The term is xeriscaping (xeric meaning dry or lacking water). And if you Google that term with Colorado, you will get a bunch of listings and resources.

There is also an excellent text - Xeriscape Colorado: The Complete Guide that would be worth getting hold of. Check with your library of buy used on Amazon

Thank you for your response I have been checking out some zero scapes but nothing has quite hit my eye yet. Also I am on a budget I forgot to mention that. I will check your suggestions thank you.

google "Xeriscaping" and "Southwest" and you will get regional inspiration.

I find that large boulders with big drought tolerant plants looks much nicer than a huge sea of small rocks. You get a more interesting, multi-tier look.

Go to a local nursery and ask them about native plants in your area, which will eventually thrive w/o watering. (new plants will need some watering until they're established.) Be sure to consider how easy they are to care for in the long run. Will they need to be trimmed a lot, or can you just let them go crazy for a long time? Keep cacti in clusters. Weeds will pop up, so if you have a lot of prickly plants randomly distributed all about, that could make it painful to garden.

Between the large items: little rocks with weed barrier underneath will help, but note that the barrier breaks down eventually. some people swear by a deep layer of really tightly packed rocks instead. also, it depends on your area, but plastic weed barriers may be discouraged. if it rains hard during storm season, you want that rain soak into the ground so there's less flooding in gutters and storm sewers. (but maybe that's not a problem where you live.)

Weed fabric in general is discouraged because it doesn't prevent weeds and harms the proper flow of oxygen and water in the soil. Plastic used as a weed fabric is the height of stupid.

that's what I was afraid of. good to know.

my dad has a yard kind of like the first two pics I posted above. the plants are so far apart that it's easy to blowtorch the small weeds. he said it's fun.

Thank you I actually have a couple of those pictures on my idea book on Pinterest. I do like big boulders and the river rock is quite large in size maybe 4 to 5 inches. Some of those pics are so beautiful and I wish I had the green thumb and the budget for them thank you for taking the time.

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