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 Built
Landscapes
Albuquerque
Demonstration Landscapes
Other
Demonstration Landscapes
Natural
Areas
Built
Landscapes:
 New
Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (1801 Mountain Rd.
NW)
The plantings at the northwest corner of the property are typical
of the region of the upper Chihuahuan Desert between Albuquerque
and Las Cruces, showcasing feathery Velvet Mesquite, Creosote Bush,
Ocotillo, Desert Broom, Turpentine Bush, and Sotol.
The
Albuquerque Museum (2000 Mountain Rd. NW)
Interesting pockets of paving and plazas are softened with upland
plants such as Autumn Sage and Chamisa and riparian plants including
California Sycamore and Yerba de Mansa.
Terra
American Bistro (1119 Alameda Ave. NW)
This recent recipient of an Associated General Contractor's award
for remodeling features a simple entrance planting of Honey Mesquite,
Big Sage, Lady Banks' Rose on the metal trellis work and the bold
Giant Hesperaloe, before you get to the cuisine inside.
The
Pavilions at San Mateo (northwest of the San Mateo exit off I-40)
An attractively landscaped commercial space that uses a network
of curb cuts to harvest rain water runoff into appropriately dense
plantings including Emory Oak, Regal Mist Grass, Turpentine Bush,
Rosemary and Desert Prickly Pear cactus.
 Rio
Grande Title (6400 Indian School Rd. NE, within the area around
the eastern parking lot)
A simple planting to buffer parked vehicles and allow for visibility
at the intersection, using Mexican Blue Oak, along with Beargrass,
Turpentine Bush and Trailing Rosemary.
Los
Altos Christian Church (11900 Haines Ave. NE, entrance to new sanctuary
from parking lot and west slope along Paisano NE)
The east-facing entry in the newest building is an oasis with berms
and a low rock wall, surrounded with Chinese Pistache, Chocolate
Flower, various Thymes, Rosemary, and a Turf-Type Tall Fescue lawn.
The west slope features an erosion control planting using sweeps
of soil-binding Apache Plume, Sotol, and Turpentine Bush under Escarpment
Live Oak, along with larger rock to minimize soil movement.
Eubank
medians, between Academy and the split with Juan Tabo NE
A simple, un-irrigated planting with year-round appeal that features
a naturalistic grouping of Ocotillo, various Yucca, Apache Plume,
Fourwing Saltbush, and Chamisa.
High
Desert (east of Tramway Blvd. NE on Academy NE or Spain NE)
This residential development contains some nice revegetation work,
retained desert grassland, and common area plantings including Netleaf
Hackberry, Beargrass, Desert Marigold, Cholla, Red Yucca, including
some desert-adapted ornamental grasses.
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Albuquerque
Demonstration Landscapes:
Rio
Grande Botanic Gardens (2601 Central Ave. NW, 505-764-6200)
The entire area surrounding the Conservatory and the Spanish-Moorish
Garden contain extensive collections and some nice groupings of
plants from the Chihuahuan, Mojave and Great Basin Deserts, along
with adapted plants from the Mediterranean and other dry lands.
 Lovelace
Medical Center (5400 Gibson Blvd. SE, within pathways and parking
areas)
Though the maintenance has declined since Wes moved on to Las Campanas,
there are numerous plantings such as Vitex Tree, Penstemon, and
other perennials.
Albuquerque
Police Dept. Xeriscape Garden (Osuna Rd. NE and Wyoming Blvd. NE)
This committee-designed landscape demonstrates a variety of plants
adapted or native to the Albuquerque metro area, including many
grasses and wildflowers, turf types, shrubs such as Scotch Broom
and Cotoneaster, and trees such as Palm Yucca and Redbud.
Wyoming
Library and Rose Garden (8205 Apache NE)
More than just roses: contains plantings in and out of the rose
family (such as Southern Live Oak, Chisos Rosewood, Fernbush, etc),
walkways, and neat shade structures.
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Other
Demonstration Landscapes: Water
Conservation Garden (12122 Cuyamaca College Drive West, El Cajon,
CA)
A unique new garden that introduces guests to water saving gardening
techniques as they walk through the Seven Principles of Xeriscape.
Arizona
- Sonoran Desert Museum (2021 N Kinney Rd. Tuscon, AZ 85743, 520-883-1380)
A renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all
in one place. Explore desert paths and you’re sure to encounter
Gila monsters, hummingbirds, boojums, and much more amidst the beautiful
Tucson Mountains.
