There are many public Xeriscape gardens in the Denver metro area. Most are free to the public.

• Arvada Demonstration Garden
  Location: 7030 Garrison St.
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Year-round classes
  Hours: Check website
• Aurora Xeriscape Demonstration Garden
  Location: Northwest corner of Alameda Parkway and Chambers Road
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Year-round classes
  Hours: Sunrise to sunset, seven days a week
• Carson Nature Center
  Location: 3000 W. Carson Drive (north of Mineral, west of Santa Fe)
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Year-round classes
  Hours: Park open sunrise to sunset, seven days a week for self-guided tours; check website for nature center hours
• Denver Botanic Gardens at York Street
  Location: 1007 York St.
  Admission: Free if member; non-member adults $15 — see website for more info
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Year-round classes; contact directly for guided tours
  Hours: Check website
• Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield
  Location: 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road
  Admission: Free if member; non-members $5 per passenger vehicle
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: May – September classes
  Hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., seven days a week
• Gallop Gardens
  Location: 6015 S. Gallop St.
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: None
  Hours: Sunrise to sunset, seven days a week
• Gove Community Garden
  Location: 13th Street and Colorado Boulevard
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: No
  Classes and guided tours: April – October free compost classes
  Hours: Open during compost classes
• Harper Humanities Garden and Chester M. Alter Arboretum
  Location: Near South University Boulevard and Evans Avenue
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Guided tours May – September at arboretum. Check website for specifics.
• Harvard Gulch Park/Colorado State University Extension
  Location: 888 E. Iliff Ave.
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Yes, check website for contact info
  Hours: Accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• Highland Gardens Village
  Location: 3755 Tennyson
  Admission: Free/open to public
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Yes
• Hudson Gardens
  Location: 6115 S. Santa Fe Drive
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: Yes
  Classes and guided tours: Year-round classes; call 303-797-8565 for guided tours
  Hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., seven days a week
• Kendrick Park Gardens
  Location: 9351 W. Jewell Ave.
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: No
  Self-guided tours: No
  Classes and guided tours: No
  Hours: 5 a.m. – 10 p.m., seven days a week
• Mount Goliath
  Location: Mount Evans Scenic Byway
  Admission: Amenity fee to access Mount Evans
  Wheelchair accessible: No
  Self-guided tours: No
  Classes and guided tours: June – August for guided tours
  Hours: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and sometimes Saturday
• Stern Park Xeric Garden
  Location: 5800 S Spotswood Street Littleton, CO 80120
• Tagawa Gardens
  Location: 7711 S. Parker Road
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: No
  Classes and guided tours: Year-round topics
  Hours: Check website for hours
• The GrowHaus
  Location: 4751 York St.
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: No
  Classes and guided tours:
  Hours: Public tours Saturday and Sunday, check website
• War Memorial Rose Garden
  Location: 5804 S. Bemis St.
  Admission: Free
  Wheelchair accessible: Yes
  Self-guided tours: No
  Classes and guided tours: No
  Hours: Accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week

Last updated Nov. 3, 2022

Recommended Reading List

• Denver Water's Water Wise Landscape Handbook
• Denver Water & American Water Works Association
  Xeriscape Plant Guide: 100 Water-Wise Plants for Gardens and Landscapes
• Bennett, Richard E and Michael S. Hazinski
  Water-Efficient Landscape Guidelines
• Birchfield, Emerson R.
  The Flowering of Denver
• Borland, James N., Sylvia Brockner and Jeanne R. Janish
  Native Plants of Genesee
• Brown-Folsom, Debra ...[et al.]
  Dry Climate Gardening with Succulents
• Brune, Rick
  The Prairie Garden
• Brenzel, Kathleen
  Sunset Western Garden Book
• City of Boulder, Colorado
  Boulder Xeriscapes, Gardening with Our Climate  - 1995, CD-ROM
• Coates, Margaret
  Perennials for the Western Garden
• Colorado Nursery Association
  The Rocky Mountain Perennial Plant Guide
• Colorado Nurserymen's Association
  Rocky Mountain Plant Guide
• Keammerer, Deborah B. and Dorothy F. Borland
  Sustainable Landscape Conversion Design and Irrigation: Recommendations for converting bluegrass turf to sustainable low water usage landscapes
• Winger, David and Denver Water
  Xeriscape Color Guide: 100 Water-Wise Plants for Gardens and Landscapes

