Colorado · Front Range & statewide
Colorado permaculture & food forest design
Restore Eden Project designs and installs regenerative food forests, permaculture landscapes, and rainwater harvesting systems built specifically for Colorado — its thin high-altitude air, intense sun, semi-arid rainfall, heavy clay soils, and short, sharp growing season. We turn thirsty Colorado lawns and bare lots into living, food-producing ecosystems that harvest their own water, rebuild their own soil, and feed your family for decades. Done-for-you across the Front Range; consultations and complete build guides statewide.
Designing for Colorado's climate
Colorado is one of the more demanding places in the country to grow food — and that is exactly why regenerative design pays off here. The high plains and foothills bring big day-to-night temperature swings, alkaline clay soils, drying winds, and rain that arrives in intense but infrequent bursts. Our designs meet those conditions head-on: water-harvesting earthworks and rainwater harvesting to bank every drop of storm and snowmelt, deep mulch and living soil to hold moisture and moderate the swings, and cold-hardy fruit, nut, and berry species matched to your elevation and USDA zone. The result uses a fraction of the water a conventional Colorado landscape demands.
What we design across Colorado
- Whole-property permaculture design — water, soil, structures, and a full layered planting plan for your Colorado site.
- Food forest & edible landscape design — custom, to-scale plans built around cold-hardy, productive species.
- Rainwater harvesting & earthworks— swales, catchment, and storage designed to fit Colorado's water rules and dry summers.
- Edible landscaping — beautiful, water-wise yards that happen to feed you, in place of thirsty turf.
Where we work in Colorado
Our done-for-you design-and-installation service covers the Front Range. Choose your area for climate notes specific to your city:
Statewide consultations & build guides
Not on the Front Range? We consult and design across all of Colorado — from the Western Slope and the mountains to the Eastern Plains — and deliver a complete custom plan, planting schedule, and step-by-step guides your own team can build from. New to the practice? Start with our beginner's guide to regenerative design or see real examples of permaculture in action.
Design your Colorado food forest
Book your Eden Yard Audit™ — we'll map what your Colorado land could become and recommend the right path, whether we install it or guide your team.
Book a consultationColorado permaculture — frequently asked questions
Does permaculture work in Colorado's climate?
Yes — it's arguably where it matters most. Colorado's semi-arid, high-altitude climate, intense sun, clay soils, and short season are exactly the conditions permaculture design is built to solve. Water-harvesting earthworks, deep mulch, living soil, and cold-hardy perennial species turn Colorado's challenges into a resilient, food-producing landscape that needs far less water than a lawn.
Is rainwater harvesting legal in Colorado?
Colorado allows residential properties to collect rainwater in up to two rain barrels totaling 110 gallons for outdoor use on the same property. Larger stored systems can involve water-rights considerations — but a great deal of harvesting can be done passively, by shaping the land with swales and basins to slow and sink rain into the soil, which is treated differently than tank storage. We design every Colorado system to fit the rules that apply to your property.
Where in Colorado do you install food forests?
Our full done-for-you design-and-installation service covers the Front Range — Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Lakewood, Longmont, Arvada, Castle Rock, and the surrounding communities. Anywhere else in Colorado (and nationwide), we provide consultations and complete design-and-build-guide packages your own team can install.
What grows well in a Colorado food forest?
Cold-hardy apples, pears, plums, cherries, and hardy nuts form the backbone, underplanted with berries like currants, gooseberries, honeyberries, and seaberry, plus drought-tolerant perennial herbs and pollinator plants. The exact palette depends on your elevation, USDA zone, and microclimate — which is why every design starts with your specific site.