Thank you for sharing, Erin! I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing about your natural gardens progress. I’m hoping we can do something like this in the future!
Hey there! Thanks for the ideas and comments. It’s true my first year of planting had a lot of space as I spaced things for their mature growth. It’s filled in a lot in this past year and I continue to add plants in spots that need some filling in. Happy Gardening!
Hey there! Thanks for writing While we didn't do it on our yard, it is a great way to get rid of grass if you have the time. Ideally, you'll want to do this for 2 months before you plant anything. Here's a great article on CSU extension about using cardboard to remove sod Happy Gardening pueblo.extension.colostate.edu/programs/gardening-horticulture/sheries-articles/replacing-your-lawn/
Hi Erin! I'm in centennial and trying to redo my neighborhood entrances with more natives and less annuals. Where did you get the squeegee? And your plants? Thank you for your assistance.
Hi! Thanks for writing and so excited you’re adding natives to the neighborhood. I got my squeegee from a local rock and landscaping company but I’d recommend seeing if there’s a pioneer nearby or a small gravel landscaping company and see their delivery costs. For plants I got most of mine from high country gardens in Fort Collins. It was a drive but the beginning of April they have a 50% off sale on plants and so it was worth the trip and they have a HUGE selection. Other great stores that have big native plant selections are harlequin gardens in Boulder and Echters in Arvada. Also check out colorado native plant society’s website as they list front range garden stores. I’d suggest getting a feel of what you want to plant and then calling the stores to see if they have them. Good luck and keep me posted!
@@Elucero108 Are you a CONPS Master? I was but didn't keep up on my volunteer hours. Now I'm doing so many hours I'm going to redo it. We've got the pictures all printed out and trying to figure it out the specs of each, requirements, and the space we have. This is a big neighborhood of 578 houses. We're trying to get the $10K Grant being offered by the city of Centennial. The money they spent yearly on annuals was crazy. We want to cut that back 2/3 until our natives get established. Thanks for the input!!!
@@SS-wk7fx I'm just an enthusiastic member! Your project sounds amazing and ambitious! What a huge impact it would have for the environment (and the budget) to transform those annuals into native plants. I wish you all the best of luck with the plants and the grant! Even one block at a time, it's a wonderful thing you're doing. Thank you!
thanks for sharing! what did you lay your squeegee on? i ask because im under the impression i need to kill my huge lawn first (looking at cardboard and mulch) to do this first before adding anything more on top of that
We rented a sod cutter to cut and remove the lawn. It takes about 3 inches of grass and dirt out and then we put down 3 inches of squeegee. The biggest plus for us was removing the sod this way was fast, and we ended up with the same height yard after removing the sod and installing the squeegee. We did have to figure out what to do with all that organic matter....we ended up stacking it around elsewhere on our property where it is happily composting back to earth. I hope that helps! Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.
@@sandss_sandyy thanks for the question. The reason we installed squegee instead of mulch is that mulch traps water…which Colorado native plants that are adapted to dry climates do not lije water trapped at their base. The experts at CSU Extension said the mulch could cause rot at the roots. Hope that helps and happy planting!
@@Elucero108 Thank you! So you're not putting cardboard or landscape fabric right? Right after you take the grass out, you installed squeegee? And then planted plants on that?
@@sandss_sandyy that’s correct 👍 no cardboard or fabric. While it does mean some extra weeding the first year or two it allows the native plants to reseed and propagate. Check out my latest video which is one year after planting and I show how they’ve spread :)
Hey there! Thanks for watching. I did a video last month that shows how it’s looking now. Check it out :) Colorado Native Plant Garden - Maintenance and Installation ua-cam.com/video/cRPllbSeNVM/v-deo.html
Please post again next year showing the growth
Check out my latest video if you haven’t seen it yet showing the growth!
Great tips...thank you!
So glad you found these helpful
Thanks for the great thoughts and resources!
You bet! Happy Gardening!
Erin, thank you for sharing your beautiful corner.
Thank you for visiting with this little corner of the Earth
Wonderful video, Erin! Please do keep us posted on the progress of your beautiful garden in the years ahead!
Thank you for watching, I’ll be sure to keep posting as it grows. I think year three it’s going to be gorgeous!
