You could say that Errol and Nancy Rubin aren’t afraid of heights, given that their garden is basically a straight climb up more than 125 steps.

Their multilevel home in Enchanted Lake, Kailua, is right up against a large hillside. A wooden staircase along the side of the house takes you to an open rooftop deck.

From there, the adventure begins.

A short set of stone steps leads to a terrace with a view of the lake, the Koolaus and rooftops below. Here, there are mango, banana, avocado, citrus, plumeria and papaya trees, flowering shrubs and a healthy philodendron.

"Up to the first terrace you really are in another world," said Nancy Rubin, a psychic counselor who has used the spot as her outdoor office. "I’m happy when I’m in the garden. It’s like coming home at another level."

But that’s only the first terrace. Visitors soon learn there are five sets of stone steps and five terraces in all.

When the Rubins first purchased the home on the half-acre slice of hillside 25 years ago, they had a vision of creating a beautiful, terraced garden.

"We realized the potential and just wanted to restore it, honor the land and enjoy it," said Errol Rubin, 70, an art consultant. "The vision was to create a place for the birds. Now we have lots of birds and butterflies."

Neighbors have mostly left the hillside as is, dominated by thick layers of haole koa and elephant grass. But the Rubins were determined to make use of their hillside.

Little by little, they cleared the brush, planting the garden with a variety of trees, flowering shrubs and hardy plants.

While each level has its own character, they all feature trees and succulents, including elephant jade and aloe, and ponytail palms, which they learned to cultivate.

Each terrace also has its own compost pile, key to creating the soil that allows the plantings to thrive.

It took a lot of trial and error, according to Nancy Rubin, 60, and many plants and trees did not make it. But the couple forged on, discovering along the way that mulching, composting and the addition of horse manure helped them successfully grow things. Also, wood chips help keep the weeds down.

Another key was to plant the trees as seedlings or keiki.

"You want to start them small, carry them up and get them used to the environment," said Errol Rubin.

His wife’s favorite tree is a big banyan closer to the bottom of the hill, next to the wood deck. She nicknamed it the Buddha banyan. For Errol Rubin, every tree, each with its own story of growth, is special. He prizes a cactus given to him by a friend on the Big Island and is excited about a sandalwood he just planted.

The Rubins had the stone steps installed in phases over the years with the help of contractors. The rocks came from the hillside itself.

On average, Errol spends two to four hours a day up in the terraces, when possible, planting and weeding.

"The more I plant, the happier I am," he said. "The planting is really my joy. The weeding is a necessity."

Every time he plants, he gets another bucketful of rocks, which he brings down and gives away. He’s also happy to give away cuttings. An automatic sprinkler system waters the trees on the hillside, while the shrubs and succulents survive on their own without regular watering.

Going up to the garden is the couple’s daily workout, along with ocean swimming.

The fifth terrace, with its stunning panoramic view, was built about 10 years ago and is home to kamani, kukui nut and milo trees, along with a colorful royal poinciana with red blooms.

"I love being up here," said Errol Rubin. "It’s being with nature. It’s connecting with the land. As much as I give to the land, it gives back."

Pointing up the hillside, he said the property line extends even farther, potentially for three more sets of stone steps. But Rubin insists they’re done.

"Five is plenty," he said.

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