Thanks for the tip. I just now typed in a 'xeriscape denver' search and found this link helpful:
http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Trees/xeris5.htm Oh and Brenda; I may resort to amending the planting area but thought that I could save myself the time and effort by finding a desirable bunch of plants that would do well in the existing mound, poor soil and all.
The list says pears, apples, and plums, which sounds good to me. If I plant them near the bottom of hte hill, they'd theoretically have greater access to water, still benefit from the heat of hte bank, and I could maybe harvest them from the top of the mound
Hmmm, sweet potato as a ground cover comes to mind actually. We're growing some in that same field in a 2 ft high beds, and they're doing really well, so I could see it working out with these giant mounds.