A little Palm Springs, a little New Orleans, all Texas in the garden of Curt Arnette

May 16, 2018


I’ve been after my friend Curt Arnette, landscape-architect owner of Sitio Design, to open his personal garden on tour for years. But because he likes to change things up at home (plus being busy with his work projects), he’s always said it wasn’t ready. Persistence pays off, however, and I finally bugged him enough that he let me bring 5 blogger friends for a visit on the day after the Austin Fling. What a treat! I loved seeing his latest project: a reimagining of his suburban back yard with Palm Springs flair that doesn’t forsake the lush live-oak-canopied look of Austin.

Curt’s two-story brick home in the Circle C neighborhood sits on a corner lot, so he has extra space to play with. Pictured above is a broad gravel path that leads through his side yard (visible from the street alongside the house; lucky neighbors!) up into the back yard.


At the top of three shallow steps, you get a dose of retro desert style a la Palm Springs thanks to a concrete breeze-block wall that runs on the diagonal through the back yard, dividing it visually between sun and shade. The diagonal line also makes the garden seem larger by leading the eye along the longest line. In front of the wall, a sunny cactus and succulent bed edged with steel catches the light, and a hot-pink bougainvillea adds tropical color.


Golden barrels and other cacti in the raised bed, which faces the home’s back door


Another angle


Now let’s walk around the wall to explore the shadier side of the back garden.


Looking back, such wonderful shaggy texture in the Yucca rostrata and palm foliage.


Parrot lily, also called Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria pulchella), blooming in dappled shade


The back yard slopes down, offering a view of a circular fire-pit patio lushly encircled by bamboo, Japanese maple, and palms.


A shady vignette features a “Bird Girl” statuette (made famous by the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil).


As it happens, Lori Daul, whose blog is called The Gardener of Good and Evil, was there too — shown here talking with Curt.


Curt puts the massive live oaks in his garden to excellent use. Here he ran the pathway under an arching limb that acts as a natural arbor. It frames a view of a patio table and chairs in a gravel-floored “room” at the back corner of the garden. Curt mentioned that he’s still thinking about what this room might offer besides basic seating. I’m sure he’ll come up with something creative.


A native dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor) holds aloft fan-like leaves beside a live oak growing horizontally. There’s such character in these old live oaks.


Palm shadows


More palms! This one seems to be doing a fan dance with a cherubic figure atop a bird bath.


From the shady back corner, you emerge back into sunlight at the other end of the breeze-block wall. Shaded by palms, two turquoise Acapulco chairs overlook a contemporary-style pond (pics below).


For those wondering about the construction of Curt’s breeze block wall, here’s what he shared with me:

“I placed the block on a steel frame for two reasons. One was for style to have it look like the blocks were floating above the gravel and to continue the steel element. The other reason was that I didn’t want to have to dig a footing, haul off all the dirt, and then have a contractor pour the concrete. I was able to dig and set steel posts, and then I had a welder connect the bottom rail to the posts. I adhered the blocks to the rail and to each other by an adhesive called Fuze-it.”


The long view to the succulent and cactus planter, and the back door of the house.


The Acapulco chairs overlook Curt’s signature circular pond and rill-fountain. Regular readers will remember a similar pond and fountain in the Lakewood Garden that Curt designed.


Rill-fountain closeup. That’s a Texas star hibiscus growing in the pond, if I recall correctly.


A wider view from outside an airy, steel-panel fence shows how the garden appears from the public sidewalk. The pond and fountain are visible — and audible — to passersby, and it must be a joy for neighbors to view the garden as they pass. A silvery olive tree soaks up the sun.


Looking toward the front garden, you see a much shadier space under multiple live oaks, with hedging for privacy. In the foreground hell strip, bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa), cut to the ground, makes a feathery groundcover. On the other side of the sidewalk, firecracker fern and sedge offer more grassy texture.


A perfect gravel circle offset around a live oak provides a sweet spot for a wooden swing, where Helen of The Patient Gardener enjoys a rest. Just beyond Helen…


…a large ‘Green Goblet’ agave set amid sedge anchors a triangular planting area between the public sidewalk and a path that leads into the front garden.


Another look


Let’s follow that path into the front garden. The boxwood hedges, as I recall, are Curt’s answer to neighborhood restrictions against any front-yard fencing, even low, open fences meant only to define space. Living fences were not restricted, and so hedging proved a creative and beautiful way to give privacy to his front-yard patio.


