{"id":480,"date":"2026-06-08T11:03:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=480"},"modified":"2026-06-08T11:03:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:03:04","slug":"landscape-experts-ask-colorado-to-embrace-the-beige-for-drought-adaptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=480","title":{"rendered":"Landscape experts ask Colorado to \u201cembrace the beige\u201d for drought adaptation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It may be a hard sell to get Colorado homeowners to \u201cembrace the beige\u201d during this extreme drought season, but Colorado State University\u2019s gardening and water experts are up for the challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more As retiree pensions shrank, Colorado PERA paid its staff millions of dollars in bonuses<\/a><\/p>\n

Scott Curry and Lori Catalano threw out the eye-opening phrase during a campus podcast, alongside a bunch of tips for homeowners to accept their watering limitations this year, and then think long term about altering their landscape. We caught up with Curry, an assistant professor of landscape design, and added in other suggestions from their podcast, which can be found here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s their message with \u201cembrace the beige\u201d?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Basically, they want people to tweak their water use this summer, not sweat a few patches of less-than-emerald home turf during an historic drought, and for the long term, change their mindset about what can be a beautiful homescape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If we have grass lawns and can\u2019t change them this year, what should we do?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grass is not evil, Curry reminds people. Cool green turf helps cities fight off the \u201cheat island\u201d effect where excessive pavement actually changes the local climate to hotter. Like Phoenix. \u201cWe aren\u2019t trying to blacklist the lawn here. The lawn has a lot of great benefits,\u201d Curry told us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But saving even a little water on 1,000 square feet of grass, multiplied times a million homes, can produce real water savings for Colorado, Curry adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Start with an electronic irrigation controller, if you don\u2019t already have one, for about $150. Reliable brands include Rachio, Hunter and Rainbird, Curry said. Look for controllers with an \u201cEPA WaterSense\u201d seal of approval, and with a Wi-Fi connection option. Modern controllers can adjust your lawn\u2019s watering needs according to recent weather, based on known \u201cevapotranspiration\u201d rates that tell the controller what the grass actually needs to survive. They can also be easily adjusted \u201cat midnight sitting on your couch with your phone,\u201d Curry noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next, consider an irrigation audit. Some agencies in the past have offered water audits for free, but they are also worth hiring on your own as part of an irrigation checkup, Curry said. Look for a \u201cCertified Landscape Irrigation Auditor\u201d credential. They will make sure nozzles are not watering pavement, that the nozzles are spraying only what\u2019s needed, that timers are set to the minimum needed, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What about watering with hoses?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some communities are banning hand watering of lawns as part of progressive drought restrictions. If you don\u2019t have an irrigation system and use hoses, Curry said, \u201cinvest in a hose timer at minimum. Those really are not good ways to water the lawn. They\u2019re horribly inefficient. They get left on all night, and we just need to make sure that you know that\u2019s not the standard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A hose timer with a WiFi capability is great for accessibility issues, Curry added. Elderly homeowners or those with mobility challenges can set phone timers and alarms, and control the Wi-Fi from a chair.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the advice for those who are willing and ready to go next level on water-saving landscapes?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, Curry emphasizes, water-wise landscapes have been \u201chorribly misconstrued\u201d after water agencies tried unfortunate terms like \u201cxeriscaping,\u201d coined in the 1980s by Denver Water. Homeowners immediately laughed at that as \u201czeroscaping,\u201d and created nightmare moonscapes by simply ripping out turf and dumping truckloads of gravel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s super, super bad for the environment, it\u2019s bad for social value, it\u2019s bad for pretty much everything, even your home\u2019s value,\u201d Curry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Front Range plant experts are now promoting the term \u201cColoradoscaping,\u201d a designed set of plantings that reflect and capitalize on Colorado\u2019s arid steppe climate. Western native grasses and flowering plants can be both colorful and perennial, thriving on no added irrigation water once established with a couple of years of minimal drip watering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Where Alex Kelloff and Dwayne Romero stand on the issues in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District primary<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need solutions to be specific to our region and our climate, then we\u2019ll have a lot more possibilities available to us,\u201d Catalano said on the podcast. \u201cOur native grasses and our perennials are beautiful, and even adapted species that are low water all can be incorporated into creating really beautiful four-season landscapes. The idea of just putting down rock mulch is what we\u2019re probably the most worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEmbrace the beige isn\u2019t even just about beige, it\u2019s about all the different color that we have available in our plants outside of green,\u201d Curry said, \u201cand really creating a seasonally dynamic landscape, if you will, celebrating the idea that when our grasslands dry out, that they turn brown and beige and pink and a little hue of blue\u201d and other colors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Where should we start on more ambitious landscape change, if we don\u2019t have $100,000 for a landscape plan?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Try your local garden center or botanic garden first, Curry urges. Commercial family garden centers employ people with decades of knowledge about what works in your neighborhood and what doesn\u2019t. Gardens like Denver Botanic, Betty Ford in Vail, CSU in Fort Collins and others have demonstration gardens for all water environments, and extensive online resources with photos on what to plant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGarden in a Box\u201d concepts help people plan specific plants for different-size spaces. They will then send you a box of the appropriate seeds at a reasonable price, and local water agencies often provide discount coupons. Many Colorado water agencies partner with Resource Central on the boxes, and their website provides more information on how to get discounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Landscaping materials stores are also fonts of knowledge, Curry said. Any place that sells rocks, bark mulch and other materials, such as SiteOne stores, have great experience in what plants thrive with the mulch and how to design affordable gardens, Curry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It sounds like they are encouraging people to take on battles they can actually win.<\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s why CSU Extension starts with irrigation tweaks, Curry said. Most home irrigation systems are only 50% efficient at getting water onto plants. Goosing that to 70% efficiency saves a lot of water and a lot of summer money.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But CSU also wants people to remember they are not demonizing traditional lawns, when they are well thought out. Water conservationists used to attack \u201cnonfunctional\u201d turf \u2014 if it wasn\u2019t being used for a kids\u2019 soccer or baseball field, then it wasn\u2019t needed. That\u2019s too limited, Curry argues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTurf has a function, even if it\u2019s being maintained for aesthetics,\u201d he said. There are places where grass is best for the community. Go to Congress Park on a hot summer day, Curry said, and the lush grass is \u201cDenver\u2019s beach.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The term Curry prefers is \u201cnonessential\u201d turf. Think of what\u2019s essential to your family or your neighborhood, and small changes can add up to big water savings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if you are ready to rip out turf, Curry concluded, think it through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPlan first, get information, and then act. You don\u2019t want to be that person that tore out their whole yard on the Fourth of July, and then you\u2019re like, \u2018Now what do I do?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Peter Moore: Ex-con seeks job opps in Colorado. Can fudge numbers as nec\u2019y.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado State University landscapers want homeowners to “embrace the biege” during drought and climate change, planting a variety beyond turf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLandscape experts ask Colorado to \u201cembrace the beige\u201d for drought adaptation - Colorado Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=480\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Landscape experts ask Colorado to \u201cembrace the beige\u201d for drought adaptation - 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