Xeriscape front yard design tool

Structure first: rock, then paths, then plants

Set the boulders and gravel geometry before any plant enters the plan, they are the bones the design hangs on. Odd-numbered boulder groups, partially buried so they look geological, and a gravel palette that picks up your roof color. When the hard structure is right, even a young sparse planting looks intentional.

Mass the silvers and blues

Low-water plants tend to silver, blue, and gray foliage. Mass them the same way you would perennials, in drifts of five or more, and let each mass breathe against the gravel. Russian sage, lavender, blue fescue, and creeping juniper give four different heights of the same drought-proof palette.

Water only what earns it

A true xeriscape still has one or two moments of luxury, a small high-impact bed near the door on drip irrigation. Zone the yard by water need: the entry bed gets drip, the masses get establishment watering for two summers, the gravel gets nothing, ever.

Before and after, honestly

Every Painted Acre plan starts from a photo of a real yard and ends with the same view, years grown. No invented dream yard, no stock photos.

The dry palette, painted

Silver, blue, and structural, and none of it asks for a sprinkler once established. Every plant is painted at every age, and your ZIP filters the palette to your zone.

Russian Sage

Salvia yangii

A 4 ft silver-blue anchor mass that shrugs off drought and heat.

Zones 4–94 ft

Lavender

Lavandula angustifolia

Entry-bed luxury on a water budget; fragrance at the front door.

Zones 5–92.5 ft

Blue Fescue

Festuca glauca

Steel-blue tufts that repeat beautifully along a gravel band.

Zones 4–81 ft

Sedum Angelina

Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'

Chartreuse groundcover glow between boulders, zero water once rooted.

Zones 3–110.5 ft

Creeping Juniper

Juniperus horizontalis

The evergreen carpet that holds the design together in winter.

Zones 3–90.8 ft

Boulder

Buried a third deep, in odd-numbered groups. The bones of the whole design.

2.5 ft

Questions people ask

What this is, and is not: Painted Acre produces an illustrative watercolor design plan: placement, plant choices, and an honest picture of growth over time. It is not an architectural, engineering, or construction document. For anything that involves excavation, water, structures, or grading, bring the plan to a qualified contractor or landscape professional and verify measurements, utilities, and local codes first.