Colorful, xeric perennials contrasted beautifully with an Italian cypress allee.

My last garden of the day, Stone House Vineyard required the biggest time commitment. At about 2 pm I took the 40-minute drive out to Spicewood, on Lake Travis. Compared to the crowded, in-town gardens, only a handful of visitors were strolling the garden paths when I arrived at the 6-acre vineyard and 4-year-old garden.

Wine country, Texas style

I parked by the tasting room and was invited to partake, but seeing as I was on a timetable (and traveling solo), I declined. Too hastily, I later decided. A small glass just to see what those grapes turned into would have been nice, especially after I’d seen the beautiful, yellowing vineyard. Ah, well, perhaps next time.

Strolling past the vineyard, I entered the garden that surrounds the private residence of owners Howard and Angela Moench. A sunny, flagstone courtyard adjoined a shady pergola leading to the front door. Beside the pergola, a fountain bubbled out of a naturalistic tumble of limestone boulders into a more-formal runnel (yes, another one on the Open Days tour) that paralleled the path to the door. Surrounded on three sides by the house and on the fourth by the open pergola, the runnel, lushly bordered with horsetail, coral fountain grass, bulbine, and cape rush, visually cooled the courtyard and brought to mind Hill Country streams, despite the runnel’s formal edges.

Planted by the tumbling fountain, a pretty Mexican olive tree seemed rooted among the rocks. The garden’s designer, Brenda Barger, on hand to answer questions, told me that while the Mexican olive looks pitiful when purchased small, it grows fast and is eventually drought-tolerant. The only catch is that this south Texas/northern Mexico native is frost-sensitive and should be planted in a very protected location. Graceful and open, the tree’s lovely form is enhanced by white flowers in the spring.

Against the house, in full sun and a more exposed location, stood a beautiful silvery-green tree that I recognized as a true olive. I’d recently read an article in the Statesman about growers trying olive orchards in central Texas; they are learning which olives are cold-hardy enough to survive our infrequent but unpredictable freezing temperatures. This one, Barger informed me, is a Mission olive, a fairly cold-tolerant variety.

Just outside the courtyard, generous sweeps of native perennials were attracting the attention of butterflies and photographers. Salvia leucantha, spineless prickly pear covered in red tunas (each tuna represents a yellow flower from last spring; that would have been worth a visit!), germander, fleabane, Salvia guaranitica, yuccas, and agaves—it reminded me of a visit to the Wildflower Center, but with a cliffside lake view.

The fruits looked like fanciful, ruby rings on a broad, kingly hand.

Nearby, a dramatic, tall allee of Italian cypresses—discreetly protected from strong winds by a steel cable running about 4′ high on either side of the narrow trees—marched toward a rustic, barn-like building. The allee is partially visible from the side in this photo; for some reason, I neglected to get a good photo of it. (Distracted by those tunas!)

On the other end of the allee, a second courtyard offered a view of Lake Travis. I thought this part of the garden would be a natural for wedding ceremonies; the allee could substitute for an aisle, and the courtyard would make a beautiful wedding site, perfect for dancing under the stars.

A limestone-slab table, nearly identical to Deborah Hornickel’s, occupied the second courtyard. When I blurted my surprise at seeing another one, Brenda Barger chuckled and said that she and James David had been surprised by the coincidence too, but that this one was constructed first. I mentioned that I’d noticed other themes in common among the gardens on tour, including allees and runnels, and Barger agreed, noting that elements of garden design, like any other fashion, wax and wane in popularity among designers.

‘Little John’ dwarf bottlebrush, native to Australia, lined a sunny wall with its beautiful, gray-green foliage and spiky red flowers. I simply have to try this plant in a sunny, protected part of my garden. I also admired a gorgeous, pyramidal Japanese blueberry tree in the second courtyard (alas, no photo), with dark-green, bay-looking leaves. Barger said that it’s one of her favorites too, and though extreme cold can nip it, this tree can grow as tall as 60 feet. (I did find a dwarf variety online, however. Do any Austin-area gardeners have experience with this tree?)

This garden, I noted on my way out, was one of the only ones showcasing many of the xeric perennials that so many gardeners in Austin like to use. Barger confessed that she is a true native-plant enthusiast and would happily use natives more often than she does except that clients often want something more exotic. She has succeeded in combining natives and exotics very naturally in this garden, using plants that seem to belong together though their origins may be distant.

