Let me add that this section of property today has very little landscaping in the form of trees, shrubs and/or flowers. I have a 40-ft section of fencing (6-ft high), which eliminates part of the busy street I live off of. The remaing 40-ft section (too the traffic light) has 3-ft high fencing. Because of right away codes, I'm limited in what I can do in that last 15-20 ft. Again, any ideas of what I can w/this space and how too get started is appreciated!

I am willing to bet that your local water board has lots of info/pamphlets on how to replace lawn with more drought tolerant plantings. If not your local board, then certainly Denver would. There is more than one approach to creating a xeriscape,(not xero scape), garden. You can simply kill the existing lawn with herbicide, cover it with thick mulch, or skin it off with a sod cutter. No doubt you will find good examples locally of different design approaches for drought tolerant planting design, and I am sure you will not need to reinvent the wheel, or procede blindly with what works locally.

Get yourself down to your local library and find yourself a couple of books by Lauren Springer - The Undaunted Gardener and Passionate Gardener: Good Advice for Challenging Climates, the second written in conjunction with Rob Procter. Lauren is a Coloradoan herself and a gardener/plantswoman of national repute. The first book will definitely get you a thorough understanding of the how-to's of xeric plantings and both will offer a great deal of design inspiration. They both address exactly what it is you are trying to accomplish and with a reference to the same exact climate.

Hello Mike,

It's just great that you are planning to turn your yard from turf to xeriscape. We need more of that in the dry west but it is daunting initially. Lauren Springer's books that gardengal recommends are beautiful examples of Colorado gardening but I found them more like garden journals of plant aficionados than xeriscape how to manuals.

I think the term xeriscape originated with the Denver water department so you will have a lot of resources there. You mentioned you might be willing to get help later on and I would suggest it would be much easier to get that help now. It is easier to plant shrubs and set up a drip system than to decide what kind of plantings or hardscape you need where at least for most of us non professionals. Expecially when you are looking at what sounds to be a good sized blank slate when your lawn is gone.

Maria

And get a copy of High Country Gardens wonderful catalog of plants for the dry west.