A Cozy Courtyard in Albuquerque: From Wasteland to Retreat

Transforming a Brushy Backyard

Judy Propper and Tom Cartledge bought a home in Albuquerque's Sandia Heights with a backyard "wasteland" of brush and scraggly fruit trees. They hired landscape architect Alana Markle after taking a UNM course together. They built a stucco-on-cinderblock wall (5-6 ft tall) around the yard, planted aspens, desert willows, honey locusts, and piñons, installed tiered flower beds, and created inviting outdoor living spaces—including an arbor with a swing in the northeast corner, covered by climbing Lady Banks' rose (Rosa banksiae 'Alba Plena'). A path of Colorado Red flagstones laced with woolly thyme leads to the arbor, flanked by yellow coreopsis and purple Spanish lavender. Hall's honeysuckle climbs the left wall. Hardy perennials—black-eyed Susan, catmint, delphinium, dianthus, purple coneflower, Russian sage, Shasta daisy, yarrow—provide seasonal color, with red, pink, and purple penstemons stealing the show in May and June. A drip-irrigation system waters everything.