Professional Landscape Design Services in Colorado
Custom landscape design built for Front Range yards: drought-smart planting plans, hardscaping, water features, and lighting drawn around how you actually live outdoors.
Landscape design that fits Colorado’s soil, sun, and seasons
Good landscape design starts with the site, not a template. Before we draw anything, we read your yard: how the afternoon sun hits the west side, where snowmelt pools in March, which corners stay shaded under a mature blue spruce, and how the grade falls toward the house. Those details decide everything that follows.
Griffin Outdoor Living provides full landscape design services for residential properties across the South Denver and foothill communities. We plan and build complete outdoor spaces, planting beds, patios, retaining walls, water features, and lighting, as one integrated design rather than a stack of separate add-ons.
Because we both design and build, the plan you approve is the plan that gets installed. No reselling your drawings to a subcontractor who has never walked the property and no surprises when the crew arrives.
From first walkthrough to finished yard
A clear four-step process keeps your landscape design project on schedule, on budget, and free of guesswork.
Consultation
We visit your property, walk the site with you, and talk through how you use the yard now and how you want to use it. We note sun and wind exposure, drainage, soil, sightlines, and your budget range before any drawing begins.
Concept Design
You receive a scaled site plan showing layout, planting zones, hardscape areas, and circulation. We refine it together until the flow, materials, and plant palette match how you live and what your property can support.
3D Rendering
We translate the approved concept into a 3D rendering so you can see your future patio, plantings, and lighting in context, including how the space reads at dusk, before a single shovel goes in the ground.
Installation
Our own crews handle grading, hardscaping, planting, irrigation, and lighting. We sequence the work to protect new plantings and finish with a walkthrough plus a care plan tuned to Colorado conditions.
A look that suits your home and the landscape around it
We design in whatever style fits your architecture and the Colorado setting, then make it durable enough to survive a Front Range winter.
Modern & Contemporary
Clean geometry, large-format pavers, structured grasses, and restrained planting palettes that suit newer Denver and Highlands Ranch homes.
Rustic & Natural
Boulder outcroppings, dry-stack stone, weathered timber, and native plantings that feel like they have always belonged on the property.
Mediterranean
Gravel courtyards, terracotta tones, lavender, and sculptural drought-tolerant plants, a style that happens to pair well with Colorado's dry climate.
Mountain Contemporary
Evergreen structure, aspen groves, fire features, and layouts that open up to the Foothills views instead of fighting them. A favorite in Evergreen and Golden.
Everything your landscape design covers
One plan, fully coordinated. Each element is sized and specified to work with the others instead of competing for the same patch of yard.
Planting Plans
Layered planting schemes with trees, shrubs, perennials, and ornamental grasses chosen for our hardiness zones, bloom timing, and mature size so beds look intentional in year one and even better in year five.
Hardscaping
Patios, walkways, steps, retaining walls, and seat walls that handle Colorado’s freeze-thaw cycle. Explore our paver patio installations for the hardscape backbone of most designs.
Learn More →
Water Features
Pondless waterfalls, bubbling boulders, and fountains that add sound and movement without heavy upkeep. See our waterfalls and fountains options.
Learn More →
Landscape Lighting
Path, accent, and architectural lighting that extends your evenings and shows off the planting and stonework after dark. Built around our outdoor lighting service.
Learn More →
Outdoor Living Zones
Dining, lounging, and cooking areas integrated into the wider design, including full outdoor kitchens when entertaining is the priority.
Learn More →
Lawns & Turf
Reduced-water lawn zones and low-maintenance artificial turf for play areas, dog runs, and slopes where natural grass struggles.
Learn More →Built for our altitude, sun, and water rules
Designing for Colorado is its own discipline. A plan copied from a Midwest or coastal yard fails here. These factors shape every landscape design we draw.
Xeriscaping
We group plants by water need, amend our heavy clay soils, and use mulch and gravel zones to cut irrigation demand. Xeriscaping here is not all rock and cactus; it can be lush, just smarter about where the water goes.
