Summary

Landscaping

Recreation

School

Environment

Lots

Landscaping In King's Deer

This page is under development. It is posted as a work in progress so that King's Deer owners can obtain some benefit before completion. If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute to this page, please send an email to webmaster@kingsdeer.org.

King's Deer is located in USDA Zone 4.

The climate atop the Palmer Divide at 7400 feet where King's Deer is located, is harsh. The air is very dry with humidity often getting down to the single digits. Winter temperatures also drop to single digits and occasionally dip below zero at night. Precipitation is minimal, averaging only about 16 inches a year; this is considerably less than the annual evaporation rate of the area, which means more water evaporates from the area than falls in the area, resulting in a net loss of water!

On most properties, soil conditions are marginal with very little organic materials. Much of the ground is clay with decomposed granite. Sun is intense; winds are frequent and strong. All this adds up to an environment in which developing an attractive garden presents unique challenges...but not impossible.

All King's Deer homeowners are strongly encouraged to landscape around their home as soon as the house construction is completed. In fact, minimum landscaping is required as soon as the construction phase is completed to restore native grasses to the ground areas disturbed during the construction. However, just restoring native grasses is a far cry from developing an attractive landscape plan that adds curb appeal. A carefully thought-out landscape plan will substantially increase the value of the property by more than the cost of the landscape. It will take advantage of the terrain to enhance survivability of the selected plants, will improve the fire safety of the home, will provide attractive elements year-round, and will provide some protection for the home from the elements.

The first rule of thumb when planning your landscape in King's Deer is to select plants that are relatively drought-tolerant. Trying to maintain plants that require constant watering is not only futile, it wastes water that King's Deer owners simply don't have available to waste. Water consumption at each property is limited on the amount of water that may be drawn from the owner's well. (See "Water" on the main menu for amplification of this point if needed.) It is therefore no accident that the covenants restrict the amount of irrigated area on each property to 3500 square feet. And, if you try to maintain that much turf, you will most assuredly exceed the annual water limit on your property.

DISCLAIMER: On this page we try to offer ideas of the types of plants that have proven successful on King's Deer properties. While we attempt to provide accurate information, we acknowledge that the information on this page is not developed by professionals. Any errors are unintentional and we invite readers to alert us to those errors. If you spot an error, please send an email to webmaster@kingsdeer.org.

Trees

Non-Trees