Hill Country style and a downtown view in the garden of Ruthie Burrus
I see a lot of gardens on public tours, which I enjoy tremendously. But being invited for a private tour of a new-to-me garden is a special treat, especially if the garden happens to belong to an avid gardener making the most of a beautiful, hilltop site overlooking downtown Austin. Such is the garden of Ruthie Burrus, a reader of Digging who recently dangled a fall garden visit in front of my nose, which I snapped up like a trout.
Ruthie’s home sits at the top of a long, sloping driveway, and you approach through a rustic, Hill Country-style garden. Large limestone stepping stones lead past a deep foundation bed filled with salvia and roses and accented by powder-blue ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agaves (A. ovatifolia).
A large trough filled with water sits at the curve of the path, aligned with the front door.
Water dribbles down one corner of the trough onto a holey piece of limestone, making a hollow trickling sound, and then disappears into an underground basin to be recirculated. Maidenhair and other ferns grow at the base of the trough, enjoying the moist environment.
The view across the entry garden. Pink roses add romance to the front walk.
A pair of ‘Little Ollie’ dwarf olives planted in — what else? — olive jars dresses up the front porch.
The entry garden is partially enclosed by a wing made to look like a Fredericksburg-style Sunday house. I didn’t know what a Sunday house was, so Ruthie explained that the German farmers who settled the Hill Country built small houses in town, which they stayed in when they came to town to attend church.
Stepping through the house and out onto the back porch, the skyline of Austin seems almost close enough to touch. Framed by live oaks and a lawn that leads to the edge of steep drop-off, the view is stunning — and what most people notice instead of the garden, Ruthie told me. It would be hard for any garden to compete with that view…
…and wisely Ruthie keeps the garden clean and simple here. A sleek swimming pool accessed by geometric pavers of Lueders limestone lets the view take center stage.
But off to the side, Ruthie cuts loose with a naturalistic, fall-blooming garden of Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha), fall aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), and Gulf muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris). Concrete orbs with scooped-out seats make a charming contrast to the squares and rectangles of the paving and pool.
Ruthie likes snake herb (Dyschoriste linearis), which blooms purple in spring, as a groundcover amid the salvias and asters.
The long view across the pool reveals string lights, which I believe Ruthie told me were temporary for a party they were preparing for.
The view back toward the house — such an inviting space.
The modern arrangement of the limestone paving is interesting. The pavers at right seem to float off from the main patio.
The covered porch with a fireplace offers a cozy spot for a chilly day, although it was the opposite of chilly on the day I visited.
A second, open-sided porch offers an outdoor dining spot. Notice the rain chains coming off the corners of the roof?
They channel rainwater into underground pipes that feed two large cisterns on the property. Runoff is collected from various points along the roof of the house, allowing for a lot of rainwater storage.
Beautiful dining table and succulent planter
From the dining porch my favorite feature of the garden comes into view: Ruthie’s gardening haus.
Ruthie told me that it’s constructed from stones collected on the property during the house’s construction. She searched high and low to find the weathered metal roofing.
A ‘Peggy Martin’ rose, also known as the Katrina rose (please click to read its moving story if you don’t know it), arches over the doors. Lavender and santolina fill raised stone beds that line the walk.
The arched doors inspired the whole thing, Ruthie told me. She found the weathered blue doors in a local French antique shop and had the shed constructed around them.
It’s an utterly charming garden shed from every angle. Behind it sits the smaller of the two cisterns.
Looking back you see the dining porch and, at right, a pizza oven.
White ‘Ducher’ roses must glow during evening cookouts.
In front, planted in a large iron cauldron, is a Mr. Ripple agave surrounded by purple-blooming ice plant, a lovely combo.
A wooly opuntia in a textural container on a low wall just begs to be stroked. Did I? Yes, I did.
Ruthie has a flair for creating interesting containers.
Walking back around to the driveway you see the bigger cistern, which holds 10,000 gallons. A pump allows Ruthie to irrigate with it for as long as the water lasts.
