Sneak preview of Gardens on Tour 2010: Reynosa Drive garden

May 04, 2010


One of my favorite Austin garden tours occurs this Saturday, May 8: Gardens on Tour, produced by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I’m pleased to offer you a sneak preview of one of the gardens on the tour, the Reynosa Drive garden, which I’m particularly fond of and familiar with because it belongs to my lovely in-laws, Bobbie Tsukahara and Gil Starkey.

Bobbie and Gil left their beloved Boston about 10 years ago to be closer to their grown children and grandkids in Austin. Their then-new Shady Hollow home backed up to a meadowy preserve that attracted a variety of birds as well as rattlesnakes, some of whom found warm, concrete doorsteps quite to their liking.

Bobbie and Gil weren’t gardeners when they moved here, but as they built their new home they knew they didn’t want a traditional, water-hogging lawn and boring line of shrubs across the foundation.

I wasn’t yet professionally designing gardens then, but I knew enough to help them sketch out a plan that they and their builder used to install a small buffalo grass lawn in front and back as well as large, curving beds of drought-tolerant native and adapted shrubs and perennials. They quickly learned a lot about native plants and water conservation, hooking up rain barrels and saving gray water to use outdoors. But a persistent drainage problem in the back garden bugged them, the rattlesnakes worried them, and they wanted to do more to attract birds and butterflies.

Last year they hired a design/build company, Environmental Survey Consulting, to remove the back lawn, solve the drainage problem, install numerous large boulders, plant a new island bed designed to attract birds and butterflies, and build a coyote fence to hide their compost bin and gardening tools (see picture at end of post). For good measure, they also added some rattlesnake-proofing around the perimeter of their garden.*

Despite the scorching drought last summer, the largely native-plant garden thrived, and this winter’s rains helped it really take off. Today Gil and Bobbie can enjoy the shade of a grand old live oak they took pains to protect during the building of their home, surrounded in spring by a sweep of yellow columbines, overlooking the new butterfly garden on the sunny side of the yard.

Hinckley’s columbines (Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinckleyana)

Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana)

Shasta daisies

This red admiral butterfly was enjoying the daisies.

I visited their garden on Monday morning after dropping the kids off at school. The morning sun was already fairly intense, making photography a challenge and reducing their two long-haired dachshunds to shadowy blurs. But here you can see the littlest one, Clover, dashing down the decomposed-granite path toward me.

Larkspur

Sundrop (Calylophus berlandieri)

The central butterfly-garden bed is mounded up for drainage and mulched with seedling-friendly decomposed granite. Bobbie and Gil told me that a beautifully designed garden was less important to them than attracting birds and butterflies; i.e., they are accepting of a “messy,” caterpillar-munched, less-groomed garden in order to feed and shelter their winged visitors. As you can see, though, it still looks lovely.

Numerous bird baths placed around the garden offer birds drinking and bathing spots.

Winecup (Callirhoe involucrata)

Heartleaf skullcap (Scutellaria ovata)

Twistleaf yucca (Yucca rupicola)

Gaillardia, larkspur, and Shasta daisies—the late-spring show

Here’s a look at their coyote fence, a screen of sturdy cedar posts wired together and attached to posts sunk into the ground at each end. The coyote fence curves gracefully around a tree and runs the length of their wide side yard, giving them a hiding place for their compost bin, wheelbarrow, and other tools.

Penstemon

By thinking outside the typical suburban box with regard to their landscaping, Gil and Bobbie have created a beautiful, peaceful place for birds, butterflies, and people to enjoy. My thanks to them for letting me share it with you.
Click here for more information about Gardens on Tour 2010, to be held this Saturday, May 8, from 9 am to 5 pm. Update: To see the other gardens on this tour, click on my post about the Sinclair Avenue garden, then follow the links.
*Here’s what Gil told me about the rattlesnake-proofing they did:

We have Western Diamondbacks around here and little else. WD’s do not climb well, and they do not burrow very deeply. Therefore, one can discourage them by sinking a barrier 4-6 inches into the ground and extending it upwards for 18-24 inches (key measurements provided by a consulting herpetologist). Along our back property line, we sank 2x12s about 6 inches deep and attached another 2×12 on top of it, forming a barrier about 6 inches deep and 18 inches high. ESC then added fine-meshed wire fencing about 4 feet high along that line, also burying it, fixing it to our picket fence, and bending the top outward to create an extremely difficult barrier for a snake to climb. We have 6-foot privacy fences along each side of the yard, so ESC trenched 6 inches deep and attached a couple of courses of Trex deck planking to the privacy fence. That effectively sealed those property lines. They also built a short “snake fence” comprised of lumber and fine-wire mesh across the 5 foot gap between our house and the east fence. That left the south-facing fence line and the iron gate on the west side to deal with. They treated the privacy fence along that line the same as the others. ESC and I came up with a way to block the gate itself, combining the fine-wire mesh across the gate itself with “door jambs” I added to the gate to seal that entry point and discourage slithering visitors. All this has worked so far. I continue, however, to garden with my eyes open! —Gil

