To qualify, your yard must meet a few basic guidelines:

• At least 25 square feet of converted space
• Use primarily native plants (about 75% or more)
• Achieve good plant coverage at maturity /li>
• Include pollinator-friendly features
• Have a plan for irrigation and long-term maintenance
• Follow visibility and safety requirements (especially for corner lots)

Participants also agree to maintain their landscape to prevent overgrowth or invasive weeds.

The ColoRADscape program was developed by members of the Englewood Sustainability Commission and passionate citizens. It is a volunteer, Englewood resident-led initiative with approval from City Council to run a one-year pilot from May 2026 through May 2027.

Yes, we welcome you to apply as long as you have access to a yard and approval from your landlord. Balconies at apartment buildings are not eligible for this program because we are focused on replacing turf lawns.

The $25 application fee purchases the ColoRADscape program sign that participants will receive as soon as they plant their native landscape. It will also be used to provide exclusive educational and community-building programming for ColoRADscape participants.

We will organize exclusive events during the year for program participants to meet each other, build community and learn about native plants.

Your name and address will not be publicly available. They will be available privately to Code Compliance so they know which yards are part of the program and to the volunteer management committee so we can deliver your sign.

We will organize exclusive events during the year for program participants to meet each other, build community and learn about native plants.

No fancy software or artistic drawing abilities are required. A rough sketch on a piece of paper will do. If you have the ability to draw to scale with specific plants, that is welcome.

Be sure to use the resources on this webpage to make selections for your garden. The volunteer review committee only needs to confirm that applicants have been thoughtful about what plants they will use and how large they will be at maturity. We recognize that you may also make some real-time revisions about what plants go where once you start planting. As long as you continue to meet the program requirements, you are still eligible for the program.

As long as you continue to meet program requirements, you will still be eligible for the program. It is quite common for gardeners to shift perennials around to tweak the landscape design or when plants are ready to be divided, as many perennials are after several years of growth.

In the parts of your yard where you need lawn area, for example where kids or dogs will play, transitioning from high-water turf to a lower water grass is a wonderful idea. There are lower water-use blends of cool-season grasses and warm-season grasses, like buffalo grass, that require almost no additional water once established.

These areas will not qualify for the program, as we are focused on replacing lawns with lower water, more ecologically beneficial landscaping. Including native grass specimens in this landscaped area is a great idea, as grass provides benefits like food and nesting materials for birds, habitat for overwintering pollinators, deep roots to improve soil quality, winter visual interest and structure to enhance the beauty of other perennials.

Absolutely. Please apply. There is a streamlined application review process for existing low-water, native landscaping in front yards and side yards for corner lots.

During our pilot year, we are focusing on front yards and side yards for corner lots so that neighbors can see the signs in participating yards. We hope they will be inspired to begin a similar process in their own yards and that this will build local momentum for more ecological landscaping.

Every ColoRADscape yard sign will have a unique identifying number to help Code Compliance quickly see whether a yard is part of the ColoRADscape program. The sign will demonstrate that a native plant landscape being planted or maintained is an intentional landscape.

However, if Code Compliance receives a complaint and believes further action is required, they will notify the ColoRADscape subcommittee. Subcommittee members will then work directly with the program participant to help them improve weed management and stay in good standing. If there are overgrown weeds and the program participant does not remove them in a timely manner, that yard will be removed from the program.

If weeds in the complaint are outside of the ColoRADscape area, Code Compliance will address it directly with the homeowner or resident, as they currently do.

Xeriscaping became inaccurately associated with yards that were covered in rocks with little to no plant life. Synonyms like water-wise or Coloradoscaping, which inspired the ColoRADscape program name, provide more clarity.

Coloradoscaping is a landscaping style filled with plants that are native to or well-suited to Colorado, are water-wise (meaning they can tolerate drought and thrive in semi-arid conditions), provide habitat for birds and pollinators and provide other ecological benefits.

Native plants naturally occur in a particular region, ecosystem or habitat. They have evolved alongside local wildlife and are adapted to the challenges of our region, including low annual precipitation, clay or gravelly soils and intense UV levels. Plants may be from the plains and Front Range, mountains or Western Slope of Colorado. They can also come from the broader Great Plains, Southwest or Great Basin states.

Mulch has many benefits, including helping to maintain soil moisture, increase water infiltration, suppress weeds, moderate temperature extremes and build soil health. We encourage you to mulch as soon as possible after planting to attain these benefits. If you have removed turf but are not yet ready to plant, mulch can be a helpful placeholder to keep weeds at bay.