This shade-loving combo along the house caught my eye: Chinese mahonia (Mahonia fortunei), leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum), oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), and sago palm (Cycas revoluta).


At the front door, a limestone paver patio invites you to linger in the garden before stepping inside. This space feels like a New Orleans courtyard garden to me, with the heavy live oaks, densely planted perimeter, and gravel seating area and string lights. The patio opens to the sunlit driveway, to the street via a French-style blue gate (pictured below), to the side street via the gravel path through which we entered, and of course to the home’s front door.


A lovely concrete pedestal planter of kalanchoe amid palm, yew, and potted Christmas cactus (I think).


A beautiful iron gate, painted sky blue, leads to the street — the main entrance for visitors. At left a dioon (Dioon edule) spreads feathery fronds over a collection of stone spheres.


Outside the hedged patio garden, a xeric streetside garden includes whale’s tongue agave (A. ovatifolia) and Mediterranean fan palm.


The corner view from the intersecting streets provides another wow moment: a white concrete bowl planter with hot-pink bougainvillea set amid blue mistflower, agave, palms, and other xeric plants, with the green clipped hedge, a massive pittosporum, and towering oak trees in the background. Stunning!


The bougainvillea planter is such an eye catcher.


Agave parryi var. truncata sits like a blue dahlia amid the mistflower.


The flowering mistflower had attracted a monarch butterfly, probably fueling up for its northward journey for the summer.


The monarch is a beautiful butterfly.


Closer to the sunny driveway, xeric plants like whale’s tongue agave, dyckia (in bloom, foreground), and yucca take center stage.


Curt’s garden is a wonderful study in foliage texture, how to blend southern and western styles of gardens, and how to create distinct spaces. I know his garden will wow Austinites on a garden tour one day — when he’s ready. Thanks, Curt, for sharing your gorgeous space with us!

For Foliage Follow-Up fans, I have an announcement. After almost 9 years of leading the Foliage Follow-Up meme (I started it in November 2009), today’s is my final post. I still adore foliage and will post plenty of foliage combos on a regular basis, but I have begun to feel hemmed in by having a particular date on which to post. However, I encourage those who like the meme to continue posting on the day after Bloom Day; foliage needs your love! I have greatly enjoyed reading all your Foliage Follow-Up posts over the years. Thank you, and keep on celebrating your foliage combos!

I welcome your comments; please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading this in a subscription email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post.
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29 responses to “A little Palm Springs, a little New Orleans, all Texas in the garden of Curt Arnette”

  1. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    This garden is a wonder. Love it. That wall of those breeze-blocks is amazing. It appears to be just stacked up. I wonder what keeps it from toppling over?? There was a house condemned that I drive by and there was a short wall of this breeze-blocks I was coveting. It seems I used to see them more often when I was a child. They must have been a fashion way back when. Wonderful use for them.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      They have come back in fashion lately, as all things do eventually. I’ve had a couple of questions about the wall’s construction, so I asked Curt about it. His answer has been added to my post, but the short answer is that he used an adhesive called Fuze-it to adhere the blocks.

  2. What a great garden with beautiful solutions to almost any design issue one can imagine. I particularly like all his circular areas. Thanks for all these years of hosting FFU. I have certainly enjoyed it and may continue doing it as I am usually more enamored of foliage than flowers.

  3. Lara Leaf says:

    The owner has put his heart and soul into this garden (as do most of us!). I can understand, though, the wanting-to-change-it-up urge, as I am sure many a gardener can relate. Sometimes we never know until we did something else different in the garden that we now need ‘this’ to be ‘there’ or we see something somewhere that puts us on a train of thought about that certain section of our garden that needs that little something or we feel we are not using that area to the best of its potential. I love when a part of the garden just comes together, when you finally get that peace of mind and contentment of knowing that this – THIS! – is the way that area was meant to be. Well, okay, maybe that plant could be over a few more inches or that pot could move over a foot or so by this one, but the elements are mostly in place.

    I sometimes wonder if I am ‘mental’ for the changes I make, or want to make, to the garden. Why can’t I just leave things as they are (my husband’s lament)? Was I never truly happy with that arrangement? Or did buying that ONE plant set off a spark of inspiration, one that explodes in your mind until you come to that Aha! moment, the moment you see exactly how that area of the garden should be.

