Design-Pairing Plant Palettes by City

Done-for-you plant combinations — spacing, bloom time, and water needs — tuned to your Wasatch Front city.

11 min read · Updated June 25, 2026

Knowing which plants survive Utah is half the battle. The other half is combining them — the right structure, color, and groundcover, spaced correctly, blooming in sequence. These are done-for-you palettes: complete plant combinations with spacing, bloom windows, and water needs already worked out for specific Wasatch Front settings. Pick the one that matches your yard and plant with confidence.

3 palettes

Tuned to real Wasatch Front settings

Layered

Structure · filler · color · groundcover

Spacing

On-center figures for every plant

Low water

Drip-ready, rebate-friendly designs

How to read a palette

Every palette follows the same layered logic that makes a planting read as designed rather than random. A vertical structure plant gives the bed a spine, a long-bloom filler carries color across months, a seasonal spike adds a punch of color in its window, and a groundcoverknits the floor together and shades out weeds. Spacing is given on-center (“o.c.”) — the distance between plant centers. Tighter spacing fills faster; wider stretches a budget.

SLC Modern Front Yard

Salt Lake City · full-sun park-strip-friendly front bed

Light: Full sun · Water: Low · Bloom: Color Apr–Sep; grass structure holds through winter
Plant	Role	Spacing
Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass	Vertical structure	24 in o.c.
Walker's Low Catmint	Long-bloom filler	18 in o.c.
Firecracker Penstemon	Spring color spike	15 in o.c.
Turquoise Tails Sedum	Groundcover carpet	12 in o.c.

Lehi / Saratoga New-Build Low-Water Bed

Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain · hot, exposed new-construction lot

Light: Full sun · Water: Very Low · Bloom: Jun–Oct, peak July–August
Plant	Role	Spacing
Russian Sage	Airy mid-height mass	30 in o.c.
Sunset Hyssop	Pollinator color	18 in o.c.
Blue Grama 'Blonde Ambition'	Native grass accent	24 in o.c.
Yarrow	Warm-tone filler	18 in o.c.

Wasatch Bench Clay Slope

Draper, Sandy, Cottonwood Heights, Holladay · sloped, clay-heavy foothill lots

Light: Sun–part shade · Water: Low · Bloom: Jun–Aug; copper grass + evergreen mat in winter
Plant	Role	Spacing
Kinnikinnick	Evergreen slope-holder	18 in o.c.
Little Bluestem	Native erosion grass	18 in o.c.
Blue Fescue	Tidy edge accent	12 in o.c.
Munstead Lavender	Fragrant focal mass	24 in o.c.

From palette to planted bed

A palette gives you the plant list and spacing; getting it in the ground well is the rest. Amend the planting area, set plants in drifts of three to five rather than one of each, run drip to every plant, and mulch heavily to lock in moisture and suppress weeds. On hot, exposed lots, plant in fall or early spring — never the peak of July heat.

Pairing across the season

Each palette is built so something is always doing the visual work — a grass holding structure in winter, a perennial blooming in summer, a groundcover carpeting the floor year-round. That overlap is what keeps the bed from looking dead between bloom flushes.

Put a palette to work

These palettes slot directly into a real project. If you're starting from bare dirt, the Lehi / Saratoga low-water bed is built for exactly that — see the new-construction landscaping guide for the order of operations, from grading and irrigation to the first plants in the ground.

Design-pairing palettes FAQ

What plants go well together in a Utah landscape?

Pair a vertical structural plant (like Karl Foerster grass), a long-blooming filler (catmint or yarrow), a seasonal color spike (penstemon or hyssop), and a groundcover carpet (sedum or kinnikinnick). The palettes on this page combine proven Utah plants into exactly that layered structure, with spacing and bloom windows worked out.

How far apart should I space these plants?

Spacing is listed per plant in each palette (on-center, abbreviated 'o.c.'). As a rule, give structural grasses and shrubs 24–30 inches, mid-height perennials 18 inches, and groundcovers 12–15 inches so they knit together. Tighter spacing fills in faster; wider spacing saves on plant count.

Will these palettes meet Utah park-strip and water rules?

The palettes are built to be low or very-low water and, in the case of the SLC Modern Front, designed around park-strip planting rules. Replacing lawn with these plantings often qualifies for a turf-removal rebate — check your district before installing.

How much water do these designs need?

Each palette is rated overall (Low or Very Low). Once established — one to two seasons — most want a deep soak every 10–14 days through summer, delivered by drip. The new-build low-water bed is the thirstiest only at establishment; after that it's the toughest of the three.

Can I adapt a palette to my specific yard?

Yes. These are starting points tuned to a setting (modern front, hot new-build lot, clay slope). Keep the layered structure — vertical, filler, color, groundcover — and swap individual species from our plant guides for the same role if you want a different look or you're in deeper shade.

Plant guidance per USU Extension and Utah Water Savers / Localscapes. Verified June 2026.

Who publishes this guide

This site is researched and published by Xperience Landscaping, a landscaping company based in Midvale, UT serving the Salt Lake Valley & Utah County. We write it because we install this work every week — and because no one had pulled Utah's scattered, often-outdated landscaping information into one honest place. Figures are verified against primary sources and dated; we'll always tell you to confirm a rebate or code with your district or city before you rely on it.

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Ready to build it?

This guide is published by Xperience Landscaping, a landscaping company serving the Salt Lake Valley & Utah County. If you want a real plan and a quote for your yard, we're happy to help.

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