Shade-tolerant, native shrubs that form multi-story hedgerows, in order to provide habitat and food for birds and other wildlife. Elements:

• Multi-story native shrubs that also serve as companion plants for the existing trees and shrubs.

• Plants with stacking functions such as, insectaries, nitrogen fixers, and drought-tolerant herbs. 

• Birdbath and birdhouse.

A food forest mimics a forest edge, planted with edible plants. A forest is one of earth’s most stable ecosystems and performs many sustainable functions, most notably sequestering huge amounts of carbon. So when we mimic it in food production, we get all the ecological benefits of a forest, plus food. A typical forest edge is thriving with a diversity of life, integrating all of the vertical layers of a forest: Tall trees, small trees, shrubs, herbs, and ground covers. Ultimately, these layers of the forest stack together, with each plant vying for the specific elements it needs. Intertwined, these layers produce a vibrant, productive, low-maintenance, and relatively self-maintaining ecosystem. 

A guild is a community of plants that grow and support each other by recycling nutrients back into the soil. You can have a standalone tree guild or link them together with other trees to form a food forest. Elements:

• Providing shade and conserving water

• Attracting beneficial insects

• Repelling pests and diseases

• Building soil and preventing erosion. 

Half-moon shaped raised beds, planted with vegetables, legumes, and herbs. Elements:

• Raised bed(s) around 2-3 ft. high, composed of branches and natural wood material, flipped sod, topsoil, and compost. Benefits of hugelkultur include:

  • Sequesters carbon on-site by burying woody material in the ground.

  • Retains moisture on-site through rainwater capture and thermal mass in the soil.

Denver used to be all prairie grasslands, and we aim to restore them to their native state. Our Lawn-to-Meadow Makeover™ will revamp tired and costly Kentucky Blue Grass lawns into lush and striking meadows with native grasses and wildflowers. A meadow is a natural field with a diversity of native grasses and wildflowers, which can perform as well or better than a forest when it comes to sequestering carbon underground. Meadows are low-maintenance, water-wise, cost effective, and have amazing regenerative power. They improve the environment by increasing biodiversity, enriching soil health, providing pollinator habitat, and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Elements:

• Flipped sod to create natural dimension with berms and enrich the the soil biome. (Option to eliminate berms from design at lower cost.)

• Mimics natural meadow organization with native seed-mix application. (Option to use combo of plugs and seed at higher cost.)

• Option to include boulders and rocks at higher cost.

• Option to add seating areas and flagstone or decomposed granite pathways at higher cost.)