A Habitat Hero garden offers an outstanding example of restoring habitat crucial to the survival of songbirds and pollinators by:
- providing layers, shelter and nesting opportunities,
- offering natural food sources (emphasizing native and regionally adapted plants),
- supplying fresh water for drinking and bathing,
- being water-wise and energy-efficient,
- relying on no or minimal pesticide use, including control of invasive species.
Our judges selected 12 gardens for Habitat Hero Awards, plus 2 Honorable Mentions. Meet the 2013 Habitat Hero Gardens (in alphabetical order within the three categories, Public, Landscape Designer and Private):
Public Gardens
City of Aurora’s Xeriscape Demonstration Garden & Wildscape, Aurora, Colorado
The six-and-a-half acre Xeriscape Demonstration Garden includes three-plus acres of native grass prairie, a berm with ponderosa and bristlecone pines for shelter, and a butterfly garden with "puddle rocks" for drinking.
Great setting for education, well-rounded program—meets all criteria. Excellent! --Judge's comment
Legacy Ridge Golf Course, City of Westminster, CO
Mixed borders around this golf course and clubhouse are planted with native, drought-tolerant grasses, shrubs, perennial flowers and cacti with special emphasis on species that will feed hummingbirds.
Staff horticulturist has transformed many spaces within the golf course to look natural and wild even when surrounded by highly manicured turf. --Judge's comment
Natrona County Agricultural Resource & Learning Center Wyoscape Garden, Casper, WY
A highly visible berm between a busy road and a fairgrounds parking lot planted with gardens that mimic the habitat zones of the surrounding landscape, from conifer forest to shrub steppe. Designed for extreme drought-tolerance and education.
Wonderful educational outreach for the ecoregions and plant appropriateness for the region. --Judge's comment
Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, Pueblo, CO
A three-acre demonstration garden established to inspire gardeners to use water wise gardening. Native junipers plus grasses, shrubs and wildflowers form both formal gardens and prairie-like areas that shelter wildlife from rare lizards to songbirds.
Beautiful garden. I love the creature connectedness of this wildscape, and their waterwise ethic. --Judge's comment
Landscape Designers
Colorado Vista Landscape Design (Tanya Fisher), Windsor, CO
Front yard gardens feature a recirculating stream cascading over native rocks and a wide variety of plant materials designed to nurture wildlife.
A lovely example of traditional flower borders that shrink lawn area, are waterwise and provide food for birds and pollinators. --Judge's comment
Plant-Driven Design (Lauren Springer Ogden), Fort Collins, CO
A half-acre suburban yard entirely transformed into water wise, healthy habitat for "critters" by a passionate plantswoman, including areas of prairie, woodland, and cactus and succulent garden, plus a front-yard "pollinator jungle."
A wildlife beacon for safety and food in a relatively sterile environment of lawns and asphalt roadways. --Judge's comment
Private Gardens
Ball Garden, Erie, CO
A vibrant suburban garden in a new development intentionally planted to be water wise, pesticide-free and wildlife-friendly by a transplant learning Colorado's environment.
Great for showing neighbors what can be done other than lawn. --Judge's comments
Canton Garden, Elizabeth, CO
Waterwise and pesticide-free gardens designed for wildlife surround a house set in native prairie and ponderosa pine woodland.
Excellent enhanced native plantings—meets all criteria! --Judge's comment
Cutright Garden, Silt, CO
A vibrant dryland garden in western Colorado that uses no supplemental water. Native and drought-adapted plants sustain an astonishing variety of wildlife, from bluebirds to elk.
Excellent approach of learning how to work with natives and adapted plants and having her garden blend into surrounding landscape. --Judge's comment
Hanson Garden, Golden, CO
A recreated prairie-style yard provides a sweep of native grass and wildflower habitat dotted with trees.
Wonderful native prairie and very waterwise. She really understand the interactions with plants and animals. --Judge's comment
Jacobs Garden, Pueblo, CO
A drought-resistant orchard-style wildscape created with birds and fruit for people in mind. A true oasis in the high desert.
Lush, wild and waterwise—bravo! --Judge's comment
McGuire Garden, Jackson, WY
A native grass and wildflower "meadow" bordered by fruiting shrubs replaces a scraggly lawn in this backyard wildscape bordered by mature trees and a spring-fed irrigation ditch.
LOVE the new lawn—species listed sound perfect. Wonderful wildscape. --Judges comment
Honorable Mentions
These two private gardens impressed the judges with their creativity and dedication to removing lawn and restoring habitat.
Mills Garden, Erie, CO
Reser Garden, Denver, CO
Congratulations and Thank You
Congratulations to the 2013 Habitat Hero Gardens and Honorable Mentions! We'll be featuring them in more detail in future blog posts. And thank you to all who applied--we appreciate your commitment to restoring habitat in the spaces we share.
Thank you also to our judges, and to Audubon Rockies, Terra Foundation, Plant Select® and High Country Gardens for supporting the Habitat Hero mission.
Garden for a change. Be a Habitat Hero.
By Habitat Hero
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