Small gravel (pea gravel or ideally even smaller), wood chip mulch and mulch from other plant matter like decomposing leaves will all work for certain types of landscaping. The choice will depend on the types of plants you will grow and what type of natural habitat they prefer, sunlight levels, whether you will provide supplemental irrigation or rely exclusively on rainfall and snowmelt, your budget and fire risk.

In general, Colorado native plants that grow in full sun and dry sites do well planted in squeegee rock. Colorado native plants grown in shady or wetter areas do well with fine organic mulch. Colorado State University and the Denver Botanic Gardens have helpful resources on the pros and cons of different types of mulch for your landscape.

Helpful resources include:

• Colorado State University Extension mulch guidance
• Denver Botanic Gardens soil and mulch resources

It is true that even drought-tolerant, low-water perennials require regular watering in their first one to two years as they establish deep root systems, but this process will still use less water than keeping a turf lawn alive and green in hot, dry weather. Longer term, the water savings are substantial.

Low-water, native plants will establish best with extended drip irrigation sessions one or two times a week. During year one, if you have 1/2 gallon per hour drip emitters, aim for 30 to 60 minutes of watering one to two times per week during peak growing season (typically late May through late September if there has not been substantial rain), and about 30 minutes once per week during dry periods with temperatures around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.By year two, you can reduce watering significantly, and by year three, many plants will only need supplemental water during extended periods without rain or snow.

There are numerous ways to remove turf grass, and all have pros and cons. We encourage you to explore your options and consider what makes the most sense for your budget, timeline, ability or willingness to do difficult labor and the ecological impacts that are most important to you.

Options include removing and hauling away sod; removing sod and flipping it upside down to compost in place; solarizing sod and weeds under thick, clear plastic during the hottest months of the year; smothering with layers of mulch and cardboard; or applying herbicides.

Learn more through resources including:

• City of Fort Collins: Landscape Design Guide
• PlantTalk Colorado: Lawn Conversion Resources
• Resource Central: Lawn Replacement
• Wild Ones Front Range: Replacing Turf
• Xerces Society: Habitat Site Preparation Guide

Any plants native to our region are approved for this program. We encourage you to consult existing online resources, including:

• City of Fort Collins: Landscape Design Guide
• Colorado Native Plant Society: Gardening with Native Plants
• CSU Extension: Native Plants
• National Wildlife Federation: Native Plant Finder
• Resource Central: Garden in a Box
• Wild Ones Front Range: Native Plants Toolkit

Native plant and seed availability is improving every year as local and regional gardeners increase demand for native seedlings and seeds.

You can purchase native seedlings and seeds from local and online vendors and organizations included in lists maintained by Wild Ones Front Range and the Colorado Native Plant Society.

If you would like to build local community or have budget constraints, local organizations like Wild Ones also host seed and seedling swaps. There are also active social media groups on Facebook and Reddit where local gardeners and native plant enthusiasts share information and sometimes offer volunteer seedlings from their yards.

There are many design ideas online. These resources do not necessarily use exclusively native plants, but you can often substitute a native plant with similar water and sunlight needs, ecological value and visual impact.

Sample designs and ideas are available from:

• City of Aurora: Water-wise Design Examples
• City of Fort Collins: Designs with Water in Mind
• City of Fort Collins: Landscape Design Guide
• Denver Water: Xeriscape Plans
• Plant Select: Water-wise Landscape Designs
• Resource Central: Garden in a Box program
• Wild Ones Front Range Chapter: Denver/Front Range design

Wild Ones Front Range Chapter: Low Water Native Plants for Colorado booklets

For ideas and visuals to help you find landscaping styles you like:

• Colorado Springs: Water Wise Plants
• CSU Extension: 13 Front-Yard Xeriscaping Landscaping Ideas
• Resource Central: Inspiration Hub

In-person inspiration locations include:

• Englewood Depot Park native pollinator garden
• Denver Botanic Gardens Gardens of the West (York Street location)
• Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms Prairie Garden
• Harvard Gulch demonstration garden
• High Plains Environmental Center demonstration gardens
• Colorado Springs Utilities demonstration gardens

We also encourage you to talk with neighbors who have native landscaping. They can share firsthand experience about what plant combinations have grown well in their yards.

• Wild Ones Front Range Chapter – Native Plant Toolkit
• Colorado Native Plant Society – Gardening with Native Plants
• Colorado State University Extension – Native Plants Resources
• Resource Central – Lawn Replacement Program

Find these and many more helpful resources the Englewood Public Library : 

• Meet the Natives: A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers, Trees and Shrubs by M. Walter Pesman
• Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Doug Tallamy
• Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Doug Tallamy

• Harlequin’s Gardens
• High Plains Environmental Center