Swap a thirsty patch of lawn for a low-water bed
The strip of grass that never looks good is often the best place to start a water-wise planting bed.
Step by step
Pick an under-used, sunny, hard-to-water patch of turf, such as a parkway strip or a slope.
Check your HOA's design guidelines and approval process first. In Colorado, HOAs can't ban water-wise landscaping on single-family homes, but they can set design rules.
Contact 811 at least two business days before you dig. Colorado law requires this for any digging, including hand digging, and 811 doesn't mark private lines like sprinkler pipes.
Remove the turf by digging it out, covering it with clear plastic for about six weeks to solarize it, or smothering it under cardboard.
Test the soil before amending. Many native and xeric plants do best in unamended soil, so add compost only for plants that need it.
Group plants by how much water they need so a single irrigation zone serves the whole bed.
Mulch with gravel for truly xeric plants (about 3 inches, no plastic sheeting underneath) or 1 to 2 inches of wood chips, keeping it off plant crowns. Avoid large areas of unshaded rock right against the house, because rock radiates heat.
Water often for the first one to two months, checking soil moisture by hand, then taper off. On most of the Front Range, the last spring frost is around mid-May.
Safety first. Hand dig within 18 inches of any utility mark.