1. Landscape Workshop
Sunrise Neighborhood
August 16, 2012

2. Background of the Neighborhood
• Contact the office of Historic Preservation for
a complete historyBetsy Kellums at 350-9222
• Betsy.kellum@greeleygov.com

3. Why Landscape your Yards
• Increased property values
• Improve air quality
• Improve water quality
• Energy conservation
• Aesthetic value
• Pride in homeownership and your
neighborhood

4. Weeds
 A weed is defined as a troublesome or injurious
plant. Plants that are commonly
recognized, cultivated and maintained as
ornamental, herbal, agricultural or xeriscape
are not weeds.
 Weeds are not allowed on developed lots and
are not considered landscaping.
 Weeds on developed lots must be removed
and, when needed, landscaping that meets
code requirements must be installed and
maintained.
 Weeds on undeveloped lots must be kept cut
low to the ground.
 If designated noxious weeds are present, they
must either be removed or controlled per the
City’s Noxious Weed Management Plan.

5. Landscape standards
Lot Coverage
 All yards not covered by an approved
building, driveway, walkway or other
permanent structure must be
landscaped. Bare dirt (except for
seasonal vegetable/flower gardens)
and weeds are not allowed.
 At least 50% of any required yard
area, excluding driveways and
walkway to the front door shall be live
plantings.
 At least 50% of any parkway or right-
of-way planting area, excluding
driveways and public sidewalks, shall
be live plantings.
 Areas visible from a public right-of-
way or adjacent property are required
to be landscaped. Yards not visible
from the public right-of-way or
adjacent property must be kept free
from weeds and shall not be bare dirt.

6. Not 50% Live Planting

7. 50% Live Plant Cover

8. Why does the City require landscaping
and live plantings?
Trees and shrubs provide many
benefits including:
 reduced home or business
heating/cooling energy use,
 cleaner air,
 lowered risk of heat-related
illnesses and deaths,
 improved storm water control and
water quality,
 reduced noise levels,
 provide wildlife habitat,
 improved aesthetic qualities,
 increased property values, and
 shaded roofs and pavement last
longer.

9. Before and After

10. When do the landscape requirements
apply?
 New construction
 All yard areas with a significant change of landscaping must
meet the current Code requirements.
 Altering 50% or more square feet of required landscape area in
front yard, side yard, street side yard or public or private right-of-
way
 Removing any tree in any or each of the front, side, street side
yards or public or private right-of-way
 Converting any or each of a front, side, street side yard or public
or private right-of-way from “traditional” to “xeric” as defined in
the Code.
 Yards that haven’t been maintained and contain primarily bare
dirt, weeds or non-live materials not previously allowed under
City codes.

11. What are the required yards:
15’ Driveway Clear Vision Zone
Street
Parkway
Sidewalk
Parkway
Driveway
Driveway
Front Yard
(42” Maximum Fence Height)
Street
Side Yard
Yard
Street Side
Side Yard
yard
Street Side
House
30’
Alley
Rear Yard Clear
(6’ Maximum Fence Height) Vision
Zone
Alley

12. What is the Parkway?
 The public right-of-way (ROW) is the area between the front
property line and the street.
 The parkway is generally the open area between the public sidewalk
and the street.
 This area is your responsibility to maintain – whether it is snow
removal or landscaping.
 Rock, gravel and mulch are strongly discouraged, since the material
may end up on the sidewalk, creating a hazard. If using rock, gravel
or mulch it needs to be contained in edging.
 The ROW must contain 50% live plantings. If space allows, a street
tree is required. Additional plantings of sod, perennials, and or non-
woody groundcover (except spreading junipers) may be needed to
meet this requirement.

13. Before and After

14. How do I determine how much live
coverage I need?
First figure the size of the yard:
• Measure the yard’s length and width
• Multiply the length times the width to calculate
the square feet of the yard
• Measure the driveway’s length and width and
multiply to figure the square feet of the driveway;
do the same for any paved walkways leading to
the front door.
• Subtract the driveway and walkways from the
yard area. The difference is the square footage of
the yard that must contain landscape material.

