Eagle County residents have a chance this year to order their own ‘Garden in a Box’ kits
Kits provide a low-water alternative to a lawn
Resource Central/courtesy photo
Despite a 300-inch snow year at Vail Mountain, things can change quickly, so it’s never a bad idea to think of ways to save water on landscaping.
That’s one reason the folks at Boulder-based Resource Central have started working with Western Slope partners to move the Garden in a Box program to this side of the Continental Divide.
According to Resource Central Marketing Director Rachel Staats, the Garden in a Box program is actually more like a buffet, with several choices for people to start their own low-water gardens.
The choices are actually flats of starter plants, ranging from just a few ornamental grasses and flowers, for those who aren’t ready to rip up their lawns, to up to 30 low-water plants for those who are ready to make the leap into the low-water lifestyle.
Those flats come with design plans for gardeners, provided by professional landscapers. Staats said plans this year are being drawn up by people at the Butterfly Pavilion in Broomfield.
Support Local Journalism
“It’s pretty cool. You can choose different kits based on how much you want to replace,” Staats said. But don’t get excited. It’s going to take a few years for these plants to grow to maturity.
In Eagle County, Resource Central has partnered with the Eagle River Coalition, the Eagle County Conservation District and Eagle County’s chapter of Colorado State University’s Cooperative Extension office.
Denyse Schrenker, the horticulture specialist at the Cooperative Extension office, said this year is a pilot year to order Garden in a Box kits from Resource Central. People can order through the organization’s website — but kits sell out quickly — and the kits will be delivered in early June. Schrenker noted that Eagle County Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney has ordered a kit, as has Assistant County Manager Regina O’Brien.
The Garden in a Box kits will be part of the plan at the demonstration garden set to be planted this year near the main entrance of the county administration building in Eagle.
If the first pickup day is a success, Schrenker said she hopes the future will bring two pickup days.
Those pickup days are easy, Staats said.
“You just pop your trunk and drive through,” she said.