    I want to take photos of patio area with its planted up pots to share with a FB garden group. However, I can’t just yet. I want the plants/pots to be fuller, lusher, more into their summer growth. Most importantly, though, I know the pots aren’t in their final summer resting place – there are sight lines and growth habits to be considered, and I haven’t yet had that Aha! moment!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Lara, I appreciate your thoughtful reply. I think for those of us who satisfy our creative urges through gardening, changing up the design is half the fun. It’s not necessarily about the final result (if there ever is such a thing with a garden) but about the process, and getting those occasional aha moments. At least that’s how it feels for me.

      I encourage you to share your in-process photos with your FB garden group. There’s much value and beauty to be appreciated in those as well. And after all, a garden is never, ever perfect. You can help others to appreciate the process and excitement of working toward your vision.

  4. Kris P says:

    It’s too bad this garden wasn’t on the Fling tour but I appreciate that you’ve provided another look at it here. I love that rill-pond feature and like the idea of a Bougainvillea in an elevated pot. (Maybe my husband, who hates the plant, would let me get away with that.)

    Thanks for years of hosting foliage follow-up, Pam! I’ll miss your gentle nudge to balance the focus on flowers with foliage but I don’t expect I’ll ever lose track of the importance foliage plays in the garden. You’ve done a great job getting the message across! Here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2018/05/uh-oh-may-2018-foliage-follow-up.html

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I was never a big fan of bougainvillea either, but I love how Curt has used it. I would definitely go for that showy potted look myself.

      And thank you, Kris, for joining me for so long on the foliage-appreciation meme. I always love seeing your leafy combos.

  5. Alison says:

    Thanks for giving us such a detailed look at Curt’s garden. I especially like all the circular patios and features. Kudos also for keeping the Foliage Followup bandwagon going for nine years. My FF post is here: http://bonneylassie.blogspot.com/2018/05/wednesday-vignettefoliage-followup-may.html

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Alison, thanks for sharing the foliage love with me so often over the years. It’s been a fun ride, and I hope everyone will keep on with it in their own way!

  6. Gerhard Bock says:

    What a fantastic post! You noticed so many little details that I overlooked (like the Bird Girl statuette when we have one just like it). At that point I was too focused on the ball moss in the oak trees!

    Your post does Curt’s garden justice!

  7. Sherry says:

    Lurve the image of the monarch on the blue mist next to the gorgeous agave. Perf.

  8. Lee Miller says:

    Wow-your friend’s garden is amazing and thanks so much for sharing your wonderful photographs. The combination of plants is stunning. Thank you for hosting Foliage Follow-Up all these years. I have truly enjoyed it and will continue to post foliage photos, as I am a huge fan of combining different textures. Here is my Foliage Follow-Up for May at https://landscapedesignbylee.blogspot.com/2018/05/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-foliage.html#.Wvyky6QvyUk

  9. Your photos of Lori and Curt chatting make me so happy. If I have one regret (well besides not getting to have that glass of wine with you, in your garden) it would be that I didn’t get to see Lori’s garden. So sad…

    But your photos of the Monarch are perfection, I never got it to turn its wings to me just right…

  10. Denise Maher says:

    I love everything he does! He is that rare LA that is as interested in the plants as he is in the design, structure/hardscape, which gives such depth and dynamism to his gardens, because of that informed interplay. And what an ingenious solution to avoid digging a footing for the breeze block wall. I’m an unabashed Arnette groupie!

  11. Nice tour, I finally remembered to check out this post. It does look different than when you took some of us by there some years ago. The breeze block detail makes sense!

  12. Renee says:

    What a beautiful garden! My bougainvillea does not like being in a container… I’ll show it your pictures as inspiration! That pool is gorgeous too. Thanks for sharing all your pictures and insights, and for hosting foliage follow up for so long!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I wish we could have included Curt’s garden on the Fling tours. But I’m glad you enjoyed the pics. Time to threaten that bougainvillea! —Pam

  13. Kate S. says:

    I always say here how much I love his work. I was so glad to see this detail of his back garden, as I’ve always wondered from the peek that is visible from the street (I live nearby and have ridden past). Thank you for sharing!

  14. Nathan Reed says:

    Was there a CTG segment done on his personal landscape? If they haven’t they should.