Landscaping at a rental unit

[Carolyn Chupa]

What are everyone's experiences on landscaping at a rental unit? Any success/disaster stories? 

I recently cleared my backyard out of all weeds, mulch, rocks that were there. The previous owner neglected the backyard and now I have a fresh drawing board! I can't decide if I should go a xeriscape route or give it more curb appeal and put grass down. I know that grass is more maintenance but I feel like that appeals more to renters especially if they have pets that want to have a grass area to hang out in.

More info: I am in Denver, the backyard of the townhouse is around 300 square feet and fenced in. 

[Paul Shannon]

As years go on, landscaping can get out of control.  I'd keep it simple unless you want to be over there all the time watering until the plants/grass get established.  Tenants like a yard, but they don't like to/won't take care of hedges/shrubs/flowers, so you'll end up with the clean-up on turnover.  Personal choice would be to xenoscape as much as possible with a plot of grass potentially for dogs.  Simple, cheap and durable for everything, helps you scale with less maintenance.