick axe to break through roots, there were some areas that the roots were too large so no plants went there

Advice from the Owner

Love the walkways, brick additions for visual textures, but by far, the variety if plants. Already, within a day we had bees and butterflies enjoying the plants and flowers. Our three Garden In A Box kits are thriving and our water bill is 50% less!

Advice from the Owner

We love the constantly changing landscape of our front yard. We are now visited by hummingbirds and honeybees. Every day there are new flowers opening up and gorgeous colors. Currently, we have already reduced our water use by half. By the end of next year, I would expect to halve that usage again until we are down to a fraction of what we used to water the front lawn. Our neighbors love the change and we couldn't be happier. There are so many free resources available: Chipdrop provided 3 loads of mulch for free and resource central helped to remove our lawn. I highly recommend: don't wait, plan and do this next summer!

Advice from the Owner

I love the way these plants are taking off and filling in. I had some idea about what I'd be planting, but some have surprised me, too. Bottom line, we've got less grass & the bees and plants are thriving. I'm delighted!

Advice from the Owner

I removed almost 300 sq. ft. of sod myself . I was much younger the last time I did this and would pay for it to be removed. Modified sprinkler system to add drip feed water for the gardens, had some issues with the old system and the way it was feed, which caused additional work. I built all the flower boxes from fencing that was replaced last year. They are lined them with heavy duty landscape material framed with 4x4 and 2x4 covered with slats from fence. Repurposing the old fence saved several hundred dollars. It was a lot of work but I enjoyed it. I am proud of what I accomplished and love the change to the front yard.

Advice from the Owner

We had a person (xeriscape consultant) help us with the design and the choosing of materials. She also helped us obtain commercial grade edging, landscape weed barrier, and do a long-term layering process that included using Breeze underneath the rock and mulch. She went with us to the rock yard to choose the materials and determine the amounts needed for the job. We had very little overage which saved us money. We used Resource Central and Garden in Box. The city did the sod removal. We laid out plants according to the plans provided by Garden in a Box. The family, including kids and grandchildren, did all of the labor. Take your time. Work with your city. Add your personality. Mix it up with materials. A shout-out to Westminster, they were great to work with.

Advice from the Owner

The project has taken time, but I have done it all by myself. I dug up and turned over the grass, collected rock from neighbor next door, eliminated several sprinkler heads, and transplanted \added some of my original plants with two garden in a boxes. I let everything go to seed in the fall, it looks very Colorado-y in the winter covered in snow. Everything gets heavily mulched in early spring, very little weeding is needed. It is rewarding to see neighbors slow down and walk by observing the fruits of your labor.

Advice from the Owner

The team that came to take up our sod was terrific and we are planning to doing more next year. The zero maintenance is such a relief and the savings on water is the best bonus of all.

Advice from the Owner

Much more appealing that a bare lawn. Front lawn replaced fall 2020, side lawn replaced spring 2021, both using the Grass to Garden program, plus additional Garden In A Box purchases. Wooden sleepers and colored mulch contrast nicely with the planting. Last fall's plants have come away strongly this spring.

Advice from the Owner

The grass in this yard always struggled from inconsistent watering and the shade from the silver maple. Covering the grass with cardboard was an easy way to begin to remove the grass, and covering the cardboard with landscape cloth and mulch made the area look much nicer while we waited for the grass to die (and stopped the cardboard from blowing away during spring storms).

Advice from the Owner

From any angle, walking by or from inside our home, our new garden makes us smile (and our neighbors too)! We have learned so much during this project about native plants, water conservation, and our environment including needed pollinators and their habitats. The webinar series from Resource Central was very helpful and has turned us into a reservoir of resources. We utilized a professional landscaper to properly install the drip irrigation and new smart sprinkler system to ensure our garden's success and now look forward to the water conservation over time. Our advice would be to double-check garden measurements when ordering rock and mulch (we bought way too much mulch but it was a happy opportunity to share with neighbors). We are now inspired and empowered to revamp other areas of our yard in the years to come!

Advice from the Owner

Strongly advise all homeowners to take advantage of this great program to save water and add beauty to their yards.

Advice from the Owner

My main focus is to remove the grass in my front yard. I love the plants that were in the Garden In A Box kits. Also, they gave us a layout of where to orient all of the plants. It was hard work removing the grass but all I did was take up the sod flip it over and chop it up. That works really well. I also found free rock on Nextdoor to keep costs down and use recycled materials. Plus I got the free mulch from Westminster as well. Now we have a nice garden that will not need much water after years 2 and 3. We planted this spring and in July the plants are big and produce flowers. It will really look great and fill in more next year. I hope to do another phase next year and add to what we did this year and continue to remove more grass. I have gotten several good comments from neighbors about how nice the garden looks.

Advice from the Owner

I love everything about our new yard! No longer do we have grass that dies no matter how much we water! The 4 Gardens were our inspiration. It was a big job but so worth it.

Advice from the Owner

I smothered my front lawn (cardboard/lasagna method) in the fall of 2014. I planted the space the following spring with a lot of small plants ordered from High Country Gardens and a few small shrubs from local nurseries. My focus was on creating a xeriscape yard, and it is now extremely waterwise. Without an irrigation system, I hand-water a few times per year, during the driest periods, including winter occasionally. I will say that weeding was a huge chore for the first few years while it filled in. If I had to do it again, I would probably scatter seeds instead of planting seedlings, and focus more on natives. These are both things I'm planning to do in my backyard, which is next!

Advice from the Owner

It was really fun to do this project. More than anything, I love looking out the kitchen window all summer long and seeing the changes in color and shape within the garden. I also love to see the butterflies and bees ambling throughout the day drinking nectar and enjoying the new garden.

I have lost a few plants along the way, but have just learned more about my garden. Specifically, I have learned about bugs and ailments to a garden that need to be addressed to keep it happy and healthy. It has been and will be a learning process to make it the best garden it can be. Eventually, I hope to completely transform our backyard into a low-water landscape that can be enjoyed for years to come with little maintenance.

I have learned that gardening never has an end; it is a continual process that is very rewarding. Additionally, I have learned that deadheading plants is the best way to keep the color alive all summer. I have also realized that weeding can be such a form of mindfulness. It's nice to just shut off my brains and be at one with the outside world.