All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

0 responses to “Sneak preview of Gardens on Tour 2010: Reynosa Drive garden”

  1. Their garden is lovely. They have so much blooming. I like that coyote fence idea. I have an AC unit that needs hiding.
    I’m SO sad that we’ll be missing the tour, this year. We have family obligations, out of town.
    Thanks for giving us an early taste of the tour.

  2. Sheila says:

    It is a lovely garden. Thanks for the preview!

  3. Diana says:

    It’s lovely and the dogs are adorable! Can’t wait to see it in person on the tour on Saturday. It looks just like my kind of garden.

  4. Darla says:

    What is rattlesnake proofing? I am interested in this…You in-laws have created an oasis….much feast for the eyes…
    I asked Gil for more details, Darla. His answer is at the end of the post. —Pam

  5. Jean says:

    It looks great and I especially like the idea of an island in the middle for a butterfly garden. I am curious about rattlesnake proofing though. What did they use??
    I asked Gil for more details, Darla. His answer is at the end of the post. —Pam

  6. Sweet Bay says:

    What a beautiful place. I love the interplay of light and shadow in their garden. The use of seating and accents is wonderful. Great pictures too. Those dogs are the cutest ever.

  7. Loree says:

    Well I sure wish I could attend the tour, but thank you for sharing this garden with us. It must be wonderful to have family that takes such pride in their gardens…visiting and spending time with them is all the better!

  8. Jenny says:

    I’m going to be working in one of the gardens on Saturday. I hope it is this one. You paint a lovely picture of your in laws garden, even on a very bright day. I’m intrigued by the rattlesnake barrier and the coyote fence. I have never heard of these. Rattlers have been seen on our street recently. I’m sure they are out there but so far none in the garden. Hope I bump into you on the day, and lots of other bloggers too.
    I just put Gil’s response about the snake-proofing at the end of the post, Jenny. I look forward to seeing you along the tour on Saturday. —Pam

  9. Chookie says:

    It looks lovely! The rattlesnake fence idea is interesting, though fortunately I don’t need it. Equally fortunately, our vast array of poisonous snakes are generally shy and not keen on suburban living!

  10. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    What a beautiful garden. I bet they have lots of wonderful butterflies and birds. I am glad you added how they snake-proofed their garden. I couldn’t imagine how you would do that. I hope it works because as much as I like snakes I wouldn’t want to have to watch for rattlers every time I went out.

  11. Layanee says:

    That was a great preview. The Callirhoe is so pretty. I tried it here but it did not like the spot so I will have to try again in another location.

  12. Les says:

    I am glad you included the info about the snake fence, I was curious. As a gardener in that location, I would think twice about sticking my hand any dark place to remove debris, prune or whatever.

  13. cloverann says:

    Lovely, inviting and comfortable-looking garden! And great butterfly habitat! The gravel paths really draw you out into the garden. Best thing I ever did for my increasing rattlesnake phobia: Take my dogs yearly to rattlesnake avoidance training (takes 15 minutes per dog). If I’m worried about a rattlesnake being in the area, I bring the dog to that area and watch her reaction. I can tell when she smells, hears or sees a rattlesnake. More importantly, I don’t have to worry about my dogs being bit by a rattlesnake. But snake fences, if you can afford it and it works on your property are a big plus, too!
    Thanks for pointing out rattlesnake avoidance training for dogs. My in-laws did do that for their older dog before they had the landscaping and snake-proofing done. —Pam

  14. Judy Walther says:

    Pam,
    I meant to say hello to you last Saturday, but in all the confusion and crowds I neglected to do so. Thank you so much for your support through your blog. You will, of course, stay involved with Gil and Bobbie’s garden, and I’m glad they are in good hands.
    I’m sure some time in the future our paths will cross again.
    Thanks again,
    Judy Walther
    Hi, Judy. I’m sorry to have missed meeting you too. I’m sure I’ll see you on a garden tour in the future, as you seem to have one or two on Gardens on Tour every year. Thanks for commenting! —Pam