🌲 Tour a Garden Full of Texture, Stone & Water 🌲 California Talk & Tour: Ruby & Frank Andrews

Join Sherri as she tours the tranquil garden oasis of Ruby and Frank Andrews in Northern California. You’ll see beautiful ways to use stone, striking foliage combinations and lovely water features. Ruby has lots of interesting stories about the garden’s evolution: You won’t want to miss the stroll down Frog Lane!

Read more about this impressive garden in our March/April issue on Newsstands mid-February or visit our website: https://www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/garden-design/garden-tours/ruby-andrews-california-garden-talk-and-tour/

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Hey everyone today we’re here in Ruby Andrews  Garden in Northern California Ruby thanks so   much for having us well thank you for coming it’s  my pleasure to show you through the gardens thank   you and your front yard is beautiful beautiful I  love this arch with the water feature um how did  

Where did how did the arch come about and when  we first got here we had sold our proper in the   country to a man that has a nursery and he makes  these arches and so in the deal I said I need an  

Arch and so anyway Scott said fine I’ll make you  an arch and we brought it and we positioned it   over by those two trees originally but then when  we got the rock that was kind of a water feature  

We moved it over to F that just kind of frame  it yeah and when people come to go through the   gardens they come up the walkway and this is  where they start sure and I can usually kind  

Of tell them where they’re going and what they’re  going to see and they always enjoy this area but   then as we go into the rest of the garden they get  to see much more yes I know I’m looking forward to  

Seeing it good good I’m glad that you’re here to  see it yeah well let’s go look okay okay Ruby I’ve   noticed some really cute frogs as we’ve kind of  made our way here here’s one on a bike um there’s  

One in a bird bath and I know you have more along  frog Lane here behind us and can you tell me kind   of how I think it all started with one special  frog didn’t it a friend of mine made a rather  

Large interesting frog and I had placed it on  a porch then I moved it to another spot and I   never felt I had it where it belonged one day  I was over on the side of the house yeah and I  

Picked up the Frog and brought it with me and the  pedestal there needed something special so I put   the frog on and it became frog that it was yeah  there it was should we go take a look yeah let’s  

Go see let’s go oh that one’s really cute right  there I like that little Happy Frog yep most of   them are pretty happy but this is the one got  frog this is actually very unique it is very  

Unque I have people who are scared by it but I  just think I don’t know he looks kind of happy I   think he’s perfect I think he’s just perfect great  and even better your friend made it oh absolutely  

Absolutely we’re leaving frog Lane and coming  into the other parts of the garden and we have   an arbor there that kind of transition is from  this area to the patio area it’s been growing  

On that Arbor for almost the whole 11 years we’ve  been here I love that you have a weeping tree I   mean usually you’re going to see a climbing rose  or a Cletus but the weeping tree looks fabulous  

That’s really it’s a very unique Well normally  I like to do my arches with trees I like this   one to have the arch and the ones down frog Lane  you’ll notice they Arch and in other areas but  

This one had to be done in the metal yeah yeah it  makes such a nice entrance to your to your seating area this is beautiful Ruby I love it and that  was a birthday gift The Blue Fountain which is so  

It makes it a favorite Frank gave me that for my  last birthday yeah and I have other water features   so that’s where it had to go of course let’s go  up here and see what we can see Ruby I love this  

Area you’ve got so much color even though there’s  not a lot of flowers so what is it that you like   so much about foliage I love the contrast of the  greens and the leaves the ferns the grasses um I  

Like color but I’m more interested generally in  getting the texture and the plants and I like   them to mingle and blend U and I plant rather  heavily yeah right because I don’t like their  

Space yeah but when I walk around and I have a  tree the leaves are very fine and then you have   your green of course the the Japanese grasses and  then the the ground covers and then this view in  

General as I look at it I’m just pleased with it  yeah it just makes you happy right yeah makes me   happy and I think you were saying this grevillia  is really special it is your fan man and most  

People cannot grow it and it’s not even available  in our nurseries anymore okay uh so hard to find   probably but it has grown and just been gorgeous  I started about 11 years ago and went through two  

