Less Thirsty Landscaping for Your Colorado Springs Oasis

Drive around the Pikes Peak region, and you're likely to see more and more homeowners replacing their thirsty bluegrass lawns with water-wise landscaping.

"It is a good idea to think about replacing part or all of your Kentucky bluegrass lawn with some form of water-wise landscaping, because water is a limited resource in Colorado Springs," says Catherine Moravec, water conservation lead at Colorado Springs Utilities. "By water-wise, we usually mean it can be watered one day per week or less."

Justin Sturgill, owner of Incline Landscaping & Lawn Maintenance, says requests for lawn replacement have increased over the past three years.

"Especially in Colorado Springs, everybody's moving to a xeriscape yard" that thrives on minimal water, he says.

Homeowners have a variety of options to replace their bluegrass lawns, and doing so not only saves them money on watering costs but also benefits the community by reducing pressure on the regional water system in times of drought.

Oasis Options

When considering water-wise landscaping, "the biggest thing to do is to understand the conditions at your site, so you can plan something that's going to thrive," Moravec says. "And then you want to think about the appearance that you prefer and how you want to use your landscape."

The backbone of a water-wise landscape is native grasses, Moravec says. Those include single-species ground covers, such as buffalo grass or blue grama grass, which look like a traditional lawn.

"The benefit is that you can water it once a week, mow it maybe once per month or less and fertilize it once a year," she says.

Clover can be a ground cover option that supports pollinators, but it takes a lot of watering and can be difficult to establish, since it must be grown from seed, Sturgill says. Creeping thyme, another frequently requested ground cover, can be beautiful but may require more maintenance, Moravec says. It doesn't always create a solid lawn and can allow weeds to flourish in uncovered patches.

"If you're looking for a lawn-like look, buffalo grass or blue grama are going to be the best two options," she says. In addition to being water-wise, fescue and buffalo grass come in rolls that are easy to install.

Another option is a mix of native grasses with a variety of heights, textures and colors to create a more naturalistic look and blend well into surrounding open spaces.

Sometimes people think of replacement landscaping merely as a layer of rock, but water-wise landscapes can have a lot of variety, Sturgill says. Designs can include wood mulch, dry creek beds, mulch mounds, and planting beds with evergreens, ground cover, shrubs, perennial plants and flowers for color, visual and textural interest.

Homeowners can replace part or all of their bluegrass lawns, but in either case, the process begins with demolition, Sturgill says.

"We would come in and scrape out all of that grass," and then prepare the soil, he says. In areas that will be covered with rock or mulch, a fabric barrier prevents weed growth.

Many families want to retain a small area of turf, where kids can kick a soccer ball and pets can run.

"You'll still need significantly less water than if it's all grass," Sturgill says.

Landscape designers can help homeowners devise a plan that accommodates outdoor living spaces, colorful plant beds, pathways and hardscaping to create a beautiful and water-wise environment that looks great all year.

Take a Look at Less Thirsty

More than 1,000 species of plants do well in the Pikes Peak region's arid landscape, and Colorado Springs Utilities has more than 400 types of water-wise plants at its demonstration garden at 2855 Mesa Road. Homeowners also can find a searchable database of water-wise plants at csu.org/water-wise-plants.

Moravec says her favorites include ornamental grasses like Blonde Ambition blue grama grass, which looks great in the winter; perennials like hummingbird mint (Agastache), a Southwest native with pinkish-orange flowers; and shrubs like baby blue dwarf rabbitbrush, which sports silvery-blue leaves and bursts with bright golden flowers in the fall that attract Painted Lady butterflies.

If homeowners can create a landscape with two-thirds requiring once-per-week watering, the remaining one-third can support higher-water turf, roses, vegetables and other ornamental plants, Moravec says.

"That's where you would want to mix some compost into the soil so it will retain more water; use an efficient irrigation method, whether that's drip irrigation or high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles; and then use a water-conserving mulch, like wood chips or gravel to cover areas of bare soil," she says. "Using those techniques together, those high-water areas can really be a part of an overall water-wise landscape approach to a yard."