Southwest courtyard oasis (after)

The homeowners carved out a spacious front yard courtyard for themselves and screened it behind a series of staggered walls.

There's the craggy-textured cast-earth wall you see here plus two flanking walls of smooth stucco, which provide contrast. A lower wall of gabions (stone-filled wire cages) adds more texture. And now that it has agaves and desert perennials for company the agave looks more at home.