Different challenges on this hill and finally  I decided I wanted to be able to see from our   bedroom into the garden from the other room so I  put this as a ground cover and I’ve never changed  

It yeah because it’s happy it looks fabulous yep  it’s it’s great great yeah it makes me happy yeah   well let’s go look at some more of this Garden  okay let’s go on in Ruby I couldn’t miss this  

Stone right here it’s just beautiful it is a  major Stone and when we first got here I was   working with hero matuda on design and the first  thing he says this is the soul of your garden oh  

Nice and very funny told me to pick it up and turn  it around and of course that will never be moved   but it’s very special and then of course we’ve put  all the maples in because I’m passionate about ja  

Yeah this one’s gorgeous and that’s a Full Moon  rather than just yeah so the colors and of course   in the winter the grass is all down and gone and  then you see the granite Bowl which is 150 200 I  

Mean very old very and it goes so well with it but  at this time of year it’s kind of hidden the H is   kind hiding in a little bit but but no you can’t  take very many steps in the garden and not see a  

Maple oh nice yeah you have a lot of them I have a  lot all different colors and sizes and shapes and   yeah yes and some of them are very Lacy and others  are more substantial and so I just enjoy them all  

All of them they have beautiful folage now Stone  has been something you’ve had to deal with quite   a bit here isn’t it yes but I dealt with it for  so many years when we lived on a ran that when I  

Got here I one of the reasons we purchased this  home was for the stone oh nice because I love it   yeah it’s beautiful the stone it just Stone I  don’t know it’s nature is what it is yeah yeah  

And it’s such a great contrast with the foliage  yes and I love to work off of it because it makes   things just shine MH it really makes them better  yeah cool well can you show me a few more things  

Yes let’s go this way okay Ruby this is an amazing  piece of Stone right here and um I mean I this is   obviously something you couldn’t move so how it  seems like you’ve adapted really well with it I  

Didn’t adapt I chose this property just for this  because to me this was just it’s over the moon   and I knew I could Garden around it even though I  couldn’t Garden on it and to me it just sets the  

Whole property off so I love it yeah it’s almost  like having a great big sculpture there yes yes it   is and I love the handrail that you have well  that’s kind of because people slip and slide

That’s but uh no most of the features in the  garden are here because it’s what we like and this   rock I I could never make it like this and so it’s  gorgeous so did you bring soil in like for these  

Little pockets to be to I brought in about 185  yards of planter mix wow not top soil and not and   things have grown beyond what they should actually  the cousin it which you’ll see in a while they’re  

Trees and they’re supposed to be bushes yeah two  to three feet I looked it up yeah something and so   um things have grown very well great yes they’re  very happy here good okay let’s go look at some  

More maybe we can find that cous it Ruby these  columns are really pretty can you tell me a little   bit more about them well they’re kind of special I  like things like columns and some statuary and but  

Hero matsuda who I mentioned earlier worked with  me on the garden and when he saw me bring those   in he was horrified you cannot have these and I  said hero it’s my garden and we’re going to have  

Them so we brought the columns and put them in but  they had one more section that took them up about   another 3 or 4 feet oh yeah and when that section  went on they were looming oh yeah so but I didn’t  

Tell him I was going to change him so after he  left I told the guys take this section out which   is in the garden in their pedestals now so then  they became much more yeah much more user friendly  

Yeah they’re very welcoming yes well everybody  wants a picture here or a picture in the front   by the you know by the arch these are the two  picture and during pandemic it was funny I had my  

Garden Club here and we all stood the three feet  apart on these rocks and have a picture so so hey   you do what you do y and it worked out well that’s  great that’s great well I think you have a special  

Story about the found and a little sculpture  that’s in there too yes I do when my grandson   was a year old I was taking care of him and we  went to a nursery and I saw it and had to have  

It it was down in the Bay Area Alamo actually and  so brought it home and every time I see it I think   of Ryan yeah and so yeah so lots of memories here  right yes oh yes nice most things in the garden do  

Have memories yeah it’s um I guess I’ve lived long  enough to have a lot of memories that’s probably   that’s the problem probably another thing I need  to point out to you Sher yeah is this is the  