Driving home through the gently rolling terrain of the Hill Country, I reflected on the many lovely gardens I’d visited and the owners and designers I’d met, who graciously invited Austin into their private sanctuaries and shared their knowledge with us. Allowing hundreds of strangers with pencils and notepads, cameras and critiquing eyes, into my own garden would have me quaking in my garden clogs. (Actually, I guess I do that with this blog, but it somehow feels less exposing. I show you what I want you to see.) I’m grateful to these gardeners for being generous enough to share their works in progress—for all gardens, no matter how beautifully wrought, are works in progress, and the resident gardener sees the flaws in his or her design all too clearly. But to shake off the fear of not being perfect, or to everyone’s taste, and let the world see what you’ve made takes a tremendous amount of courage. My sincere thanks to all the Open Days Austin gardeners who shared their gardens with me.

And thanks to all you readers of Digging who have followed my tour postings every day this week. (Click here to go back to the Poth-Gill garden.) I’ve had a lot more visitors than usual and enjoyed your comments. Thanks for spending some time touring with me.

All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Low, curving walls set the front garden apart, with a spiraling design that draws you in.

Colorful perennials and informal designs had been scarce on the Open Days Austin tour up until this point. Green, formal gardens ruled the day with clipped boxwoods, allees, precise runnels, and straight-edged stonework. At last, this north Bryker Woods garden designed by homeowners Tom Poth and Duana Gill bucked the trend.

Approaching from the side, you can see more of the rock work that defines this garden. Between the low wall and the curb, a generous apron of decomposed granite provides dry footing for people getting out of their cars and protects plants from car doors and careless feet, a common problem when you plant along the curb.

Out front, orange narrowleaf zinnia, rusty lion’s tail, and sunrise-yellow coneflowers sprawl riotously in the sunny side of the garden, tempered by white blackfoot daisy and several varieties of silver plants. Compared to other gardens I’d seen on the tour, native plants play more of a starring role here. Unfortunately, many of the summer bloomers look a bit sparse right now, after our hot, dry summer.

However, the design of the front garden is interesting and fun. Native limestone is put to use in a low retaining wall. Rather than follow formal straight lines, the wall spirals loosely across half of the front yard, creating a visual vortex that pulls visitors in.

A decomposed-granite path leads you into the spiral, through a low, mounding garden of sun-lovers punctuated with a few tall plants like acacia. This is the view from inside part of the spiral, looking back toward the street and the shady side of the garden.

A beautiful acacia. Does anyone know what variety this is? This is knife-leaf acacia (A. cultriformis ).

Near the house, a zig-zagging line of metal trays filled with blue-gray gravel—an unusual take on traditional stepping stones—slows you down and leads you past an attractive agave whose color is complemented by the gravel.

As you enter the back garden, you pass through this intriguing iron-and-galvanized-metal gate, just one of many different fencing materials used creatively by Poth and Gill.

The back garden—a courtyard really—is tiny, but there’s a lot going on, not least of which, on this day, was the number of garden tourists. I found few places to stand for a wide shot (without getting just a shot of the crowd), so my photos do not convey the feel of this garden very well.

That’s too bad because it was quite interesting. Again, it’s a mostly green landscape, but several vertical elements and a central planting bed break up the space and keep your eye from traveling too quickly from one side to the other. As you walk in, you notice a tall wood-and-rebar trellis in the middle of the garden, a vertical fountain constructed from a trio of limestone blocks, and a high stuccoed wall built around a tree trunk. Your eye is led up, up, up.

Detail of the wall built around the tree. Built-in shelves are a practical and fun addition.

My favorite feature of this garden—the fountain. I met Tom Poth leaning against the wall of his garage and complimented him on his fountain. When I asked, he said he’d designed it himself, simply drilling the limestone blocks for tubing and stacking them. I like the geometric simplicity and height of this fountain, as well as the mossy, weathered look of the stone in the water. I’d love to have it in my garden.

Here’s another lawnette (they’re everywhere). It’s Zoysia, like mine—’Emerald’, not ‘Palisades.’ Poth lets it grow long, like buffalo grass, after mid-summer. This square lawn is the only grass in the back garden.

Another example of unusual fencing: antique doors from Mexico, set in a metal frame, shield the carport from view.

Here’s the crowd, plus Poth and a few friends chatting on steps that double as a miniature deck. Another “stepping stone” made of concrete, gravel, and steel edging is visible in the foreground. The man-made changes in elevation coupled with the vertical elements create interest in a flat, very small courtyard garden. Different fencing materials throughout the garden also catch your eye. Aside from the stucco wall, Mexican doors, and metal gate, I also noticed a bamboo fence and a staggered wood-slat fence, all very well-designed. It sure beats a boring wooden privacy fence like mine.

