Salvia and gaura in flower on the terrace of the courtyard huerta, the dry-stone wall behind, evening light.

Courtyard huerta · Texas Hill Country

Old World Huerta

Natives
20+
Synthetics
0
Trees
Live oak
Ground
Caliche

Plant health, tree health, and a garden that defends itself.

Stone-edged terraces, low enough to kneel at, planted with natives and heritage food — Texas persimmon, agarita, prickly pear, salvia, gaura — straight into caliche, under the live oaks. Nothing synthetic, ever: compost and mulch feed the soil, the soil feeds the roots, and the roots hold through a Texas August without help.

The oaks come first. Every bed is set to keep water and air moving to their roots, and the planting under them is chosen for what it gives back: cover, pollinators, food. That is the immunity of the place — a garden healthy enough to look after itself.

Planting day: young natives set into the mulched terrace bed, a spade against the wall.
Planting dayStraight into caliche. Compost and mulch carry the soil.
A yucca in the terrace bed against the dry-stone wall, its lower leaves taken back clean.
Pruning techniquesOld leaves taken back to the trunk; the crown left alone.
The huerta · filmGround, roots, planted, in flower · 47 s
Blue-grey yuccas and a young cactus set in gravel against the whitewashed mission wall.
Planting arrangementYuccas and cactus in gravel, spaced for the mature plant.
A cast concrete urn planted with a variegated agave, standing against a plaster wall.
Cast concrete urn · agaveOur cast, planted on site.
Grasses and young plants in front of the terrace wall at dusk, warm light on the plaster.
EveningThe terrace at the end of the day.