Niagara Falls White Pine oh nice and they are as  far as I’m concerned very unique and hard to find   I saw my first one and it was two years before I  could find one to buy so I have one here and one  

Over there and when they get a little large just  Cascade like Niagara Falls they are absolutely   gorgeous now how how old are these plants uh I’ve  had them about four years okay so are they kind of  

Slow growing maybe yes and where was it you saw  them before that I was in a garden in Lumis okay   and he had a really interesting Garden but this  plant just spoke to me oh yeah yeah I just walked  

Up and said what is that yeah and he said well you  won’t be able to find one I said tell me what it   is it was a challenge then so that’s a good reason  to go on garden tours I definitely go on garden  

Tours and um I’m I always learn something oh yeah  every Garden Tour has something unique or special   for me they do don’t they yeah and then you can  of course you get to discover plants you maybe  

Didn’t know about well I yes that’s true always  and then I have learned to put Plants where they   don’t belong oh yeah no I mean you’ll see things  in the Sun and you go that shade you’ll see things  

In the shade they’re blooming uhhuh but we have  filtered light almost all day long oh okay and   that is so perfect growing pains oh yeah and well  I can see and the ornamental Ginger up there with   the stripes oh yeah that is another plant that  just isn’t supposed to overwinter but you can  

See where it’s tucked in it’s protected it’s got  a lot of protection is it in the ground then oh   yes oh yes nice I’m I don’t baby things uhhuh and  then and then the ferns behind you those aren’t  

Supposed to overwinter oh really but they do oh  good because they’re protected again yeah good   protection here well I hear another water feature  I think you have a waterfall over here shall we  

Go take a look at that yes that’ll be great so  we finally get to meet cousin it this is a funny   story too Sher the ACAA cousin it was developed  probably eight or nine years ago and there was  

One in one of the nurseries here but the owner  said I not selling that that’s my only one so I   looked and checked and found one in Fresno and we  were there on a trip so we went out in the country  

For miles to this Nursery I they had just two of  them and they were sold uhhuh but they said they   haven’t picked them up so give us your money and  you can have them yes so the ACAA cousin ID is  

Supposed to be a three or 4T plant a shrub yeah we  had to prune these up to become trees because they   were and and they were just killing everything  underneath and so I actually have pretty good  

Luck with the acacia cousin I think you do yeah  it looks of course I had never watched the the   show with cousin it oh yeah I had no idea why  it was called that and people thought that was  

Funny and I went I didn’t watch those silly shows  and so anyway it it has a history and most people   really love it oh yeah for a good reason it’s got  great texture it’s really great and it’s yeah and  

It’s great to use in Arrangements M oh I didn’t  think about that that’s they’re great pretty now   does this stay Evergreen here in the winter so  all winter it’s looking very cool it only will  

Burn a little if it gets really cold like in the  20s that’s really cold for us and generally we   don’t get that low and then you just kind of cut  the brown easy to do so and you have this really  

Great waterfall behind I love it how did you come  about to to put that here well there was so much   Rock here and there’s a rock that’s too bad you  can’t see it’s a huge Rock uhuh but when we first  

Moved here they had a plastic pipe sticking out of  the rock water falling and it was very very ugly   yeah that doesn’t sound too good and so that came  out yeah and hero mat suda that I’ve mentioned  

Said I have done one other Creek and I’ll do yours  he hand laid all of the Rocks all the way down oh   and so it became another special feature but that  that I you guys have a special relationship with  

Him don’t you yeah he’s a good friend right it’s a  p you know a push and pull but we really like each   other yeah I thought so yeah and then the things  you have planted around you have this beautiful B  

Is this bgia Virginia yeah yeah and the A canthus  and A another favorite is the wolfy Dogwood that’s   beautiful I love it it to me it looks like a  wolfye yeah now I guess I have a good imagination  

But but anyway and another Maple and oh of course  yeah well the I love the variegation how it just   really brightens up the Shady spot well that’s  true whenever I use all of my greens if I don’t  

