Subdivision: Diamond Tail
Address: 109 Crestview Court
Owners: Chris and Dave Pasero
Garden Type or Features: Excellent landscape design and implementation achieved by collaboration between owner and designers; large infinity pool patio garden with view of the Ortiz Mountains.
Rick Garcia of Landscape Solutions will be present at this garden to advise tour guests on landscaping, plant selection, and maintenance.
The following artists will be painting at this garden:
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- AM – Laverne Bohlin
- PM – Carla Forrest
Description: The gardens and home were built at the same time in 2017. Chris and Dave moved in to their home in May of 2017 with the gardens already in place. The concept of their gardens, including the design, choice and placement of the plants was a joint effort between the owners, their designer/decorator Charles Rose, and Rick Garcia of Landscape Solutions Inc. They all met, discussed the Paseros’ vision, and Mr. Garcia presented several stages of landscape drawings leading up to the final design.
Rather than having a front courtyard the Paseros opted for a more natural “woodsy” exterior landscaping leading to the front entrance of the home. The courtyard was instead designed into the back of the house off the kitchen with a more tailored look.
Having moved from California, they realized that the high desert climate of Placitas limited their plant choices. The bougainvillea and some crepe myrtles that they loved had to go. Mr. Garcia taught the owners which plants would survive the colder winters, the intense sun, and dryer conditions of their new environment while allowing them to select what they loved most from a local nursery. The Paseros are loving their new plant selections consisting of coneflowers, Sunset Hyssop, Desert Penstemon, Russian sage, Mexican Redbud, Desert Willow, Smoke Trees, Butterfly Bush, and Yucca. They are enjoying the beauty and easy maintenance of their blooming salvia shrubs and their ornamental grasses, especially the Karl Foerester and Regal Mist grasses.
The Paseros have a lovely water fountain and a Japanese maple on their front porch, but the backyard swimming pool with the infinity edge and the planters along the sides of the pool is the focal point of the landscape design. The infinity edge of the pool draws your eye along the length of the pool to the rugged Diamond Tail open space and a far northern view of the Sangre de Cristo peaks.
Mr. Garcia did a perfect job of creating the feel of flowing rivers by placing river rock and desert colored crusher fine throughout the property. This is a visually beautiful as well as a functional feature allowing rain and snow melt to quickly flow to the reservoir ponds. A large stone carved with a petroglyph flute player is used as a pathway bridge across the dry river bed.
There are no visible gutters on the house as Mr. Garcia worked with the builder to install an extensive drainage system under the house, canales off the roof, and gutters within the stone columns on the patio that empty water into the river rock where it is carried away. The Paseros constructed an elevated vegetable and herb garden in the back. The courtyard off the kitchen has a deco tiled built-in barbecue and a beautiful red bud tree in a matching tiled seat planter.
The landscaping was designed with a drip system throughout and it is rarely necessary to add supplementary garden hose water. The landscaping design provides for a large passive outdoor water routing system to the reservoir ponds, where the rabbits and birds can drink when it rains or snows.
Infinity Garden #5 – Plant List
ADDRESS WALL
Vitex Tree – Vitex Agnus Castus (Behind address wall)
Plumbago – Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (In front of address wall)
Violet Profusion Sage/Salvia (In front of address wall)
Blue Fescue – Festuca glauca (To right of address wall in river rock)
Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa) – Nassella (To right of address wall)
Blue Arctic Willow – Salix purpurea ‘Nana’ (To right of address wall)
DRIVEWAY AND FRONT OF HOUSE
Austrian Pine – Pinus nigra (Several on left along driveway and area outside of fence)
Blue Cypress – Picea pungens (Left side of driveway)
Fruitless Pear Tree – Pyrus callergana (Left side of driveway)
Crabapple – Roseceae (Left side of driveway)
Salvia: Ultra Violet and Red Greggii (Under crabapple tree)
Goldfinger Potentilla – Potentilla fruticosa (Left along driveway wall and next to house)
Forsythia Bush – Forsythia x intermedia (Left along driveway wall)
Dwarf Russian Sage – Perovskia “Little Spire” (Along driveway wall)
Juniper’s Beard – V. coccineus (Along driveway wall between Russian Sage)
Blue Point Juniper – Juniperus chinensis (In 3 pots at garage doors)
Lavelle Hawthorne Tree – Crataegus x lavellei (Front door, single trunk)
Forestiera “New Mexico Olive” – Forestiera neomexicana (Side of house)
Desert Willow – Chilopsis linearis (Side of house)
Canada Red Chokecherry Multitrunk – Prunus virginiana (In front of small stone wall at side of house)
Burning Bush – Euonymus alata (2 next to small stone wall at side of house)
