A Texas garden inspired by La Louve in Provence

You ne'er cognize erstwhile inspiration volition spark successful your encephalon and drawback hold. For West Lake Hills gardener Sherry Smith, it happened connected abrogation successful Provence, successful the picturesque colony of Bonnieux. While vacationing determination successful 1997, she and hubby Bill stumbled upon La Louve (which means the She-Wolf), an esteemed backstage plot connected a stony hillside overlooking the Luberon.

La Louve was created by Nicole de Vésian starting astatine property 70, erstwhile she retired to Bonnieux from the manner satellite and took up a caller vocation arsenic a self-taught gardener and plot designer. (In 1996, astatine property 80, she sold the plot to an American, who kept up the plot and its unfastened days.)

La Louve’s limestone terraces of sheared poufs and pillars, accented with chromatic orbs and troughs, was a revelation for Sherry. The garden’s “precisely clipped plants amidst the irregular earthy and acceptable chromatic and plants near successful their earthy shapes gave maine an aha infinitesimal for gardening successful my akin scenery devoted to native, drought-tolerant plants,” she says.

She brought that spark location to her ain plot successful West Austin, wherever the location she and Bill built successful 1992 shelters down a limestone cliff. Shallow soil, a hilly lot, chromatic everywhere, hardscrabble plants, vigor and drought — overmuch astir Central Texas and Provence felt akin to Sherry, minus, of course, the debased humidity and rainless Mediterranean summer.

Sherry had been gardening present for 5 years already. In fact, she started earlier operation connected the location had adjacent begun, transplanting autochthonal nolina from the gathering site…

…to the melodramatic cliff borderline that fronts the street, wherever it cascades similar Rapunzel’s hairsbreadth implicit a fortress of limestone.

Street presumption — the location is down the cliff wall.

Sherry came location from that travel with La Louve successful her caput and saw her plot with caller eyes. “I started retired adjacent to the house,” she says, “sculpting plants that took to the trimming, and past dispersed retired to the volunteers connected the upslope and eastbound broadside of the house.”

She experimented with shearing cenizo, yaupon, santolina, rosemary, and pinkish skullcap. She tried lavender too, adjacent though she calls it undependable present successful Central Texas.

Other plants she leaves much earthy for amended flowering, similar Mexican oregano. “Severe clipping restricts blooms,” she points out, “so I take which plants to regularly shear during the increasing play and which to signifier conscionable astatine the beginning. Cenizos and yaupons are successful the regular camp.”

Unsheared Mexicano oregano successful bloom

Her clean-lined chromatic location with a elemental beforehand structure is itself inspired by Provence. “Provençal and Tuscan homes and gardens person ever been an influence,” says Sherry, “because the onshore reminds maine of those regions. The antique olive jars and terracotta pots stem from those influences, arsenic does the plan of the location itself.”

The location is built connected the natural, sloping topography of the lot. Sherry exposed rocky outcroppings successful beforehand and backmost to make earthy terraces, and she utilized limestone excavated during operation to physique walls for plot terracing.

Terraced plot on the beforehand porch

Pink skullcap and catmint tumble implicit limestone walls.

Bumblebee collecting pollen from pinkish skullcap

Catmint

Sherry designed the plot herself and does the regular gardening too. Her oculus for plan led to her plot being selected arsenic a finalist successful the Gardenista Considered Design Awards, Amateur Garden category, successful 2015.

For bigger projects implicit the past 20 years, she’s employed “a multi-talented landscaper” to laic stone, dispersed gravel and mulch, bash large shearing, trim perennials aft wintertime freezes, weed-eat ample areas, and works and transplant trees and different ample plants. “He is my rock,” she says.

The structure overlooks a down-sloping plot of flowering salvias, Mexican oregano, skullcap, and catmint.

Skullcap is people mounding…

…but the mounded signifier truly takes clasp on the precocious terraces, wherever Sherry shears autochthonal shrubs into geometric forms.

Clipped cenizo and yaupon marque tables and poufs on an exposed limestone ledge.

Sherry’s plot has much angiosperm colour than de Vésian’s, with autumn sage…

…Mexican oregano…

…and lantana offering color, nectar, and pollen from outpouring done fall.

Hummingbird, bee, and butterfly offering

Sherry’s canine Zephyr accompanied america connected our plot amble, aft getting retired pent-up vigor moving up and down the terraces.

Spanish dagger and clipped cenizo

Wheeler’s sotol and a nicely pruned juniper

Terraced garden, a agelong view

One more

Russian sage and autumn sage

A double-decker broadside structure offers much outdoor surviving space, arsenic does an unfastened platform successful back.

Behind the house, a earthy country nether oaks and different trees leads to an unfastened wildflower meadow and septic field.

Sherry shared this photograph of Mexican chapeau and different wildflowers successful the meadow successful precocious spring.

Beach vitex

Retama flowering on the cliff

I emotion retama’s buttery flowers and greenish branches.

Sherry’s plot is simply a beauteous illustration of gardening for the spot you live, with each of its challenges — rock, bladed soil, drought, and heat. Yet it tin inactive instrumentality inspiration from a faraway spot — successful this case, Provence, a likewise rugged yet beauteous portion of France.

Thank you, Sherry, for sharing your plot with me!

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