Denver County
Xeriscape & Landscaping in Denver
Lawn-to-xeriscape conversions, hellstrips, and native planting across the city — designed around what Denver Water will actually let you water.
- Water provider
- Denver Water
Get a free estimate in Denver
Tell us what you’re working with. We’ll walk the property and give you a real number.
We're a Denver company, and the city is where a lot of our work happens. The yards here are a specific problem: older lots with big street trees, a tree lawn out front that the city has opinions about, clay that changes from one block to the next, and — as of October 1, 2026 — no lawn watering at all for Denver Water customers until the board says otherwise.
That last part changed the math for a lot of homeowners. A bluegrass lawn you can't water isn't a lawn. A planted xeriscape on drip is legal to water through the ban, and once it's established it barely needs it.
Water in Denver
Denver Water
The lawn watering ban. Denver Water's board ended lawn watering on October 1, 2026, and the ban stays in place into spring 2027 until the board decides how and when lawn watering can resume. What's still allowed: hand-watering trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and vegetables with a hose and shutoff nozzle, and low-volume, non-spray irrigation like drip.
Rebates. Denver Water's 2026 turfgrass removal discount — run through Resource Central, which uses its own crews — was fully allocated and closed to new applications as of September 2026. Denver Water says it will post any future-year program on its site. Don't pull your lawn out on the assumption that money is coming; if a program opens, most require approval before the grass comes out.
- Denver Water — turfgrass removal program status ↗
- Denver Water — the October 1 lawn watering decision ↗
Rules and programs checked September 2026. They change — confirm with your provider before you plan.
Tree lawns and street trees
The strip between the sidewalk and the curb is public right-of-way, and Denver treats it that way. Planting or removing a tree there requires a free permit from the Office of the City Forester, and the city publishes an approved street tree list. The adjacent property owner is on the hook for maintaining those trees.
That doesn't stop you from converting a tree lawn to low-water plants — it's one of the best places to do it, because it's the hardest strip on the property to irrigate efficiently. It does mean the existing street tree gets designed around, not through. Old street trees in neighborhoods like Park Hill and Congress Park have been drinking lawn irrigation for decades; pulling the lawn and the sprinklers out from under them without a plan for the tree is how you lose a sixty-year-old canopy. We keep drip on the root zone through the transition.
Our hellstrip guide goes deeper on plant choices for that strip.
Small lots, big trees, clay that varies block to block
A lot of Denver's housing stock sits on narrow lots with mature shade. That flips the usual xeriscape playbook: instead of a full-sun steppe planting, many Denver front yards need dry-shade plants under a canopy that's competing for every drop. And Denver clay isn't one soil — a yard in one neighborhood drains fine and a yard a mile away holds water for days after a storm. We check drainage on site before we pick plants, because it decides whether natives thrive or rot.
Around Denver
We work throughout Denver, including Park Hill, Congress Park, Washington Park, Platt Park, Harvey Park, Westwood, and Green Valley Ranch.
What Denver yards usually need
Xeriscape Installation
Full lawn-to-xeriscape conversions are the core of our Denver work, and the lawn watering ban made them urgent.
Sod Removal
If you want the grass gone before spring planting, fall removal puts you at the front of the line.
Drip Irrigation
Drip is how new plantings get watered legally through the ban.
Plant & Install
Dry-shade and tree-lawn plantings under Denver's older canopy.
Rock & Decomposed Granite
Dry creek beds and gravel groundcover that handle a summer downpour.
Also in Denver
Our work in Denver
Denver questions
- Can I still water new plants in Denver during the lawn watering ban?
- Yes. Denver Water's ban is on lawn watering. Hand-watering trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and vegetables with a shutoff nozzle is still allowed, and so is low-volume, non-spray irrigation like drip. That's why we put new plantings on drip — it keeps establishment watering legal.
- Do I need a permit to change my tree lawn in Denver?
- Changing the plants in the tree lawn generally doesn't, but planting or removing a tree in the public right-of-way does — a free permit from the Office of the City Forester. Anything that changes the sidewalk or curb is a separate right-of-way question. We'll tell you what applies before we start.
- Is Denver Water paying people to remove their lawns right now?
- Not as of September 2026. The 2026 turfgrass removal discount was fully allocated and closed to new applications. Denver Water says it will post any future program on its website. We'd rather tell you that straight than let you plan a project around money that isn't there.
- What does a Denver xeriscape conversion cost?
- Our xeriscape work starts at $6 per square foot and typically runs $6–$10, depending on the design and materials. Removing the existing sod is priced separately. We give you a real number after walking the property.
Planning a project in Denver?
Free walkthrough, a straight read on your provider’s rules, and a real number.