 Tohono
Chul Park (7366 N. Paseo del Norte Tucson, AZ 85704 USA (520)742-6455)
Tohono Chul Park is a 49-acre desert preserve located in the midst
of an ever-growing urban area in northwest Tucson. Tohono Chul Park's
mission is to enrich people's lives by providing them the opportunity
to find peace and inspiration in a place of beauty, to experience
the wonders of the Sonoran Desert, and to gain knowledge of the
natural and cultural heritage of this region.
Chihuahuan
Desert Gardens, UTEP Centennial Museum (the corner of University
and Wiggins, University of Texas El Paso, El Paso TX, 915-747-5565)
A new and extensive series of gardens that showcase plants, native
stone walls, and other materials of North America's largest desert,
the Chihuahuan Desert of the US and Mexico.
Denver
Botanic Gardens (1005 York St., Denver CO, 303-331-4000)
The extensive plant collections and theme gardens from around the
world include an extensive Xeriscape Garden, a collection of oaks
adapted to semiarid conditions, the Watersmart Garden, the Plains
Garden, and the famous Alpine Rock Garden.
 Denver
Water Department (1600 W. 12th Ave., Denver CO, 303-628-6000)
Many different plants are displayed from the Rocky Mountains, Great
Plains, and other semiarid regions in the areas surrounding the
offices of the Denver Water Department.
Desert
Demonstration Gardens (3701 W. Alta Dr., Las Vegas NV, 702-258-3205)
See over 1000 plant species of plants in many theme gardens, which
dispel the many myths about desert landscaping in the Mojave Desert
region.
Colorado
Springs Utilities Xeriscape Demonstration Garden (2855 Mesa Rd.,
Colorado Springs CO, 719-448-4555)
The plantings and garden are intended to enlighten the public with
plants and landscape methods to conserve water attractively for
the Pikes Peak area.
Santa
Fe Greenhouses (2902 Rufina St., Santa Fe NM, 800-925-9387)
The garden here displays some of the many plants offered for sale
in the nursery that are suitable for Santa Fe and far beyond, wherever
sunshine is common and rain is not.
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Areas:
Petroglyph
National Monument, including trails and the Visitors Center along
Unser Blvd. NW
The jagged line on our western skyline contains volcanic lava flows
and Native American petroglyphs, shifting blow sands, all anchored
with plants typical of sandy soils in the upper Chihuahuan Desert,
including Desert Willow, Sand Sage, Mariola, Beebrush, and Broom
Dalea.
 Rio
Grande Nature Center and the bosque (at the end of Candelaria NW,
west of Rio Grande)
This floodplain area, with a shallow water table courtesy of our
state's longest river, is home to the native Valley Cottonwood,
Desert Olive, Leadplant and various grasses, along with the introduced
pest trees, Russian Olive and Salt Cedar. Trails and ditch banks
lead for miles beyond the actual buildings, which house classrooms
and exhibits.
I-25,
between the Isleta Blvd. exit and the Isleta Pueblo exit
Similar terrain to the Petroglyph Monument, but it is along the
freeway, and the combination of gravelly soils and heavy cattle
grazing allow Creosote Bush and Honey Mesquite to propagate themselves
and thrive, in addition to the other plants found nearby.
Elena
Gallegos Open Space Fee Area and Embudito Canyon (east of the strip
between High Desert and Glenwood Hills, accessible from the end
of Spain NE or Trailhead NE)
Arroyos, boulders, and dramatic plants like Shrub Live Oak, Hairy
Mountain Mahogany, Oneseed Juniper, Pinon, Beargrass, various Prickly
Pear and Cholla dissect this northern outpost of the Mexican Oak
Woodland in the lower Sandia foothills of eastern Albuquerque.
La
Cueva Picnic Area, US Forest Service Fee Area (E of Juan Tabo Canyon
Rd. from Tramway)
Similar to Elena Gallegos, but it adds sizeable Gray Oak, Arizona
White Oak, and an overall denser plant growth, due to the greater
average rainfall from storm clouds over steep terrain.
Sandia
Crest (the top of the Crest Highway, that heads northwest off State
Hwy. 14)
Though close to Albuquerque, the additional 5000 feet of elevation
here causes the climate and resulting plants to be much different
than in Albuquerque's upper Chihuahuan Desert and desert grasslands;
if the ski area doesn't signal that, the bracing, crisp air should.
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©2003
Xeriscape Council of New Mexico
webwork by: ABQonline.com
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