Colorado State University Extension Fact Sheets:

• Feucht, James R., Xeriscaping: Creative Landscaping, No. 7.228
• Feucht, James R., Xeriscaping: Trees And Shrubs, No. 7.229
• Feucht, James R., Xeriscaping: Ground Cover Plants, No. 7.230
• Feucht, James R., Xeriscaping: Perennial and Annual Flowers, No. 7.231
• Feucht, James R., Xeriscaping: Ornamental Grasses, No. 7.232
• Feucht, James R., Wildflowers in Colorado, No. 7.233
• Shonle, I., L.G. Vickerman and J.E. Klett, Native Herbaceous Perennials for Colorado Landscapes, No. 7.242
• Klett, J.E. and R. A. Cox, Rock Garden Plants, No. 7.401
• Klett, J.E. and R. A. Cox, Ground Cover Plants, No. 7.400

• Creasy, Rosalind
  The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping
• Ellefson, Connie, Tom Stephens and Doug Welsh
  Xeriscape Gardening: Water Conservation for the American Landscape
• Ellefson, Connie
  Xeriscape Colorado: The Complete Guide
• Erickson, Jonathan
  Saving Water in the Home & Garden
• Ferguson, Nicola
  Right Plant, Right Place
• Feucht, James R. and Jack D. Butler
  Landscape Management
• Hakala, Sue
  Drought Gardening
• Huddleson, S. and M. Hussey
  Grow Native: Landscaping With Native and Apt Plants of the Rocky Mountains
• Johnson, Eric & Millard, Scott
  The Low Water Flower Gardener
• Knopf, Jim
  The Xeriscape Flower Gardener: A Waterwise Guide for the Rocky Mountain Region
• Landscaping for Water Conservation: Xeriscape!
  Jointly published by the city of Aurora and Denver Water
• Nelson, Ruth Ashton
  The Handbook of Rocky Mountain Plants
• Nehrling, Arno
  Easy Gardening With Drought-Resistant Plants
• O'Keefe, John M.
  Water-Conserving Gardens and Landscapes
• Ottesen, Carole
  Ornamental Grasses – The Amber Wave
• Perry, Bob.
  Landscape Plants for Western Regions: An Illustrated Guide to Plants for Water Conservation
• Phillips, Judith
  Southwestern Landscaping with Native Plants
  Natural by Design: Beauty and Balance in Southwest Gardens
  Plants for Natural Gardens: Southwestern Native & Adaptive Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers & Grasses
• Phillips, Kathryn
  Paradise By Design: Native Plants and the New American Landscape
• Rumary, Mark
  The Dry Garden
• Springer, Lauren
  The Undaunted Garden
• Sunset New Western Garden Book
• Sunset Waterwise Gardening
• Taylor, Jane
  Plants For Dry Climates
  Taylor's Guide to Water-Saving Gardening
• Thomas, Christopher
  Water-Wise Gardening
• Weinstein, Gayle
  Xeriscape Handbook
• Wheatly, Margaret
  Successful Gardening with Limited Water
• Williams, Sara
  Creating the Prairie Xeriscape: Low-Maintenance, Water-Efficient Gardening

Beautiful Gardens With Less Water

32 minutes
Produced by: Sunset Films and Television
Lane Publishing Company
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Sunset Waterwise Gardening — Western Edition

32 minutes
Produced by:
Sunset Video
Lane Publishing Company
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Xeriscape — Appropriate Landscaping to Conserve Water

30 minutes
Produced by:
San Luis Video
P.O. Box 4604
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403

Xeriscape — Landscaping to Save Water, Time and Money

18 minutes
Produced by:
Virginia Jensen and Fred Liljegren
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Water Resources
1636 West North Temple, Suite 310
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116

Your Own Back Yard

1 hour
Produced jointly by:
Denver Water & Linda Rea Productions

• Colorado WaterWise
• GreenCO (Green Industries of Colorado)
• Colorado State University Extension
• Alliance for Water Efficiency
• Resource Central
• Plant Select