Xeriscape design
Native and adapted plant layouts that live on Santa Fe rainfall. Soil prep, real grading, drip sized for July.
Santa Fe, NM — Santa Fe County
Santa Fe yards, designed for the high desert.
Xeriscape, gravel and decomposed granite, drip irrigation, tree work, and courtyard makeovers. A Lopez family crew, nine years on the south side of town.
Lopez Landscaping & Design
Lopez Landscaping & Design
Lopez Landscaping & Design
About — Lopez Landscaping & Design
We walk the property before we name a number.
Nine years of yards on the south side of Santa Fe. Eduardo built the crew up one job at a time — coyote fences, gravel courtyards, drip lines you can't see, juniper that doesn't sulk in July.
The approach is straightforward. We don't quote a Santa Fe property sight-unseen. We walk it with you, look at how the sun moves and where the water actually goes, and write the estimate while we're standing in it. If something on the plan doesn't make sense for this soil or this exposure, we say so out loud.
We design for the way Santa Fe weather actually behaves — not the way the magazine says it does.
— Eduardo Lopez
What we do — Santa Fe
The work, plainly.
Six things we do well, in a climate that punishes shortcuts.
Gravel & decomposed granite
Compacted DG paths, gravel mulch beds, and crusher-fines courtyards that hold up to runoff and freeze-thaw.
Tree trimming
Hand-pruning for piñon, juniper, and fruit trees. Crown work, deadwood, and clean cuts that don't bleed sap into your gravel.
Drip irrigation
Pressure-regulated emitters sized for native plants. Repairs to existing lines, new installs, seasonal blow-outs.
General yard cleaning
Weed pulls, gravel rake-outs, courtyard tidy, hauls. Same crew, same standard, smaller scope.
Courtyard makeovers
Walled patios and portales reset from the ground up — coyote fence, gravel base, a kiva surround if you want one.
Eight plants that earn the water
What we actually plant in Santa Fe.
Anything we put in the ground has to handle 6,800-ft cold, single-digit July humidity, and the late-summer monsoon. These eight are the workhorses. We mix and match — the design comes from how they're set, not from rare species.
very low
Piñon Pine
Pinus edulis
15–30 ft mature, slow
New Mexico state tree. Anchor specimen — slow-growing, drought-deep, and the smell after a monsoon is half the reason we plant them.
very low
One-seed Juniper
Juniperus monosperma
10–20 ft, multi-stem
Native foothill tree. Sculptural, shade-tolerant, and forgiving on slope. We hand-prune to keep the gnarled character.
very low
Chamisa
Ericameria nauseosa
3–6 ft, fast-establishing
Late-summer gold. Pairs with gravel mulch and reads as a single mass at the property line. Cut hard in March.
low
Apache Plume
Fallugia paradoxa
3–5 ft, airy form
White flowers in spring, feathery pink seed-heads from June through October. Soft texture against adobe walls.
very low
Fourwing Saltbush
Atriplex canescens
4–6 ft mound
Bombproof native shrub for the windy edges of a property. Silvery-grey leaves catch evening light.
very low
Claret Cup Cactus
Echinocereus triglochidiatus
12–18 in clumps
Red cup-flowers in May. Plant in a gravel pocket near a courtyard wall where the heat reflects.
very low
Agave
Agave parryi / havardiana
2–3 ft rosette
Architectural focal point. Parry and Havard agave both winter through Santa Fe cold — Americana does not.
very low
Ocotillo
Fouquieria splendens
6–12 ft canes
Statement piece for a south-facing courtyard corner. Drops leaves between rains. Marginally hardy in Santa Fe — we site them with care.
"We don't pretend a Boulder palette works in Santa Fe. Different elevation, different soil, different cold pocket. We plant what stays."
— Eduardo
How a job goes
Four steps, no surprises.
- 01
A phone call
Tell us the address and what you're seeing. Three minutes is enough.
- 02
On-site walkthrough
Eduardo walks the property with you — usually thirty minutes. Sun, drainage, what the soil's actually like.
- 03
Written estimate
We write the number on the spot. Line items. No surprise upsells later.
- 04
Scheduled work
We pick a window with you. Most jobs land within two to three weeks. Walkthrough when we're done.
