Save the Date!
The 2026 Placitas Garden Tour is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Check out our volunteer sign-up page.
Download the Placitas Garden Tour Volunteer Brochure
2026 Gardens
Click here to download the map for the 2026 Placitas Garden Tour.
Click here to download the 2026 Artists’ Schedules at the Gardens.
1. Wildlife Sanctuary
Subdivision: Vista de la Montana
Owners: Erica Wendel – Oglesby and Jon Ghahate
Garden Type or Features: Wildlife friendly garden with mature cottonwood trees providing a sanctuary for bobcats and birds alike. Flower and vegetable gardening. The owner will be displaying her recently published photo bird book. Proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit the Las Placitas. Association. The Bernalillo Master Gardeners will provide education on amending soils.
Artist in the Garden: Christine Brunet Lecomte.
Description: “Our garden is a labor of love that brings joy not only to us, but the birds, pollinators and animals that come through the Placitas Wildlife Corridor for water, seeds and refuge. It is where we go to relax, eat meals, and let the cat explore and sun bath while under our supervision.” – Erica and Jon
2. A Garden in Harmony
Subdivision: Anasazi Trails
Owners: Chris and Irina Castelot
Garden Type or Features: This garden features are well planned and constructed landscape with the use of native plants, all of which blend into the exterior natural environment.
Artist in the Garden: Alex Athens
Description: Eight years ago, Irina and Chris left the lush landscapes of New Hampshire for a new life in sunny New Mexico, settling in the quiet village of Placitas beneath the ever-changing beauty of the Sandia Mountains. Our newly built home sat on a raw, windswept lot of tumbleweed and Chamisa, which the owners gradually transformed into a welcoming garden with the help of designer Oddie Brown.
3. Transitions
Subdivision: Anasazi Trails
Owner/ Designer: Paul and Brenda Kenderdine
Garden Type or Features: Transitions: From the Refined to the Natural – Features modern landscaping and architecture that enhance individual “garden rooms” and panoramic views. The sloped landscaping was designed and constructed to slow and divert water to prevent erosion to neighboring properties.
Artist in the Garden: Linda Novy-Doll.
Description: Transitions describe Paul Kenderdine’s intentional design aesthetic for his family’s newly occupied home landscape. The PWKI owner has been designing and constructing unique homes in the greater Albuquerque area for over 30 years.
Paul’s design transitions are evident in the gradual color change of the stone landscaping in the front – from light grey to rust. The trees bordering the driveway and the tall grasses in the front of the home offer a transition to the refined home architecture. Click here to read more.
4. Working With What You Got
Subdivision: Sundance Mesa
Owner/ Designer: John and Sherri Streicher
Garden Type or Features: Backyard wildlife refuge & low water usage. Certified by nmBackyardRefuge.org. Education: “Gardening with Birds” by NMSU Coop. Ext. Agent Bethany Abrahamson and Master Gardeners
Artist in the Garden: Kyle Hollingsworth.
Description: Like so many of us, when John and Sherri Streicher purchased their Placitas home three years ago, the gardens and landscaping needed work. There was existing mature vegetation, but the overall look was rough and lacked visual appeal. With a general vision in mind, they decided to spruce things up themselves, with three main objectives:
- Create curb appeal to enhance the value of their property
- Create interesting outdoor spaces, that could be enjoyed year round
- Attract birds, bees and animals for pleasant viewing
5. A Place of Shadow
Subdivision: Diamond Tail
Owner/ Designer: Oddie and Juanita Brown
Garden Type or Features: This Asian themed garden features unique placement of boulders to create a mountain outcropping favoring the naturalization of seedlings and providing protection for plants. A large rock waterfall provides peace for onlookers and a respite for wildlife. The Albuquerque Bonsai Club members will demonstrate the art of bonsai on small plants.
Artist in the Garden: Tamara Harder.
Description: This legacy garden is distinctly Asian in style and in perfect harmony with the natural landscape. Oddie points out how the garden changes throughout the day with the shifting sunlight. Shadow in a garden sets the mood and is essential to its enjoyment. Oddie loves to talk about his artistic design aesthetic along with his personal history of moving in his youth from Mississippi to the south side of Chicago. Oddie was trained and influenced as a young man in garden maintenance and landscape design by Yashiro Yamada, his football coach, while growing up in Englewood, IL.
6. Garden on the Mesa
Subdivision: Mustang Mesa
Owner/ Designer: Lisa and Jud Fink
Garden Type or Features: Take a 360-degree tour around the exterior colorful courtyards planted with native and adapted xeric plants. Follow the pathways east from the house to enjoy the cactus gardens and hardscape. The Placitas Resilient Emergency Protection (PREP) will educate the public on fire safe zone landscaping & emergency preparedness.
Description: Gardening on the mesa is challenging – dry, windy, early heat, late frost, with jackrabbits and wild horses stopping by occasionally to nibble on anything that looks tasty. Lisa and Jud try to choose plants that can survive and even thrive under these conditions, though it can be difficult to know this in advance. Have you ever seen a plant labeled “horse resistant? Special attention has been paid to plants that use little of our most precious resource, water. That extends even to the small buffalo grass “lawn” in the rear courtyard, put in for the late beloved family dog, Sugar. Much of the supplemental water is handled by a drip system that schedules itself automatically based on the local weather.
Click here to read more.
2023 – Inspiration for High Desert Gardening
Video Slideshow of Prior Placitas Garden Tours
