Don King Landscaping

Custom designed garden scapes and landscape architecture for arid climates.

Every yard begins as a drawing. Each plan is created by a landscape architect, sketched and colored by hand, and built around water-wise plants that thrive in Colorado’s sun, wind and dry air.

Hand-drawn landscape plan of a corner lot with perennial gardens, a zen garden and a patio

Designed by a landscape architect

A garden in a dry climate asks for a different kind of planning. Soil, slope, sun and drainage decide where water goes and which plants will be happy there.

Each design pairs hardscape such as flagstone paths, stamped concrete, brick patios, dry stream beds and boulders with drought-resistant plantings. Fragrant herbs, tough perennials and ornamental grasses fill the beds, and efficient drip and spray irrigation keeps water use low.

Every plan is drawn by hand, so your landscape is shaped around your home and your way of living outdoors.

Low-water beds, fragrant herbs and long-blooming color, drawn to fit one yard exactly.

Plants we love for Colorado’s arid gardens

These tough, beautiful plants appear again and again in our designs. They handle heat, wind and dry spells while giving color, texture and fragrance through the seasons.

From the drawing board

Each landscape plan is drawn and colored by hand. Here are five of our designs, each created to fit its own property and its own climate challenges. Names and addresses have been removed to protect client privacy.

Hand-drawn plan with a curved dry stream bed, circular patio and flagstone path

The Dry Stream Bed Garden

A sweeping design that turns drainage into a feature, with a rock-lined dry stream bed winding through the planting beds.

  • Low-water turf lawn and a new sod area with sprinklers
  • Circular patio linked by a flagstone path
  • American serviceberry, red maple and potentilla
  • Cedar mulch beds, boulders and a cedar privacy fence
Hand-drawn plan of a pie-shaped lot with a zen garden, ball court and pergola patio

The Corner Lot Retreat

A pie-shaped lot transformed into a series of garden rooms, each with its own purpose, color palette and mood.

  • Zen garden and a compact gravel ball court
  • Perennial gardens with Persian lilac, Colorado blue spruce and maples
  • New patio with a fire pit, pergola and small fountain
  • Stock tank vegetable gardens with drip irrigation
  • Iris and daylily garden, Knock Out roses and honeysuckle
Hand-drawn plan of a backyard with a stamped patio, turf and a perimeter border of serviceberry

The Backyard Border

A clean, usable backyard framed by a living border of serviceberry, spruce, lilac and fir, with room to play and entertain.

  • New stamped patio between covered decks
  • Low-water turf zones with a new sprinkler system
  • Flagstone walkway and gated side yard
  • Cedar bark mulch to hold moisture around the plantings
Hand-drawn plan of a narrow lot with a gas fire pit, paver walkway and retaining wall

The Fire Pit Garden

A narrow lot made to work harder, with a paver walkway leading to a cozy fire pit and a planting area tucked behind the house.

  • Gas fire pit and a paver path around the home
  • Row of American serviceberry with flowering crabapple
  • Planned drainage and a block retaining wall
  • New front gardens beside a red maple and an oak
Hand-drawn plan with a round daytime patio, herb garden, kitchen gardens and rose garden

The Kitchen Garden Courtyard

A garden for cooking and gathering, with an herb garden above the lawn and kitchen gardens running along a stamped concrete walk.

  • New herb garden and a rounded daytime patio
  • Kitchen gardens and a vegetable garden with a gated entry
  • Rose garden and Persian lilac along the side yard
  • Boulders, daylilies and spruce in the front beds

From hand drawn to digital

The artistry of a hand-drawn plan is part of the experience, and it can also be converted into a digital design. A digital version makes it easy to view every detail on a screen, zoom in on plantings, share the plan with family or your HOA, and keep it on hand for the life of your garden.

Your plan stays true to the original drawing, in a form that is simple to open, view and enjoy.