free · no sign-in

Xeriscape cost calculator

What it costs to replace a lawn with low-water planting, how many plants you need to meet the rebate rules, and what your city pays back. Every price and rebate shows its source and date.

Lawn area ft²

State Labor index: BLS OEWS May 2025, landscaping workers (SOC 37-3011), state median over national median ($18.82/hr). Applied to planting labor only; materials have no state data. Rebate city Same programs as our turf rebate page. Picking a city sets the plant coverage to that program's minimum. Not listed? Use that page. Remove the existing lawn Lawn removal $/ft² Cut, strip and haul, installed. Homewyse $1.14 to $1.78/ft², midpoint, May 2026, as on our price list. National average. Ground cover Cover depth in Sets the cubic yards to order. The installed price below is per ft² and does not change with depth, so adjust it if you go deeper. Cover installed $/ft² Cover material $/yd³ Weed barrier under the cover Weed barrier $/ft² Landscape fabric installed, Homewyse $0.48 to $0.99/ft², midpoint, May 2026, via our price list. Plant coverage at maturity % Rebate programs ask for 30% to 50% or more. Our default is 50%; a city sets its own minimum. Mature plant width ft Our starting figure, not a surveyed one. Check widths in our plant library. Share of one-gallon plants % The rest are five-gallon. Our 50/50 split is an assumption. One-gallon plant $each NV Division of Forestry, Las Vegas nursery, Spring 2026 plant list (public nursery, retail). UTEP Florafest, Apr 7 2026, lists $10 to $20 for a one-gallon plant. Five-gallon plant $each Same Nevada list, Spring 2026. UTEP Florafest, Apr 7 2026, lists $25 to $60. Planting speed, one-gallon per hr Low confidence: a nursery-exam assumption from a search snippet. Edit it. Planting speed, five-gallon per hr Horttrades (Landscape Ontario), 2019: five #5 pots per man-hour. Canadian source, seven years old. Billable labor rate $/hr What a crew bills per person-hour. $75 to 100 is the most common band; $88 is our starting point. SynkedUp 2026 labor-rate benchmark, via our price list, Aug 2026.

For comparison, artificial turf runs $16.08 to $19.74 per ft² installed (Homewyse, May 2026), and it does not qualify for these rebates. Published xeriscape ranges as published, not checked by us: Fixr $5 to $20 per ft², HomeAdvisor $5,000 to $24,000.

See it on your yard

See your lawn as a xeriscape before you dig it up. Upload a photo and draw where it goes.

Try it on my yard Check the plants' mature width

Questions people ask

How much does it cost to xeriscape a front yard?

At our defaults, national average labor rate, river rock and a 50% plant coverage, 500 ft² comes to about $2,900 and 1,000 ft² to about $5,800, roughly $5.80 per ft². That is the low end of what guides publish: Fixr says $5 to $20 per ft² and HomeAdvisor says $5,000 to $24,000 (both as published in search results, not checked by us). Your price moves with the ground cover, the plant sizes and your state's labor cost.

Does artificial turf count for a lawn rebate?

Not in the programs we checked. Austin Water's FAQ lists artificial turf as not eligible. Mesa says grass cannot be replaced with just artificial turf or rock; the area still needs 50% plant canopy. Artificial turf also costs more to install: Homewyse (May 2026) puts it at $16.08 to $19.74 per ft².

How many plants do I need for a rebate?

Coverage at maturity times the area, divided by the footprint of one mature plant. For 1,000 ft² at 50% coverage with plants 3 ft wide at maturity, that is 71 plants. Check the mature width of the plants you pick in our plant library, because a wider plant means fewer of them.

Can I start before approval?

Not for the programs we list. Austin Water says any work started before approval will not qualify. Mesa says no work before approval to proceed. Chandler and Albuquerque also want approval before you remove grass. For Tempe, read the agency page linked in the calculator.

Is rock cheaper than mulch?

Per cubic yard, mulch is cheaper: MK Landscape Supply (PA, updated Nov 3 2026) lists dark bark mulch at $50, pea gravel at $60 and #3 river rock at $66. Rock lasts longer and mulch needs topping up. Switch the ground cover in the calculator to compare the installed prices.

Does this store my numbers?

No. Everything is computed in your browser. Nothing is sent or saved, and there is no sign-in. The copy-link button puts your inputs in the address so you can send the estimate to somebody.

The plus or minus 15% band is our arithmetic, not a market survey. Prices and rebates change; check yours with a local supplier and the agency, and get written quotes.