Thank you for sharing, Erin! I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing about your natural gardens progress. I’m hoping we can do something like this in the future!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it and happy to chat about my lessons learned when you get ready to create your own 🥰
Wellcome to Reserva Natural Privada El Consejero @ Honduras
Starting mine now….
That’s fantastic! Good luck and Happy Gardening!
Not as dense as I think you were mentioning. How about some swathes of native grama grasses or sporobolus?
Hey there! Thanks for the ideas and comments. It’s true my first year of planting had a lot of space as I spaced things for their mature growth. It’s filled in a lot in this past year and I continue to add plants in spots that need some filling in. Happy Gardening!
Have you ever tried cardboard to smother grass, covered with gravel?
Hey there! Thanks for writing While we didn't do it on our yard, it is a great way to get rid of grass if you have the time. Ideally, you'll want to do this for 2 months before you plant anything. Here's a great article on CSU extension about using cardboard to remove sod Happy Gardening pueblo.extension.colostate.edu/programs/gardening-horticulture/sheries-articles/replacing-your-lawn/
Hi Erin! I'm in centennial and trying to redo my neighborhood entrances with more natives and less annuals. Where did you get the squeegee? And your plants? Thank you for your assistance.
Hi! Thanks for writing and so excited you’re adding natives to the neighborhood. I got my squeegee from a local rock and landscaping company but I’d recommend seeing if there’s a pioneer nearby or a small gravel landscaping company and see their delivery costs. For plants I got most of mine from high country gardens in Fort Collins. It was a drive but the beginning of April they have a 50% off sale on plants and so it was worth the trip and they have a HUGE selection. Other great stores that have big native plant selections are harlequin gardens in Boulder and Echters in Arvada. Also check out colorado native plant society’s website as they list front range garden stores. I’d suggest getting a feel of what you want to plant and then calling the stores to see if they have them. Good luck and keep me posted!
@@Elucero108 Are you a CONPS Master? I was but didn't keep up on my volunteer hours. Now I'm doing so many hours I'm going to redo it. We've got the pictures all printed out and trying to figure it out the specs of each, requirements, and the space we have. This is a big neighborhood of 578 houses. We're trying to get the $10K Grant being offered by the city of Centennial. The money they spent yearly on annuals was crazy. We want to cut that back 2/3 until our natives get established. Thanks for the input!!!
@@SS-wk7fx I'm just an enthusiastic member! Your project sounds amazing and ambitious! What a huge impact it would have for the environment (and the budget) to transform those annuals into native plants. I wish you all the best of luck with the plants and the grant! Even one block at a time, it's a wonderful thing you're doing. Thank you!
thanks for sharing! what did you lay your squeegee on? i ask because im under the impression i need to kill my huge lawn first (looking at cardboard and mulch) to do this first before adding anything more on top of that
We rented a sod cutter to cut and remove the lawn. It takes about 3 inches of grass and dirt out and then we put down 3 inches of squeegee. The biggest plus for us was removing the sod this way was fast, and we ended up with the same height yard after removing the sod and installing the squeegee. We did have to figure out what to do with all that organic matter....we ended up stacking it around elsewhere on our property where it is happily composting back to earth. I hope that helps! Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi, thank you so much for this video. We were thinking of using mulch for our front yard. Would that replace squeegee ?
@@sandss_sandyy thanks for the question. The reason we installed squegee instead of mulch is that mulch traps water…which Colorado native plants that are adapted to dry climates do not lije water trapped at their base. The experts at CSU Extension said the mulch could cause rot at the roots. Hope that helps and happy planting!
@@Elucero108 Thank you! So you're not putting cardboard or landscape fabric right? Right after you take the grass out, you installed squeegee? And then planted plants on that?
@@sandss_sandyy that’s correct 👍 no cardboard or fabric. While it does mean some extra weeding the first year or two it allows the native plants to reseed and propagate. Check out my latest video which is one year after planting and I show how they’ve spread :)
How deep should the squeegee gravel be?
Ideally 3 to 4 inches.
How does it look RN?
Hey there! Thanks for watching. I did a video last month that shows how it’s looking now. Check it out :)
Colorado Native Plant Garden - Maintenance and Installation
ua-cam.com/video/cRPllbSeNVM/v-deo.html