I’m Ryan Harter, I’ve been interested in plants and gardens since I was a kid. That early interest eventually grew into a much deeper obsession with horticulture, garden design, and figuring out how to grow beautiful plants in Colorado.

I’ve spent more than a decade studying plants, gardens, and the challenges of growing them in Colorado.

What started as a personal interest in finding plants that could actually thrive here grew into a much deeper obsession with horticulture, garden design, waterwise landscapes, and the endless question of what works, what doesn’t, and why.

I don’t believe there is a universal recipe for a successful Colorado garden.

What makes Colorado particularly interesting to me is that there isn’t one set of conditions to design around. A garden can have heavy clay, rocky or sandy soil, intense sun, dry air, dramatic temperature swings, late freezes, exposed sites, poor drainage, limited water, or several of those conditions within the same property.

That’s what makes gardening here so interesting.

I Study the Details

My approach is built around observation, research, and years of hands on experience.

I spend a great deal of time researching plants, comparing growing conditions, studying plant communities, talking with growers and horticulture professionals, and paying attention to how plants actually perform in Colorado.

I’ve developed relationships with horticultural organizations, universities, growers, cultivators, and other industry resources, and my work has received recognition from organizations including High Country Gardens, Plant Select, Denver Water, and The Garden Conservancy.

But research only gets you so far.

Plants still have to grow.

Years of growing, observing, succeeding, failing, and adjusting have taught me things that aren’t always found on a plant tag or in a nursery catalog.

The Garden

My own garden in Castle Rock is where much of that experience comes together.

It is a living, evolving garden where I continue to explore plants, irrigation strategies, garden structures, lawn alternatives, rock and crevice gardens, native species, unusual plants, and different approaches to working with Colorado’s climate.

Some ideas work beautifully.

Some don’t.

Both are useful.

The garden has become a place to observe how plants perform over time and how design decisions interact with soil, exposure, moisture, elevation, weather, and microclimate.

That experience shapes how I approach the gardens I work with.

Right Plant. Right Place. Right Purpose.

I don’t believe a plant should be selected simply because it is native, drought tolerant, popular, or currently fashionable.

Those characteristics can be valuable, but they are only part of the equation.

The right plant depends on the conditions of the site and what the garden is intended to accomplish.

Soil, exposure, drainage, elevation, moisture, temperature, surrounding plants, seasonal interest, wildlife, maintenance, and even the way a space is experienced all matter.

A successful Colorado garden can include native species, well-adapted plants from other regions, and unusual specimens.

What matters is that each plant has a reason to be there and a realistic chance of thriving.

Why Xeric Garden Exists

I created Xeric Garden because I wanted to explore a different idea of what a Colorado garden can be.

Waterwise does not have to mean sparse.

Native does not have to mean boring.

Firewise does not have to mean removing everything around your house.

And a garden designed for Colorado does not have to look like every other landscape in Colorado.

I believe we can create gardens that are beautiful, dense, interesting, resilient, and resource-conscious while still respecting the realities of the environment in which they grow.

That is what I am interested in.

Not simply putting plants in the ground, but understanding why they belong there and finding creative ways to make the entire garden work together.

A Small, Personal Practice

Xeric Garden is intentionally kept small.

I work directly with homeowners on a very limited number of private projects, allowing me to stay personally involved and bring the same level of research and attention to a project that I bring to my own garden.

My practice is focused on thoughtful consulting, garden design, plant selection, and specialized garden projects rather than landscape installation or maintenance.

New projects are accepted by referral and invitation only.

Curiosity, Creativity & Beauty

For me, Xeric Garden is about curiosity, creativity, and beauty.

I’m curious about plants and how they respond to the places we ask them to grow. I’m interested in the challenge of difficult sites and the possibilities they create.

And I believe a garden should ultimately be beautiful.

Not just beautiful for a photograph, but beautiful to live with, walk through, watch change, and experience throughout the year.

The challenge is finding the balance between what a place needs, what plants can do, and what we imagine a garden could become.

That’s the part I enjoy most.