Mugo Pine – Pinus mugo (2 on way to gate)
Lavelle Hawthorne Tree – Crataegus x lavellei (Right of gate to patio, multi trunk)
Sunburst Honey Locust Tree – Gleditsia triacanthos (Left of gate to patio garden)
Spurge – Euphorbia (At kokopelli bridge)
Blue Arctic Willow – Salix purpurea ‘Nana’ (Throughout front)
Blue Mist Bluebeard – Caryopteris x clandonensis (Throughout front)
Crimson and Gold Barberry – Berberis thunbergii (Throughout front)
Salvia: Red Greggii – Salvia greggi A. Gray (Along driveway)
Red Yucca – Hesperalde Parviflora (Along river rock)
Parry’s Agave Century Plant – Asparagaceae (In river rock)
Desert Penstemon – Penstemon Parryi (Along river rock)
Purslane- Portulaca oleracea cupcake series (Along river rock)
Yellow and Red Mum Chrysanthemum – Chrysanthemum x morifolium (Along river rock)
Guara Wand Flower – Gaura lindheimeri (2 next to house at front door)
Moonbeam Coreopsis – Coreopsis verticillata (“Paprika” at front door bridge)8
Plumbago – Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Throughout front)
Blanket Flower – Gaillardia (Front door bridge)
Catmint (Nepeta) – Nepeta spp. (Front door bridge)
Feather Reedgrass – Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ (Front door bridge)
Veronica Waterperry Blue – Herbaceous perennial (Below front door bridge)
Elfin Creeping Thyme – Thymus serpyllum (On top of front door bridge)
Japanese Maple – Acer palmatum (Front porch)
PATIO
Purple-Leaf Sand Cherry Shrub – Prunus x cistena (Inside at patio gate and throughout lower patio)
Rose of Sharon – Hibiscus syriacus (Inside at patio gate)
Allgold Warminster Broom – Cytisus x praecox (Along inside fence)
Winter Jasmine – Jasmine nudiflorum (Along inside fence)
Scotch Broom Allgold Broom – Cytisus x praecox (Along inside fence
Major Wheeler Honeysuckle – Lonicera sempervirens (Along inside fence and throughout patio)
Crimson and Gold Barberry – Berberis thunbergii (Throughout patio)
Gold Juniper – Juniperus horizontalis (Off patio)
Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa) – Nassella (Off patio)
Pennisetum setaceum- Fountain Grass (Off patio, sides of pool)
Blue Fescue – Festuca glauca (Off patio)
Plumbago – Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Throughout patio)
Blue Mist Bluebeard – Caryopteris x clandonensis (1 at end of pool and throughout patio)
Guara Wand Flower – Gaura lindheimeri (2 at end of pool)
Blue Point Juniper – Juniperus chinensis (2 in pots at end of pool)
Purslane- Portulaca oleracea cupcake series (In upper river rock and in pool planter)
Margarite Daisy – Argyranthemum frutescens(Yellow & white in pool planter)
Veronica (Speedwell) – Veronica prostrate (Off patio)
Salvia: Ultra Violet, Hot Lips, and Red Greggii (Off patio in front of upper river rock and in pool planter)
Moonbeam Coreopsis – Coreopsis verticillata (2 yellow off patio)
Mexican Evening Primrose – Oenothera speciosa (Next to upper river rock)
Desert Penstemon – Penstemon Parryi (Next to upper river rock)
Sedum – Sedum reflexum “Angelina’ (In upper river rock)
Star Cluster – Pentas (In upper river rock)
Geranium – Pelargonium spp. (Off patio)
White Football and Red Mum Chysanthemum – mum x morifolium (Off patio)
Cabaret Japanese Silver Grass – Miscanthus sinesis (Throughout patio)
Rosemary – Rosmarinus officinalis (Lower patio)
Austrian Copper Rose – Rosa foetida (Lower patio)
Goldfinger Potentilla – Potentilla fruticosa (In lower patio river rock)
Desert Four O’Clock – Mirablis multiflora (In lower river rock)
Smoke Tree – Cotinus coggygria (In 2 pots by fireplace; in 2 pots at on each side of pool doors)
Mexican Petunia – Ruellia simplex (in 2 large green pots on each side of large windows)
Gazania – Asteraceae gazania (in 1 medium pot on side of large windows)
Variety of succulents (In 1 medium and 2 small pots on each side of large windows)
Dwarf Lilac – Syringa (On way to raised planters)
Gardenia – Gardenia jasminoides (On way to raised planters)
Dwarf Oak Tree – Dwarf chinquapin oak (Patio on way to raised planters)
RAISED VEGETABLE GARDENS:
Cherry tomatoes, variety of cucumbers
Generic basil, Lemon basil, Thai basil
Sage, Thyme, Dill
Variety chile peppers
Red peppers
Green peppers
COURTYARD
Arbutus Marina Strawberry Tree – x andrachnoides (On way from raised planters to courtyard)
Purple-Leaf Sand Cherry – Prunus x cistena (Each side of double doors)
Cabaret Japanese Silver Grass – Miscanthus sinesis (Next to house)
Rose of Sharon – Hibiscus syriacus (Next to house)
Swamp Rose Mallow Hibiscus – Hisbicus moscheutos (3 next to house)
Margarite Daisy – Argyranthemum frutescens(White under hibiscus)
Plumbago – Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Next to wall)
Gallo Red Blanket Fliower – Gaillardia aristata (Next to wall)
Red Mum Chrysanthemum – Chrysanthemum x morifolium (Next to wall)
Begonia – Begonia (Next to wall)
Star Cluster – Pentas (Next to wall)
Laguna Compact Blue with Eye – Lobelia erinus (Large pot by grill)
Variety of succulents (Medium pot by grill)
Yellow Mum Chrysanthemum – Chrysanthemum x morifolium (Small pot by grill)
Dahlia – D. x pinnata (Mexican colorful pot)
Placitas Garden Tour 