That’s it. No portals, no logins — a phone call or an email is all it takes.
Free walkthroughs in Santa Fe County
How the estimate actually works.
No online forms. No phone-tree quotes. No "we'll send you a number" three days later. We walk the yard, we write the price, and you decide.
One
We walk the property together
About 30 minutes
Eduardo comes out at a time that works for you. We start at the curb and walk the whole property — front, sides, back. Sun exposure, drainage, what the soil is actually like under the gravel, where the water sits after a storm. You point at things; we ask questions.
Two
We sketch the estimate on the spot
Before we leave
No "we'll email you next week." We write the numbers down while we're standing in the yard. Line items — what's included, what's extra, what the season costs. If something on your list doesn't make sense for the property, we say so out loud and explain why.
Three
We schedule the work
Usually 2–3 weeks out
You pick a window with Eduardo. Most Santa Fe jobs start within two to three weeks. We confirm the day before, show up when we said, and walk the finished work with you before the truck leaves. Then the invoice.
"I don't quote a Santa Fe yard sight-unseen. Every property is different — the sun, the slope, what's already there. Walk it with me. It takes thirty minutes."
— Eduardo Lopez
Reviews — Santa Fe, NM
Quiet pride, steady crew.
Eduardo came out the day after I called, walked the whole back courtyard with me, and wrote the estimate right there. Fair price, no upsells, no script.
We've used Lopez for two years now on an Airbnb. Same crew every visit. They keep the gravel raked, drip lines tight, and the junipers trimmed up off the portal. Easy to work with.
Took down four big dead branches off a piñon over the driveway. Showed up at 8:30 like he said. Cleaned up like they were never here.
Quoted four other landscapers for a coyote fence and a gravel courtyard. Eduardo's was the only one who actually asked where the water sits after a monsoon storm. We hired him on the spot.
Crew was friendly, respectful, and the whole front yard cleanup wrapped in a single day. Communication was clear from the first call through the walkthrough.
Seventy-five photos on Yelp
Every yard ours. Every review five stars.
The Yelp page has 75 photos — every one of them a yard we worked. We're not a stock-image kind of crew. If we put it on the wall, we built it.
Courtyard reset
South Capitol
Full xeriscape
Casa Solana
Old juniper, kept
Tesuque
DG path + cacti border
Eldorado
Native bed install
Lamy
Agave specimen
Galisteo
Front yard conversion
South Side
Front regrade + plant install
Pojoaque
Flagstone path + drip
Tesuque
"If you want to see the work, the photos are there. We're not the people to send you a slideshow that doesn't match the yard you'll actually get."
— from a typical first call with Eduardo
Recent work — Santa Fe County
A few jobs worth showing.
South Capitol — courtyard reset Casa Solana — front yard xeriscape Tesuque — old juniper, kept Eldorado — DG path + cacti border Lamy — native bed install Galisteo — agave specimen South Side — full xeriscape conversion Pojoaque — front yard regrade Tesuque — flagstone path + drip
Honest pricing
Most starts at$1,400/install
DG paths, gravel courtyards, and native plant installs typically start around $1,400 for a standard Santa Fe front yard. Final number depends on access, grade, and how much old material has to come out. Tree work and yard cleaning are quoted separately and start much smaller.
Walkthroughs are free anywhere in Santa Fe County. We won't quote sight-unseen — Eduardo walks every property.
Call (505) 204-3142Before and after — Santa Fe
What a season of work looks like.
Two projects from the last six months, both inside the city limits.
BeforeAfter
Walled courtyard had been gravel-over-soil for years — weeds taking the corners, drip emitters buried. We pulled the gravel, regraded toward the alley, set new drip on a pressure regulator, and reset crusher-fines around three piñons.
BeforeAfter
Bare-dirt front yard with a dying lawn patch. Pulled the dead turf, brought in DG, dropped in chamisa, Apache plume, and a single ocotillo at the property corner. Drip sized for first-summer establishment.
Questions — Lopez Landscaping & Design
Plain answers, no runaround.
Yes — single-tree trims, drip-line repairs, courtyard tidy-ups. No minimum. Most small jobs get scheduled within a week.
Call us — Eduardo answers
— Lopez Landscaping & Design
If we're on a job we'll call back the same day. Santa Fe, NM.