Altitude-Friendly Plants
At a mile high, UV is intense and the growing season is short. We specify Colorado-proven natives and adapted species, such as blue avena grass, Russian sage, and rabbitbrush, that thrive instead of limping along.
Water Conservation
Front Range water restrictions and tap fees are real costs. We design efficient drip irrigation, capture roof runoff where it helps, and choose plant palettes that stay healthy through summer watering limits.
Freeze-Thaw Durability
We can swing 40 degrees in a day. Hardscape bases, drainage, and material choices are all built to resist heaving and cracking through repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
Drainage & Snowmelt
Sudden storms and spring melt move a lot of water fast. We grade for positive drainage away from foundations and route runoff so it protects your beds instead of washing them out.
Wildlife Pressure
In foothill communities, deer and elk treat unprotected gardens as a buffet. We lean on deer-resistant plantings and smart placement so your design survives the local wildlife.
Recent landscape design projects
Landscape design questions, answered
How much do landscape design services cost in Colorado?
Design fees vary with the size and complexity of your property, but most residential landscape designs in the Denver metro fall in a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and that fee is often credited toward the build when you move forward with us. Full installation budgets depend heavily on hardscape square footage, materials, and features like water elements or lighting. We give you a clear range at the consultation, not after the work starts.
How long does the landscape design process take?
From consultation to a finished concept and 3D rendering, most projects take two to four weeks depending on revisions. Installation timelines depend on scope and season; a focused planting and patio project may take one to two weeks on site, while a full backyard transformation can run several weeks. We confirm a schedule before any work begins.
What makes landscape design in Colorado different?
Three things drive it: intense high-altitude sun, a short growing season, and limited water. Add heavy clay soils and dramatic freeze-thaw swings, and a design that works in a wetter, milder climate will struggle here. We design specifically for these conditions using adapted plants, efficient irrigation, and hardscape built to resist heaving.
Do you offer xeriscaping or water-wise design?
Yes, and it is one of our most requested approaches. Xeriscaping does not mean a yard of gravel. We group plants by water need, build healthy soil, install drip irrigation, and choose drought-tolerant species that still give you color and texture, while cutting your outdoor water use noticeably.
Will I see a 3D rendering before you build?
Yes. After we agree on a concept, we produce a 3D rendering so you can see the layout, plantings, hardscape, and lighting in context, including how the space looks in the evening. It is far easier to refine a design on screen than after it is installed.
What plants work best for Denver and Front Range landscapes?
We favor Colorado-proven natives and adapted species: ornamental grasses like blue avena and little bluestem, perennials such as Russian sage, penstemon, and yarrow, and shrubs like rabbitbrush and serviceberry. For structure we use junipers and other evergreens. The exact palette depends on your sun, soil, and how much water you want to commit to.
Can you design just one part of my yard?
Absolutely. Plenty of clients start with a single area, a backyard patio zone, a front-yard refresh, or a problem slope, then phase the rest over time. We can design the whole property as a master plan and build it in stages so each phase still looks finished on its own.
Do you handle both the design and the installation?
Yes. We are a design-build company, so the same team that draws your plan also installs it with our own crews. That avoids the common problem of a design changing or losing detail when it gets handed to an outside contractor.
Which areas do you serve for landscape design?
We serve homeowners across the Denver metro and foothill communities, including Castle Rock, Castle Pines, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Parker, Golden, and Evergreen. If you are nearby and not sure whether you are in range, just ask.
How do I get started on a landscape design?
Request a consultation and we will schedule a visit to walk your property, talk through your goals, and discuss budget. There is no obligation, you leave the conversation with honest direction whether or not you decide to build with us.
Ready to design the yard you actually use?
Let’s walk your property, talk through ideas, and build a landscape design tuned to your home and Colorado’s climate. No obligation, just honest advice and a clear plan.
FREE CONSULTATION · NO OBLIGATION