A parting look at the front garden. On the left, near the house, a fence made of galvanized metal and staggered wood slats screens the neighbors and adds a decorative element of its own.

Poth told me he’d consulted with designer Tom Spencer for a few hours when he was creating his garden, but most of the design is his own. I am impressed. It’s a fun, dramatic, casual garden that makes the most of a small, in-town lot.

Some of these front-view photos were taken yesterday, not on the day of the tour, hence the blue recycling tub out by the curb.

Click here for my post about the Hornickel garden. Tune in tomorrow for the Stone House Vineyard garden.

All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

A pear allee is the highlight of Hornickel’s garden

Warm, accessible, personal, with striking plant choices and a Gardens-inspired feel, this Bryker Woods garden, located within walking distance of James David and Gary Peese’s famous garden shop, is Gardens on a budget. And I mean that as a compliment.

Deborah Hornickel acknowledges her debt to David’s style (he’s a friend of hers and advised her on portions of her garden, according to a feature in Cottage Living), and she’s not afraid to divulge her tricks for getting this style on the cheap. Generously, she provided a handout explaining how she constructed her fish pond, stone dining table, and pear allee. Judging from the oohing and aahing I heard, I’d say this was one of the more popular gardens on the tour.

The sun was high by the time I got there, and my shadowed photos don’t do her garden justice. Actually, I don’t know whether she does her front garden justice either. Her (self-written?) entry in the Open Days Directory downplays the curb appeal by saying, “Don’t let the rough and natural appearance of the front garden fool you,” noting that the entry to the garden is at the end of the drive, in back of the house.

Well, I think her front garden has much to recommend it too. Formally clipped boxwoods mulched in pea gravel decorously escort visitors to the front door. But on either side of the sidewalk, the “rougher” part of the garden bursts out of that corset with colorful natives and tropicals like canna, Mexican bush sage, firecracker fern, firebush, agaves, and tall grasses in an exuberant jumble. Now here’s a gardener who loves plants!

She doesn’t stop at her front door either, lining a steel bench on the porch with potted succulents and pumpkins.

The gravel driveway is a scene-stealer. A hedge of amaranthus screens the neighbors and looks stunning paired with a line of Arizona cypresses. If only I had room for that combo in my garden.

Another angle. As a nice touch, generous bags of amaranthus seeds were on offer for a dollar at the ticket table.

I might be skeptical of Hornickel’s decision to use a Japanese maple (like azaleas, they don’t usually do well in Austin without a lot of pampering) if it didn’t look so darn good. The red fall foliage against the pale yellow of the house is pretty, and look at the English ivy trimmed neatly at its feet. Lovely.

A close-up of the Japanese maple’s red leaves—unusually bright fall foliage in Austin.

A narrow, covered passage between the garage and the house leads to this little sitting area. The playful blue bench under the Meyer lemon tree is one of the few shots of color in the rear garden.

This green, formal garden is bisected by a Bradford pear allee, strung with party lights, and bordered by a precisely rectangular “lawnette” on either side. I would love to see the allee in the springtime, covered in white blossoms.

As she explains in her handout, Hornickel planted the allee with 10 ($18) Bradford pears in 1991, measuring precisely for placement. By 1994 they were ready to be espaliered on the rebar frame a welder constructed for her.

At the end of the allee, pulling you along the path, a potted pine sits on an attractive limestone pedestal.

Behind the garage, an arbor draped by a sky vine shades a dining table. The mirror brightens the area and reflects candlelight beautifully, I imagine.

Sky vine (Thunbergia grandiflora)

Heading back toward the house you come to a Provencal-looking dining terrace. The crunching gravel underfoot, the lemon tree laden with fruit, the gorgeous, simple limestone-slab table—ahh, I could sit here a spell.

A bowl of shells and slag glass adorns the table.

Moroccan lantern and lemons

At the end of my tour of her garden, I found Deborah Hornickel holding court by the limestone table, thoroughly enjoying herself. It was nice to see the gardener in her element, having fun and making visitors feel welcome. I left with my head full of plant combinations and design elements I’d like to try someday.

Click here for my post about the Harris Boulevard garden. Tune in tomorrow for the Poth-Gill garden.

All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.