Subdivision: Sundance Mesa
Owner/ Designer: P.K. and Dean Williams
Garden Type or Feature: A smaller, beautifully landscaped and colorful garden oasis with access and unencumbered north views of the desert Albuquerque open space. The owner, P.K. Williams will be creating art in her own garden during the day of the garden tour on Sunday September 10, 2023.
Artist in the Garden: P.K. Williams
Description: When P.K. and Dean Williams moved to Placitas in 2019, they found a home with all the makings for a garden they could call their own. The previous owners had planted shade trees, created a small turf area and installed flowers beds in the backyard and front patio. They enhanced it by adding cool places to sit and enjoy the outdoor vistas Placitas is known for.
The couple’s first goal was to cool the gardens by adding colorful plants that would attract bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, a variety of birds and other wildlife. The flower beds are now home to chrysanthemums, hollyhocks and lilacs, and because gardening space is limited, P.K. and Dean have added more plants in containers. They also added a cement path in the front and flagstone and cement patios in the back.
Even though many of the backyard plans are not indigenous to the area, P.K. and Dean want to be as water wise as possible. They repaired and updated the existing irrigation system and installed a drip system for the containers. They also add new soil and fertilizer to beds and containers every spring, mulch the flowerbeds to hold in the moisture, and train their plants in the spring to exist with as little water as possible, although they do water a bit more in the hottest months of summer.
P.K. and Dean measure their success over morning coffee and evening cocktails, enjoyed while sitting in their quiet, color-filled space as a large variety of insects and animals make their daily visits.
