Get This Look: 5 Utah Waterwise Lawn Replacement Ideas

Did you know that yard irrigation uses up to 70% of your household water? Utah residents can save water and save money by replacing traditional grass lawns with low-water landscaping. High Country Gardens will help you get started with beautiful waterwise landscape design ideas featuring plants that thrive in Utah. Read on for more information about how to apply for local lawn replacement incentives, too.

By Kendall Frost, High Country Gardens Content Manager | Updated 3/7/25 

Hellstrips - also called park strips, inferno strips, or simply sidewalk gardens - are dry, harsh places to plant. Fortunately, this Utah homeowner was able to find tough plants from High Country Gardens that thrive in those very conditions.

This planting was inspired by our Soft Colors Inferno Strip Pre-Planned Garden, featuring a color palette of pink and purple blooms.

Tips To Get This Look:

• This garden features drip irrigation for efficient watering. These plants need only occasional watering once established
• Low-growing groundcovers and compact plants grow at the edge of the garden, so that taller plants are visible behind them

Learn More About This Garden: Waterwise Park Strip Planting In Utah

Recommended plants to get this look:

This High Country Gardens customer and homeowner said goodbye to their lawn and hello to a lush low-water landscape. There is a beautiful sunset color palette with warm gold and purple hues, balanced by plenty of lush foliage.

Following the wisdom of designing a garden in layers for aesthetics and for habitat, this landscape is simply beautiful. Shown here in early summer, this garden features a variety of groundcovers, grasses, and flowering perennials to balance evergreen shrubs and trees.

Tips To Get This Look: 

• Include plants that flower in spring, summer, and fall, for non-stop blooms
• Featuring drought-tolerant shrubs and trees adds curb appeal, offers privacy, creates habitat for birds and pollinators, and provides four-season interest

Recommended plants to get this look:

Silvery foliage creates a sophisticated garden scheme, with the soothing fragrance of Lavender. Deserts and arid lands of the world are rich in plants with silvery grey foliage, because it helps reflect the sunlight and its drying heat. 

If a simple, minimalistic color palette is your style, then mass planting is the perfect solution. Selecting just a few favorite plants and repeating them in large swaths creates a beautiful composition - and it's easy to do as well. 

Tips To Get This Look: 

• Buy more, save more - purchasing plants in trays means greater savings!
• As a rule of thumb, plant perennials in odd number groupings for a more naturall look
• Fragrant flowers like Lavender add sensory delight along walkways

Recommended plants to get this look:

These Utah homeowners removed all of the lawn in their front yard for an upgrade with tried-and-true drought-tolerant perennials. They planted the High Country Gardens Jumbo Waterwise Pre-Planned Garden - our bestselling pre-planned garden for over 20 years. 

Perfect for hot, dry, sunny gardens, this eye-catching combination of drought tolerant perennials will light up the landscape with bright, clear colors

Tips To Get This Look: 

• Long blooming perennials keep your yard colorful all season long
• Mulching your garden can help keep soil cool, discourage weeks, and conserve water

Recommended plants to get this look:

This late summer garden features our August Afternoons Pre-Planned Garden with added plants, grown by homeowners in Fruit Heights, Utah. This collection of flowering perennials and ornamental grasses will be at peak bloom in summer - and in fact, it is shown here on an August afternoon! 

Adding sculpture and wind chimes to your garden adds structure to the garden, as well as added interest and sensory delight.

Tips To Get This Look: 

• Growing a Pre-Planned Garden takes all the guesswork out of waterwise garden design
• Have more space to fill? Add your favorite plants, or repeat the garden to fill your yard with flowers and foliage.

Recommended plants to get this look:

Want to get paid to go from lawn to garden with a turf replacement rebate? For gardeners in Utah, apply for a rebate through Utah Water Savers Landscape Incentive Program, a program with the help of Utah Division of Water Resources and regional water districts. Visit their website for helpful landscape design resources. All applications must be submitted online through the Utah Water Savers website.

Make sure to follow the correct process! Strict compliance with your local rebate program's process and procedures is critical to rebate eligibility. 

Do not remove or kill grass prior to application approval and a site visit. Doing so can disqualify you from a rebate.

1. Check your local turf replacement rebate program to determine if you qualify for the Landscape Incentive Program, and for requirements, processes, and deadlines for available incentives.
2. To apply: Register an account. Watch the prerecorded educational video. Take "before" photos of your current yard. Create your plant list and your garden design. Submit the photos and garden plans for review.
3. A Utah Water Savers technician will review your application, and schedule an in-person or virtual site visit to assess your landscaping for approval.
4. After receiving approval, order your plants. Remove your existing turf lawn and install your new waterwise garden.
5. Once completed, schedule your final post-project site visit and submit the required documentation to receive your rebate.
6. Share your results with High Country Gardens! Use #highcountrygardens on your social media posts to share your story, or send us your photos. 

High Country Gardens does not provide the rebate - we are your source for expert advice and how-to guides, garden design inspiration, and premium plants shipped right to your door. Visit our Waterwise Learning Center for resources.