O'Toole's Garden Centers won't reopen its nursery at the Aurora Mall this year in what appears to be the city's first major business casualty of a watering ban on new trees and plants after May 3.

Company President Jim O'Toole said the emergency drought order sounded the death knell for the seasonal garden center, which generated about $1 million in sales last year.

The nursery was scheduled to open this month; traditionally it was in business from late winter until Labor Day.

"This would have been our fourth year, but if you can't plant on your property, it made no sense whatsoever," O'Toole said.

Several other large garden centers, including The Home Depot and Lowe's, said Monday they are discontinuing sod sales and cutting back on other nursery plants at their Aurora locations. But no green operators announced wholesale closures of their Aurora nurseries.

"Basically, after May 1 it's container plants only," said an assistant manager at the Lowe's on South Havana Street.

O'Toole, who heads one of the metro area's largest retail nurseries, criticized Aurora's outdoor watering prohibition as a "knee-jerk reaction" to the municipality's water shortage.

"The average last frost date is May 7, so it's ruining the plant business in Aurora," he said. "I don't think that's registered yet with most people - at least from an economic standpoint or the impact it will have on an already struggling Colorado economy."

Aurora, the state's third-largest city, announced three weeks ago that city water customers would face fines and possible service cutoffs for watering trees, shrubs or gardens planted in yards after May 3.

With reservoir levels at 27 percent and falling, the City Council said it expects to impose additional outdoor water restrictions in the next two months. The May 3 landscaping and garden ban, however, was decided early on to give residents time to complete their plans with commercial landscapers and growers prior to warm weather.

"It's going to be tough on the people in the landscaping business, and we understand where they are coming from," said Aurora city spokeswoman Melissa Elliott. "2002 was a hard year and 2003 will probably be harder. But 45 percent of our water in Aurora goes to landscaping, so anything that uses water could be subject to restrictions. We're taking a look at everything."

But without similar bans against other water-intensive businesses, including golf course operators, home developers, coin laundries and car washes, O'Toole said, the city is unfairly discriminating against nursery businesses.

"We've become the city's scapegoats," O'Toole said. "They have totally turned their backs on us."

O'Toole said his year-round garden centers in Lakewood, Littleton and Westminster generate nearly $10 million in annual sales and employ 200 workers. Those stores, along with a seasonal garden center at Southwest Plaza, will remain open.

O'Toole said Aurora has rejected his calls for more equitable and efficient conservation measures. -He maintains that new in-ground plants require less watering than outdoor container plants, which are allowed under the May 3 ban.

Water restrictions implemented under last year's drought prohibit Aurora residents from watering their yards. Trees and shrubs, however, can be watered with deep root or drip irrigation at least until May 3, when the new round of yet-to-be announced watering restrictions take effect.

accolaj@RockyMountainNews.com or (303) 892-2666