May 13, 2025
My friend Diana Kirby traveled across town six years ago, creating her new garden in very different conditions than her old ones. Previously, she had a large, level-based suburban garden in southwest Austin, creating a vast garden in the sun and shade. She often wanted a change in elevation that she could play with, but she cleverly created such interest by building a large mound bed with rocks, adding heights with strategically placed trees, tall beaked yuccas and arbors.
When she left the house, she swapped the former ranch for a shallow hill land terrain in the Tarleytown area near Austin. Her dream of changing elevation has come true – in a big way! Now, her challenge is to slow the spill, ease the steep paths with walls and small patios, and find pockets of soil and sun that allow her to have flowers.
Her home is located in a sudden, shady corner lot filled with dense ground investigations of Live Oaks, Red Oaks and Asian Jasmine. Diana cut open the gardens along the curved walk from the street below to the main entrance, adding a small patio along the way as a rest area. A great place for morning coffee.
Sitting here, you are surrounded by a garden and protected by the Japanese maple of “Blood Good” with rusty leaves. The Asian jasmine hills behind it look like a green hedge from this angle. Jasmine is not Diana’s choice, but it is here and is practical for steep terrain. “I carve out a simple area in my yard,” she says.
The dramatic “tide” blooms in the sun’s pockets along the road.
“Blue Boy” Yucca, shaggy head leaves with lavender tints harmonize with the vines of the purple sweet potatoes Diana uses as a heat-loving ground cover.
The orange Daily pops against the yellow striped Spanish dagger (Yucca gloriosa ‘variegata’).
Track the Goper plants over small limestone rocks that hold soil lined with sweet potato vines and “Blue Boy” yucca and slow runoff.
This shot gives a better sense of steepness in the property. Oaks creates lightly filtered umbrellas in the garden. Gray stucco and Rusty Steel walls support the patio, garden beds and – the driveway at the top. Diana lives on the edge of this garden!
Young Japanese maple – this is “tamkyama” – grows into an elegant understory tree alongside Pitosporam (a winter shelter covered with masonry walls), “Everoiro” sedge (see photo above) and Japanese Araria.
The native heart leaf skull cap is backed by a purple Persian shield found in the steel planter box on the front pouch.
Near the top of the garden, a large blue pot serves the birds with a drink, creating an eye-catching bubbly fountain as a focus. It’s fun to see this new garden in shape at Diana’s house.
Thank you for visiting the garden, Diana!
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