How to Plan a Colorado-Ready Landscape from Scratch

Start with Site, Not Plants

The most common landscaping mistake is choosing plants before solving for site conditions. A beautiful perennial border fails if the drainage is wrong. A new patio heaves and cracks if the subgrade wasn't properly prepped. Before you pick a single plant or paver, you need to understand your site.

Step 1: Solve Drainage First

Water moves downhill and finds the path of least resistance. Before any design work, walk your property after a heavy rain and map where water collects, where it flows, and where it causes problems. Low spots near foundations, water running toward the house, and standing water in the lawn all need to be addressed through grading — not plants.

Grading is unglamorous and often the most expensive part of a landscape project, but it's the foundation everything else rests on. An improperly graded yard will undermine every other investment you make.

Step 2: Identify Your Sun Zones

Map your yard in three zones: full sun (6+ hours direct), part shade (3–6 hours), and full shade (under 3 hours). This determines your plant palette and turf options more than any other factor.

Front Range afternoons are intense — what feels like part shade in morning can be full sun by 2 PM. Observe your property at multiple times of day before locking in planting plans.

Step 3: Define Your Water Budget

Colorado's water restrictions vary by municipality. Erie, Longmont, and Boulder each have different odd/even watering rules and in some years, stage restrictions during drought years. Design your irrigation zones to water turf, xeriscape beds, and deep-root plantings separately — they have different needs and should be on separate zones.

Pro Tip: Design for your worst water year, not your average. A landscape that survives a Stage 2 drought restriction in an average year will thrive in good water years. One designed for average conditions will struggle in any restriction period.

Step 4: Hardscape Before Softscape

Design patios, walks, retaining walls, and fencing before plants. Hardscape determines the bones of the landscape and is expensive to change later. It also determines drainage patterns, which affects everything downstream.

Step 5: Plant Selection — Natives and Adapted Species First

Northern Colorado's best landscapes are built around plants that thrive here without constant intervention. Blue grama, buffalo grass, native sedums, penstemons, yarrow, and ornamental grasses handle our freeze-thaw cycles, UV intensity, and water restrictions without the constant care that non-adapted species require.

Layer in ornamentals and annuals for color and interest — but build the structure with tough, regional plants.

Updated on: 29/04/2026