In our effort to reduce water consumption, it is important to landscape our property with plants that do not require irrigation (i.e. plants that thrive with their natural allotment of rain and snow). Plants native to one's home environment are thus the ideal candidates.
Here along the Front Range urban corridor, shrubs native to the Piedmont and lower foothills are used for natural landscaping; these include rabbitbrush, sand willow, chokecherry, serviceberry, sumac, Gambel oak, wild cherry, mountain mahogany, potentilla, junipers and others. On our Littleton farm, we also have a wide variety of non-native, drought-tolerant shrubs; lilacs, wild plum, Oregon grape, spirea, Hibiscus syriacus (Rose of Sharon), cacti and a variety of roses thrive in the dry, sunny climate of Colorado.
In addition to their role in saving water, the above shrubs provide a diversity of color and attract a wide variety of wildlife. By expanding shrub borders and using native grasses for limited lawn space, we multiply those benefits, reduce our yard work and increase the availability of natural landscape for our wild neighbors.