Brighten it it can get pretty MH pretty green sure  yeah yeah you want to have a little it can be dark   and this way even at night you get kind of like  it’s a light on which is a good thing yeah and I  

Bet once that aanus is really fully open that’s a  great we cut it back probably three times a year   I have a bug calling on me no we cut it back to  the ground and it’s back within 2 months and so  

We kind of manage it but it’s beautiful and yeah I  love it nice and the virginas came from a friend I   didn’t ever buy a Virginia but I put them in and  they’ve spread here and down there oh really oh  

Yeah yeah so it’s a garden of many stories yeah  does yeah let some pass along plants and yes oh   yes and of course then when I look at I think  of Cindy and it’s it’s kind of fun when you  

Have things that you can just remember well this  came from them and this is and then Cindy was the   friend that got the other cousin it oh okay oh so  Cindy has a cousin it but hers behaves it behaves  

Mine don’t for some reason these went crazy  great though I guess I don’t know but anyway   yes well there’s also a really flowery spot up by  your patio how about can we go check that out oh  

Sure let’s go take a look yeah Ruby this bed is  so colorful it’s really pretty how did it come   about what did you what did you think about when  you were putting it together when I first started  

It was kind of a nothing area so I cleared it of  very low they had grass basically took that out   and then I just started putting plants in that  would have some color in the summer because the  

Rest of the garden can be pretty green I mean  there’s a lot of Blended Maples and and grasses   and things but I believe every plant in this  bed you can find in almost any Nursery there’s   nothing unusual about them so when you start you  just kind of combine things until you get happy  

Because this makes me happy yeah it’s it’s not uh  you’re going to say well there’s nothing special   there but together they’re all special they  really are they so when you put them together   then they become special the trees I have taken  trees out and put trees in but the Weeping CH or  

The Cherry the double cherry and then the plum  the ornamental Plum and they they just all work   together yeah so yeah it’s a winter yeah it looks  really and when you yeah and when you find it and   it’s so easy compared to getting really unusual  plants which are not always available sure yeah  

A little harder to find but it’s great it’s I’ve  looked around and I see a lot of plants that I can   find even in my Nursery absolutely at home in zone  5 and you know it’s just the way you’ve combined  

Them that the color that just comes with time  yeah just doing it yeah when you don’t like it   take it and change it I mean yeah you don’t have  to stick move something somewhere else Absol so  

That’s true yeah so this is really nice too it’s  right next to your patio so I would imagine lots   of color while you’re out maybe having dinner or  something well and fragrance oh I like fragrance  

Too and Roses to me should have a fragrance  I probably have a few that don’t but most of   them do because a row is a rose is beautiful but  it needs to have a nice R yeah reminds me of my  

Grandmother oh because she had lovely and she had  lilacs now I have not had luck with lilacs oh sure   I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I think they  like cold cold win okay so it’s not cold enough so  

I kind of gave up on the lilacs but I’ve made up  for it yeah I think you have yeah I think so well   let’s see what else we can see okay okay let’s  go this way Ruby I think you have one of the best  

Looking driveways I’ve ever seen it’s how we come  into our home every day and so I had to have the   driveway as good as the rest of the garden and so  you’ll find it’s layered with all kinds of things  

And I laugh my Japanese maple I call it my African  Maple because of the layer the layer it looks like   that tree yeah yeah and then just go along and  look in and you’ll see color that changes almost  

Every two weeks and and Chamas whenever we’re in  that you know season and of course the maples so   it’s an area that’s beautiful but uh I I think  of it for us but most people come and look at it  

Too and enjoy it so special you had some really  neat ferns over there that looks like they have   like made their self at home and they’re right  out of the Rocks yeah right between the C that  

Was really neat that was a fun feature that’s  kind of a special thing that I like well so I’m   so glad that you came today thank you enoy it  has been wonderful thank you for the tour and  

There’s lots of special things in your garden I  appreciate you taking the time to show us hey it’s   my pleasure for sure hi I’m Kristen Bean Sullivan  with gardenate magazine if you like this video be   sure and subscribe to our YouTube channel where  you’ll find Tips garden ideas and how to help