15. Take measurements:
15’ Driveway Clear Vision
Zone
Front Yard
Street
• Step 1 – measure yard
Parkway
Sidewalk
length & width
Driveway
Front Yard
(42” Maximum Fence Height)
• Step 2 – measure
driveway length &
Side Yard
Yard
Street Side
House width
30’
• Step 3 – measure
Rear Yard
(6’ Maximum Fence Height)
Alley
Clear
Vision
walkway
Zone
Alley

16. Example
Length Width Length x Width Calculations
Required Yard 25 feet 75 feet 25 x 75 = 1375 1875
Driveway Area 25 feet 20 feet 25 x 20 = 500 - 500 = 1375 sq
ft
Walkway Area 15 feet 3 feet 15 x 3 = 45 -45 = 1330 sq ft
TOTAL 1330 square
PLANTING feet
AREA

17. Calculating live plantings
• Divide the square footage of the yard that
must be landscaped by two. This gives you the
minimum square footage of live plantings
needed to cover one-half the required yard.
– In the previous example, the total planting area
was 1330 square feet. So the minimum area for
live planting is 1330/2 = 665 square feet.

18. Vegetation Credit Table
Type of Plant Material Credit in Square Feet
Evergreen tree (at least 25’ tall at maturity) 100
Shade tree 50 (25 sq ft in right-of-way
or parkway)
Ornamental tree 25 (dwarf trees with
mature width less than 10’
= 25 sq ft)
Large shrub (more than 8’ tall at maturity) 50
Medium shrub ( 4-8 feet tall at maturity) 25
Small shrub (less than 4’ tall at maturity) 10
Evergreen groundcover (less than 1’ tall at maturity) 25
Perennial plant, groundcover, bulb/tuber, ornamental 5 (ornamental grass over
grass 4’ tall = 10 sq ft)
Sod – calculate area covered by sod Full credit for sq ft

19. Example
Type of plant Square feet Number of plants Square feet x
of plant number
Hackberry (shade tree) 50 1 50 x 1 = 50
Spring Snow Crabapple 25 1 25 x 1 = 25
(ornamental tree)
Sea Green Juniper 25 6 25 x 6 = 150
(evergreen ground cover)
Potentilla (small shrub) 10 10 10 x 10 = 100
Iris (bulb/tuber) 5 10 5 x 10 = 50
Daylily 5 10 5 x 10 = 50
Little Bluestem 5 10 5 x 10 = 50
(ornamental grass)
Sod 250 1 250 x 1 = 250
TOTAL PLANT AREA 675 square feet

20. • To determine if the existing or proposed
landscape meets the minimum requirements
divide the total plant area by the total
planting area. Then multiply by 100 to find the
percent of live plant coverage:
– From the previous examples:
675 square feet ÷ 1330 square feet = .51 x 100 = 51%
(total plant area ÷ total planting area) x 100 = percent live
cover

21. Before and After

22. What else do I need to know?
• Public right-of-way/parkway
– A permit is required to plant, trim or remove trees in
the parkway or public right-of-way.
• The Planning Department can assist you in
determining the amount of landscaping needed
to meet code requirements.
• Fences in the front yard cannot exceed 42” in
height. Chain link fencing is not allowed.
• Landscaping should not interfere with traffic or
pedestrian safety.

23. Xeriscape
• The use of climate
adapted plants and
utilizing planting
techniques to create a
beautiful, low water
garden

24. Xeriscape: The Benefits
• Water Conservation
(46% or more savings)
• Lower water bills
• Can be reduced
maintenance
• Attractive (especially in
winter)
• Provides habitat for
wildlife

25. Xeriscape –Seven
Principals
1. Plan and Design
2. Create Practical
Turf Areas
3. Select Low Water
Plants
4. Use Soil
Amendments
5. Use Mulches
6. Irrigate Efficiently
7. Maintain the
Landscape

26. Lets just get this out of the way right
now-nor is it Xeriscape
This is not Xeriscape And will not meet city code

27. Planning and Design
• Where does is make
sense to have a
pathway?
• What do you want to
screen? Enhance?
• Do you have
children, dogs or want
to live outside?
• Do you want to dine or
entertain outside?

28. Create Practical Turf Areas
• Where does it make
sense to have turf?
• Where does it make
sense to have
sidewalks, decks or
hardscape?
• Slopes
• Long narrow stripes
• Foundations

29. Use Low Water Plants
• Hydrozone-group your
low water plants
together and your
higher water plants
together.
• Put higher water plants
where they are easy to
water and keep an eye
on.

