South Winona

• Location: Harvey Park, Denver
• Scope: Front-yard lawn-to-xeriscape conversion, boulder-heavy high-desert design
• Built: Spring 2025 (March–April)
• Investment: About $20–25K
• Services: Xeriscape installation, rock and decomposed granite

This Harvey Park front yard started as a dead, thirsty lawn and became one of our most sculptural high-desert xeriscapes. The design is built around quarried sandstone boulders, set deep and staged like natural outcroppings, with succulents and sedum tucked into the rock crevices for color. Cold-hardy agave, yucca, blue fescue, and native flowering shrubs fill the beds, and a flowering ornamental tree anchors the yard and softens the entry.

What we built

• Quarried sandstone boulders set deep, staged like natural outcroppings
• Crevice plantings of succulents and sedum between the rocks
• Cold-hardy agave, yucca, blue fescue, and native flowering shrubs
• A flowering ornamental tree as the focal point
• Graded, free-draining rock groundcover with steel-and-timber edging

Why it works

Setting boulders deep, instead of perching them on the surface, is what makes them read as natural. The free-draining rock sheds Colorado's storms, the edging holds crisp lines, and the plants were chosen to thrive at altitude with almost no supplemental water. The mower, the sprinklers, and the weekly upkeep are gone.

Like this look? It's close to our High Desert Steppe theme in the Design Center. See how boulder-heavy designs are priced in our xeriscape cost guide, browse more projects, or request an estimate. We work across Denver and the metro.