Just over its shoulder is a sliver of a view of Lake Austin.
More salvias line the driveway, and an island bed’s dry soil is filled with agaves, giant hesperaloe, blackfoot daisy, Mexican feathergrass, and artemisia on one side…
…and with blue mistflower and what looks like ‘Green Goblet’ agave on the other.
Mexican bush sage was in full flower.
Native rock rose (Pavonia lasiopetala) was blooming too.
In a shady area I noticed this unusual combo: a red billbergia and grassy Texas nolina (Nolina texana).
As I made my way down the driveway and through the gate I had to take a parting photo of Ruthie’s colorful streetside garden, filled with lantana, native daisies, agave, and even cholla. It’s a wonderful welcome that tells any visitor that a Texas gardener lives here.
Thank you, Ruthie, for sharing your beautiful garden with me!
All material © 2006-2014 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Wow! What a stunning landscape. Talented lady.
The site is incredible, but she’s put a lot of thought and sweat into the garden, and it shows. —Pam
A place out of this world perched up on the hill. The garden shed is outstanding. Everything about this place is top notch.
Truly, Lisa. —Pam
Fabulous!I can’t even state my favorite spot in her yard, its all so lovely.
She’s created a beautiful garden from which to enjoy that amazing view. —Pam
Wow – very spectacular. I’m going to look for some of those red billbergia.
I wonder how cold hardy they are, Chris. Maybe Ruthie will report back and let us know next spring. —Pam
The big limestone stepping stones are lovely. Looks like if you hunted you might find a dinosaur foot print in them! I bet they are beautiful when lighted at night. All the plantings are so ‘in place’. What a great use of snake herb.
I was intrigued by the snake herb, Ragna. I first saw it in Michael/Plano Prairie Gardener’s garden. He eventually removed it because it was pretty aggressive. Ruthie said she liked the way it filled in around the stones and other plants though. It does look really nice there. —Pam
Oh, my. This is another great garden. I think I love every part. But that ‘gardening haus’….wow.
Imagine sitting in that garden, and looking at that view.
Thanks for taking us along.
If I had that view and those lovely garden spaces to enjoy it from, I don’t think I’d ever get anything done. So it’s probably just as well that I don’t — ha! —Pam
Beautiful garden. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure, Laura. —Pam
What a wonderful garden, with such charming details! Love the succulent planters, and I want one of those wooly Opuntias now. Thanks for sharing your visit. That stone garden shed is just fabulous, and the cisterns! Wow.
I tried to find the botanical name for that hairy Opuntia, Alison, but I wasn’t successful. If anyone knows, I’d love to have the ID. —Pam
Whew! Most of what has been done in this garden is so completely out of reach for me (creating a garden haus to match antique blue doors picked up in a French market, IE). That said, this is a great example of landscaping tasked with creating an authentic sense of place and pulling it off beautifully. I’d be jealous, but these spaces reflect the love that went into crafting them, so I’m really more just lost in admiration. To Ms. Burrus I say “Well done, madam!”.
Deb, a garden setting like this and the high-end hardscaping is out of reach of all but a fortunate few. Still, there’s plenty of inspiration for those of us on tighter budgets, like the use of native and adapted plants, the eye-catching geometric paving (which could be DIY’d with concrete pavers), water collection tanks of any size, incorporating old windows or doors into a new or remodeled shed, etc. The owner is a passionate gardener who is thoughtful about sustainability, and as she noted during our visit, gardens are for sharing. I’m so glad she allowed me to share it here, and I join you in saying to her, “Well done!” —Pam
I love this garden and agree that it is out of my reach BUT there is lots of inspiration here!! I have a question about the snake herb–is it deer-proof???
That is a good question, Martha. Ruthie fences deer out of the garden around the house, and Michael’s garden in Plano (where I first saw it) doesn’t have deer. I just checked the Wildflower Center’s snake herb listing, and it says it’s “minimally” deer resistant. But it also says it likes wet or moist soil and it occurs naturally on rocky slopes, so there seem to be some contradictions. The only way to really know is to try it on your deer and see what they think! —Pam
The lawn growing up to the edge of a sharp drop-off reminds me of an infinity pool. Views of the city AND the lake…talk about location!. The olive jars with olives growing in them: just one of many details that mark this as outstanding. Finally,I would love to see you doing your trout imitation.
