You don’t need to be a mountain climber to enjoy the Pemberton garden during next Saturday’s Oak Harbor Garden Club Tour, but you do have to be careful not to fall off.

The couple’s home sits on top of a steep bluff overlooking Ala Spit, across the bay from Hope Island, and around the corner from Deception Pass. In an area known for its rugged beauty, the Pembertons had no choice but to work with the existing terrain to create a memorable garden experience.

This Carol and Brian Pemberton have accomplished, carefully creating terraces and winding walkways that make the hillside easy to negotiate. But don’t follow the pebbled trail to where it abruptly ends at a large tree stump. One step past the stump is a 100-foot dropoff, straight down. It wouldn’t be a good way to end one’s garden tour experience.

But don’t worry. Signs, fencing and the Pembertons themselves will confine visitors to the appropriate path next Saturday. Keeping them moving along may be a problem, however. The garden is so replete with domestic and imported species of colorful and unusual plants, and so tastefully decorated with works of discreetly placed art, that every step produces a new experience that must be savored.

The garden is called “Herongate,” after the decorative metal gate created by Greenbank artist Jonathan Ward.

It’s hard to believe that only three years ago when the Pembertons moved in, there was virtually no landscaping.

“I’ve done this in two years, working 10 hours a day 7 days a week,” Carol said. “I can just now sit down and enjoy it for a few minutes.” Brian is a business executive, so Carol spends a lot of time working alone in the garden. Many of the plants came from the friends she made after joining the garden club.

Twenty tons of rock were brought in to form a creek and waterfall system that tinkles and burbles down the garden pond. Neisha, the family dog, never gets thirsty. “She loves to drink out of all the fountains,” Carol said.

Many of the plants are labeled, which is a blessing for visitors without an encyclopedic knowledge of species. Most are natives, but Carol isn’t afraid to take a flyer on an exotic, such as the 15-foot tall echium, a native of the Canary Islands, that presently dominates the garden with its bright blue petals poking into the sky. “It’s been so fun,” Carol said, “and the hummingbirds and bees just adore it.” But it’s a biennial, so after it dies out it won’t be back for a while. “I’m hoping it’ll reseed itself,” she said.

surrounded by the ferns, evergreens, exotics, fountains and waterfalls, visitors will find it difficult to leave Herongate. But there are other gardens to be seen, and other wonders to behold.

Garden tour basics

The fifth edition of the Oak Harbor Garden Club Tour & Tea will take place Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Proceeds help sponsor garden club projects, such as scholarship and community beautification efforts. Tickets are $12 at the Daily Grind, Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce, the Party Store and Chocolates for Breakfast.

Tour stops include:

` Hal Ramaley Park in Oak Harbor, where Oak Harbor Garden Club has spent thousands of dollars and untold hours beautifying the grounds.

` The Pemberton home on Anglers Haven Road, with its lovely landscaping of steep terrain.

` The Bunnell home on Newell Drive, featuring an extensive garden for all seasons.

The Berner home on Stick Point Lane, which boasts a secluded garden that complements the environment.

The Scribners’ wildlife-friendly backyard sanctuary at Hillside Place.

The Rehaume garden at Benton Place, which thrives without the use of chemicals or weed killers.