Design and build · Boulder, Colorado
Gardens that belong on the Front Range.
We design and build gardens for steep ground and dry summers. Dry stacked sandstone, native planting, flagstone patios and drip irrigation, drawn and built by one crew since 2011.
Site visits are $180, credited to your design. Now booking builds for spring 2027.
- Position40.015° N, 105.270° W
- Elevation5,430 ft
- HardinessZone 5b
- Rainfall20 in. a year
“Three winters in and not one stone has moved. The neighbors assume the walls came with the house.”
Dana Abbott, Knollwood
41 gardens since 2011
Selected work
Every garden here is one we drew, built and still look after. Ask, and we will give you three addresses you can walk past.
- 17terraced slopes
- 11patios and courtyards
- 8native meadows
- 5dry creeks and swales
The working year
Through the seasons
A dry garden at 5,430 feet keeps its own calendar. This is what we do, and when, and why it cannot wait.
MarAprMay
Spring
- Cut back last year's grassesMarch, before new growth shows
- Turn on the drip and test every zoneLate April, once nights stay above freezing
- Plant perennialsAfter Mother's Day, when the last frost has passed
JunJulAug
Summer
- Build walls, steps and patiosDry ground carries stone and machines
- Water new plants deep, twice a weekEarly morning, never a daily sprinkle
- Weed first year beds by handUntil the natives close the gaps
SepOctNov
Fall
- Plant trees, shrubs and grassesWarm soil and cool air. The best window of the year
- Sow native meadow seedNovember, so winter can do the work
- Blow out the irrigationBefore the first hard freeze, by mid October
DecJanFeb
Winter
- Draw the plans for springBare ground shows the true shape of a slope
- Prune trees while they sleepJanuary and February
- Water evergreens in dry spellsAny week above 40 degrees with no snow cover
Water, all year. Every garden we plant runs on drip. A native bed drinks about a third of what the lawn it replaced did, and after three summers most of it needs almost none.
Drawing, all year. Site visits and measured plans do not stop for snow. A plan drawn in January is a garden planted in May.
First walk to first frost
How a project runs
Four steps, one crew and a drawing you can hold us to. The plan here is the one we drew for the Marlowe terraces, the garden at the top of the page.
- Flagstone patio, Lyons sandstone
- Steel fire pit, 42 in.
- Dry stacked walls, 30 in. high
- Slab steps, six risers
- Perennial beds. Penstemon strictus, Linum lewisii
- Crushed granite path
- Blue grama meadow. Bouteloua gracilis
- Ponderosa pine, kept
- Serviceberry, three planted
- Drip valve box, four zones
Site visit
Ines walks the ground with you for about ninety minutes. Slope, sun, soil, drainage, and where the deer come through.
Measured plan
A plan drawn to scale, a plant list by Latin and common name, and a fixed price for the build. Two rounds of changes are included.
Build
Our own crew of six, led by Tobias. Grading and walls first, then irrigation, then plants. We never hand the stonework to anyone else.
First year care
Three visits in the first year. We tune the drip, replace anything that fails and leave you a watering calendar.
What it costs in 2026
Ballpark numbers. Most finished gardens land between $28,000 and $140,000, and every build is quoted as one fixed price before a single stone is moved.
| Site visit, credited to your design | $180 |
|---|---|
| Measured plan and plant list | from $2,400 |
| Dry stacked wall, per face foot | $95 to $140 |
| Flagstone patio, per square foot | $38 to $52 |
| Native planting with drip, per square foot | $14 to $22 |
Notes from the yard
What people ask before a site visit.
The five we hear most, answered the way Ines answers them on the first walk.
Or call (303) 555 0176
Is there a minimum project size?
Design and build projects start around $28,000. Smaller planting jobs we take in fall, when the crews have room.
How long until work starts?
Usually three to five months from the site visit. Stonework is booked first and planting follows the season.
Will the garden need watering?
For the first two summers, yes, on a drip line we install. After that most of it lives on rain.
Do you look after what you build?
The first year is included. After that we offer two visits a year, in spring and fall.
Can you work with my homeowners association?
Yes. We draw the plan to their rules and file the paperwork.
Where we work
From Nederland at 8,230 feet down to Longmont on the plains. What survives changes with every thousand feet, so the first thing we ask is where you are.
- Nederland8,230 ft
- Sunshine Canyon7,100 ft
- Pine Brook Hills6,400 ft
- Boulder5,430 ft. Our yard
- Louisville5,335 ft
- Lafayette5,235 ft
- Niwot5,095 ft
- Longmont4,985 ft