Austin Open Days Tour 2010: Pemberton Heights garden

October 19, 2010


My third stop on Saturday’s Garden Conservancy tour took me to the elegant, hilltop garden overlooking downtown Austin. Surrounding a New Orleans-style Pemberton Heights home and shaded by majestic live oaks, the garden felt lush, green, and classically serene. Pictured above, a cut-stone path edged in dwarf mondo grass leads from the entry courtyard to the rear garden.

In the brick-paved front courtyard, evergreen shrubs define the spaces, and potted annuals and succulents add color and focal points.

The house was built around 1950, and the current owner grew up in the home and inherited it from her mother.

Persian shield adds rich annual color to an urn set in a boxwood parterre.

The shallow back yard is perched on a steep hillside and terraced into various seating areas. The highest, just off the back door, enjoys a view of downtown.

On a lower terrace at ground level, a simple potted aloe rests on a glass table surrounded by cushioned iron furniture.

Another succulent-filled urn graces the lower terrace. This is a peaceful, comfortably elegant garden, well suited to the style of the house.
Tune in tomorrow for a tour of Deborah Hornickel’s bungalow garden. To see images from the eclectic East Side Patch, my second stop on the tour, click here.
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

0 responses to “Austin Open Days Tour 2010: Pemberton Heights garden”

  1. daricia says:

    who can resist garden tour posts? how nice to feel i’ve attended even though i live many miles away. that back deck with the lovely view is wonderful!

  2. Jean says:

    I could get into that back deck with that lovely view!

  3. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    A very formal garden for your area. Beautifully done. I like seeing the succulents in the garden to remind one of where it is.

  4. Tatyana says:

    Wonderful, elegant garden and wonderful pictures, Pam! Potted succulents reminded me my recent trip to Italy. I liked flower boxes filled with succulents. What an interesting idea – as one of your pictures shows, to combine an aloe with other plant!

  5. Gail says:

    What a contrast to East Patch~which I love! This garden is classic and elegant. gail

  6. fer says:

    A very nice garden. It looks like siting and enjoying and afternoon at the chairs talking.

  7. Frances says:

    I am so enjoying these tour gardens, Pam. Each one different and all are wonderful. There are ideas for me in every post, thanks! 🙂