30. Use Soil Amendments
• Front range soils lack organic
matter
• Compost is not the same as
topsoil
• Compost is organic matter and
breaks up clay
• Compost helps sand retain
water(recommend more
compost with sandy soils)
• Helps the soil texture
• Adds organic matter
• Encourages beneficial
organisms

31. Use Mulch
• Helps soil retain water
• Reduces weed growth
• Prevents temperature
fluctuations
• Gives landscape a finish
look

32. Irrigate Efficiently
• Runoff
• Overspray
• Mid-day
• Wind
• Pressure
• Cycle and soak
• Slopes
• Back flow preventer

33. Maintenance
• Watering
• Weeding
• Pruning
• Deadheading
• Mowing
• Sprinkler maintenance

34. Costs of Xeriscape

35. Ways to Save Money
• Use coupons
– Valpak
– Online coupons for landscape yards
• Buy compost & mulch in bulk at
landscape yards rather than in bags
• Buy smaller plants-they will grow
• Phase your project over the season or
year
• Find a gardener friend(s) and divide
perennials
• Take advantage of plant swaps
• Collect seeds in the fall
• Take advantage of fall sales on
trees, shrubs and perennials
• Salvage hardscape materials
(bricks, flagstone, rock)
• Make your own compost
• Chip your tree trimmings for mulch

36. What can you expect to pay?
• Compost $16-22 /cy
• Mulch $30-55/ cy
• Rock $200 /ton (~1.25 cy)
• Sod $2.25-3.00
• Grass seed $3.99/pound + up
• ~6 pounds /1000 sf
• 1 gallon perennial ~$10
• 4” perennials $5-8
• Shade Trees $260
• Ornamental $50-80
CY + Cubic Yard = 3’x3’x3’=27 cubic feet
• 5gallon shrubs $25-45

37. Installing a Lawn
• Handouts for obtaining
a new lawn variance
• We require 4 cy of
compost/1000 sf of
lawn
• Overseeding an old or
patchy lawn
• How to water to wean it
off of the water

38. Tree Trimming

39. Large trees need to be professionally trimmed every 5 to 10 years. It is unsafe and harmful to
the tree to not use a licensed professional.

40. Professionals must remove limbs in a controlled manner to avoid injury and property damage.

41. They must work at extreme heights using the proper equipment and safest techniques.

42. Each tree must be inspected before work to discover any hazards.

43. Sometimes hazards are found that can cause injury or death to the tree worker or cause
property damage.

44. Tree removal work is extremely dangerous and there are many hazards involved.

45. Sometimes those hazards are visible but silent killers.

46. Tree work within 10’ of overhead utility lines must always be performed by the power service.

47. Never, ever “TOP” a tree! This is very bad for a tree and extremely dangerous to you.
NO

48. Tree Maintenance

49. Rock that is used as mulch is very bad for trees.

50. Rock mulch raises temperatures and does not help to retain moisture.
Rock mulch contributes to many tree deaths.

51. A better choice for mulch is natural wood chips.
The chips help to stabilize soil and air temperatures and retain moisture.

52. Trees that are grown in lawns should always have a mulched area around them.
This helps to keep lawn maintenance equipment from causing them damage.

53. Installing a mulch ring around your trees is important and CRUCIAL for the health of your trees.

54. Lawn maintenance equipment causes SEVERE damage to trees!

55. Tree Planting

56. Trees are sold in containers or heavy wire baskets.
We recommend planting trees that are sold in containers.

57. Proper planting depth for your new tree is very important! Measure the depth of your planting
pit first and double check the depth of the tree root ball.

58. When you dig a hole to plant a new tree, make sure the root flare of the tree sits at soil line or
slightly above, NEVER below soil line.

59. The trunk flare or root flare should always sit at or just above soil line.

60. When planting trees that were grown in containers, slice the root system vertically 5 or 6 times
to prevent roots that want continue circling the tree as they would in the container.

61. Root defects like this can be reduced by simply slicing or teasing the root system at planting
time.

62. We use 2 stakes to hold the tree in place for at least 1 entire year.

63. When staking your tree, always use a canvas strap and never wire that can cause damage to the
tree trunk and branches.

64. Build a soil berm around your new tree. The berm should hold about 5 to 10 gallons of water.

65. Fill this soil berm with water at least twice a month in the summer and once a month in the
winter when the temperatures are warm.

66. The best way to determine if your tree is getting enough water is to consistently dig in the soil
around your tree and feel if the soil is too dry or too wet. The soil here is extremely dry.

67. Summary
Tree Trimming
Always hire a professional to trim or remove your trees
Trees should be trimmed every 5 to 10 years
Never, ever work around or near overhead utility lines
Tree Maintenance
Do not use rock as mulch
Place a wood chip mulch ring around your tree
Tree Planting
Plant your new tree at or slightly above surrounding soil level
Score the root system of a containerized grown tree
Check soil moisture to see if your tree has the right amount of water