Centennial Water encourages customers to join the movement and plan ahead as you consider installing ColoradoScape in your landscape. 

Centennial Water believes in incorporating water-saving plant material into landscapes to help conserve water. Selecting plants that thrive in the Colorado climate combined with those that demand less water can result in a beautiful landscape you can enjoy.

ColoradoScape is the term used to describe what has been traditionally called Xeriscape. ColoradoScape is a natural landscape, comprised of low to very-low water use plant material, which blends in with the native Colorado landscape. Plant material must be maintained in its natural, native form. This landscaping utilizes a combination of hardscape and landscape materials, providing a variety of colors, textures, sizes, shapes, and seasonal interest.

How do you get started?

1. Identify which portions of your landscape you want to convert to ColoradoScape. You'll need to know the existing irrigation zones on your property to assess which spaces are ripe for replacement.
2. Set a budget. Things to consider include costs for plants, mulch, irrigation, and design or installation assistance you may seek out.
3. Build your plan. Plant material must cover at least 75% of converted area at mature size. Consider groundcover perennials or native seed mixes for sloped areas. And as you start to map out your new ColoradoScape, remember to adapt or remove the existing irrigation.
4. Get approval from Centennial Water and the Highlands Ranch Community Association before you begin the work.
5. Plan your conversion to avoid the heat of peak summer months. We recommend installation between May 15 to June 30, and/or Sept. 1 to Oct. 15.
6. Take advantage of rebates. Centennial Water offers rebates for turf conversion, installation of high-efficiency nozzles, smart controllers, drip irrigation, and more.

Resources

Centennial Water partner's with a variety of organizations that can help you select the best plants for your landscape.

Denver Audubon garden tips to support birds and utilize native plants. Visit the Denver Audubon's online nature center to see their five demonstration gardens.

Resource Central is an innovative nonprofit out of Boulder determined to make conservation so simple that you don’t even realize you’re doing it. One of their programs is Garden In a Box, professionally designed, waterwise garden kits tailor-made for Colorado yards. We partner with Resource Central to offer Garden In a Box kits to customers twice a year.

Plant Select® is a nonprofit collaboration of Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and professional horticulturists. Its mission is to seek out and distribute the very best plants for landscapes and gardens from the intermountain region to the high plains and beyond. Visit their website to access a plant finder to find the right plants for your yard.

PlantTalk Colorado is sponsored by Colorado State University Extension, Denver Botanic gardens, and the Green Industries of Colorado. It provides reliable, timely information on more than 600 horticultural topics.

Green Industries of Colorado is an alliance of seven trade associations representing all facets of the horticulture and landscape industries. GreenCO members are committed to water conservation and industry-wide best management practices as a way of doing business.

Colorado State University Extension offers a variety of resources for low flame landscape plants. Three fact sheets are available to help homeowners identify steps to take that are effective in reducing wildfire hazards.

• Learn about fire resistant landscaping
• Low flammability landscape plants
• Home irrigation zone checklists (information from Colorado State Forest Service)