Nice point about the lawn serving as an infinity edge, Ricki. And let’s just say that, trout-like, I snapped at the lure of a garden visit instead of writing my book like I should have been doing! —Pam
So wonderful. Did Ruthie do her own design? If so she certainly has an eye for form and function and for creating an easy care landscape. And what a view. I can just imagine attending an evening pizza party under the glow of those strings of lights. Thanks for feeding my imagination.
Ruthie told me that she worked with a landscape architect on the layout of the garden, and that he installed the hardscaping and the initial planting. But she said the plant choices weren’t ideal, and she’s replanted nearly every part of the garden over the past several years. —Pam
Oh wow, I absolutely love this. It’s like a cross between Texas Hill Country and French Provençal. There’s just the right balance between rustic and refined, and the plant choices are great. And I am also struck by the arrangement of those limestone pavers. I really like how they transition onto that patio rather than sticking to a strict grid. That’s the picture I keep coming back to, for some reason.
And while this is obviously a garden and property that cost some big bucks, it’s very human-scaled and feels like it’s more about creating a sense of place than of showing what money can buy. Really beautifully done. If I lived there, I’d never want to leave!
Yes, Hill Country meets Provence — I see that too, Lori. It’s a beautiful home and garden. —Pam
It’s a beautiful garden, which fits its house and site well. I often wish I was that disciplined about my plant selections but I’m afraid I’m too much of a plantaholic to exercise that level of restraint.
Plant collecting has its own rewards, don’t you think? —Pam
Stunning! I love it all. That house is to die for!! Reminds me of Jenny’s house a bit. Sooooo heavenly. And the VIEW.
Yes, I thought of Jenny’s house too, although perhaps it’s more the feeling than the actual details. —Pam
That’s really something. I couldn’t have imagined all of this when you were describing it to me. So well-done and zen-like in a rustic-Hill Country sort of way.
Yes, it’s quite lovely, isn’t it? —Pam
Just gorgeous. Love the floating patio stones and the serene pool. It looked like a cool oasis although you did say it was quite warm that day. Did you bring your suit? Bathing suit of course
Ha, no, I was too busy chatting with Ruthie and then photographing to even dip a toe. Today would be much cooler. We finally got a nice front through Austin last night. —Pam
Wow, such a wonderful garden to visit! I love all the stone and containers. The trough with water was so peaceful looking, the orb seats so perfectly placed with the geometry of the pavers and the pool, the pool garden so pretty, the stone shed so utterly charming! Gorgeous.
I really enjoyed my visit, Indie, and am glad you enjoyed my post about it. —Pam
That is a wonderful garden and good looking house and you’ve done your usual great job of sharing it. I want to see it, heck, I want to live there!
Thanks, Gail. Do you think Ruthie would notice a happy blogger living in her gardening haus? —Pam
What a beautiful garden! It feels comfortable to me. I love how simple it is.
I’m glad you enjoyed the virtual tour, CM. —Pam
A great garden full of regional character — so envious of those cisterns!
Me too, Denise. —Pam
Our town has some Nagmaal houses, which the farmers used to attend monthly Communion services at church. Times have changed!
Yes, they have. It’s cool that South Africa has a similar tradition. Those farmers weren’t of German descent by any chance, were they? —Pam
Wow, another spectacular garden I’d love to see sometime! Thanks for the photo tour 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Andrea! —Pam
I can only say Wow! I love the shed and the fact that it’s all recycled materials. And I am so impressed with the cisterns. Our rain pattern is becoming more irregular with periodic gushers which fill up rain barrels faster than one can use the contents. Cisterns look much more useful if you can do the infrastructure.
It sounds like you’re getting Texas-style gullywashers in Wisconsin, Linda. —Pam