Lee Clippard’s naturalistic garden with a modern edge

April 29, 2012


I recently visited the East Austin garden belonging to blogger Lee Clippard of The Grackle and Martha Stewart Living fame to get a few pictures for my upcoming book, Lawn Gone!. As you can see, Lee’s lawn is indeed long gone, replaced by a dappled-shade garden of agave, yucca, sedge, and evergreen screening shrubs.


I won’t say much here about his front garden, because I am featuring it in my book, except that I love the lush, green plant palette and the modern layout: straight path from street to door, with steel-edged risers; a cross path from the driveway to the main walk; and a clean-lined sitting area.


Of course I couldn’t help peeking into the back garden while I was there. I first visited Lee and partner John’s garden 3 years ago, and they’ve added some great features since then, like this wood-slat arbor to shade the entry space between the house and the garage. The shadow play is nice, and we all know shade is essential when the Death Star revs up for summer.


The plants have grown tremendously since I last visited too, including this sculptural desert willow. As I recall from reading The Grackle, Lee and John made this wooden bench themselves.


Beautiful desert willow blossoms. Is this ‘Son of Bubba’?


Another view


Just past the garage, a comfortable patio appears, with a firepit and plenty of chairs for visiting with friends.


The Celtic knot brick pattern was inherited from previous owners. A fringe of inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolia) backs a long, wooden bench.


A vignette of succulent dishes adorns the bench. I love the concrete bowls, which I think Lee made himself.


Blue on blue


The free-standing garage takes up the middle of Lee and John’s back garden, but they’ve turned that into an asset by building paths that wrap around it, with seating areas here and there, creating various rooms out of the remaining space. This is the view from the far corner of the garage, looking back toward the house and the desert willow. A collection of cactus in terracotta pots lines the stone path.


Cedar posts set in concrete at the four corners of the firepit patio support string lights for evening enjoyment of the garden. Lee wrote about installing the string lighting a year ago. I have this same type of lighting in my own garden and love the soft, festive glow it provides. (If you live in Austin you can find it at The Light Bulb Shop. Here’s more info about installing string lights.)


At the corner of the house, a concrete dish filled with river rock accepts runoff from the roof, directed via a rain chain.


And a simple concrete trough fitted with a hooked copper pipe and a pump makes an appealing water feature.


Along the driveway, a sunny spot offers a venue for purple coneflower and red yucca to bloom with abandon, attracting butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, and giving Lee a chance to engage in a favorite garden activity, wildlife watching. He and John have managed to create a wildlife-friendly garden filled with tough native and adapted plants, structured within a modern framework. What a cool garden! Thanks, Lee, for letting me visit and photograph it.

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

15 responses to “Lee Clippard’s naturalistic garden with a modern edge”

  1. Laura says:

    I follow posts in The Grackle and I love this garden. Their garden is both simple and elegant. I’m glad to hear you will use their garden in your book.

  2. AngryRedhead says:

    I remember the CTG feature, and my, oh my, has this garden grown!!

  3. Hoov says:

    Very cool garden indeed. Thanks for the tour!

  4. jenny says:

    I think it is time for us all to revisit his garden because so much has changed since we were there 3 years ago. I would think it would be a good garden for the WFC tour. Thanks for posting about your visit.

  5. Cindy says:

    Lovely lawn gone garden! I’m working toward the same goal, and sometimes I feel a little guilty for not already being there…but then I realize, it takes time. Thanks for the inspiration!

  6. Scott Weber says:

    What a lovely garden…so refreshing to see “modern” that doesn’t necessarily mean minimal and severe!

  7. Lee says:

    Hi Pam and Digging readers. Thanks Pam for the great post and wonderful photos of the garden. It’s really cool to see the garden through someone else’s lens, you know? On the desert willow, I’m not sure which variety it is…lost that plant tag long ago and I keep terrible notes. As for the cement pkanters, I did make those after a friend of mine who had done the same. Glad that you like them. I need to get inspired to make more. Thanks again for dropping by!

  8. Cat says:

    Their garden is so Austin cool! Would love to see it on a tour. I’m glad you shared, I’m inspired by the rain chain and concrete bowl.

  9. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    When I read “modern” I thought oh no one of those bare bones gardens. This modern garden has such a fun personality. Enough modern to keep it so and yet a softening of the edges that I can appreciate. Lots of inspiration in this garden.

  10. Nice focal points and soft/sharp/angular, and if it is the son of Bubba, it might be named “Cletus” if Plant Delights’ owner got ahold of it! A classic theme that always works. And what Scott said…

  11. louis says:

    I love the string lights!! The evening ambience must be splendid!

  12. Gail says:

    Love this garden~I so agree with what Lisa said~Just enough modern and softening from the naturalistic garden. The string light link is much appreciated. gail

  13. Cathy and Steve says:

    Such an amazing garden. I am in love with that willow — wish we could grow that here! And oh, the succulents…. Thanks for taking us on this tour!

  14. debbie says:

    Looks fab! A native Texasonian :), I only have an agave, some salvia, and some wonderful gaillardia to remind me of home (in the uk)! Your place looks fab…love the andironacks…the fire sticks (we can grow euphorbia here too…just not that kind) Sedums grow well here too..in rock gardens…love the no grass and warm, shady places 🙂 looks quite cozy, but simple and low-maintenance (after all of the planning)!

  15. Denise says:

    Love the concrete bowls and trough, the chasmanthium behind the long bench. What a smart, beautiful garden!