Land clearing in Castroville

Mesquite and thorny brush

Texas Parks and Wildlife describes the South Texas Plains, the Brush Country, as thorny shrubs and trees with patches of grassland. The plants it names are mesquite, acacia, and prickly pear. Huisache is the acacia on the South Texas browse list. It has paired spines and sprouts on disturbed ground. Deeper soils support taller brush, including mesquite and spiny hackberry. Shallow caliche supports shorter, denser brush. Rainfall runs about 20 to 32 inches and increases from west to east. Livestock grazing and crop production are the agricultural uses.

On the plains side, the clearing problem is mesquite and thorny brush in pasture. Where oaks are actually present, do not wound them from February through June, and paint wounds immediately.

Farmed clay, and rock to the north

The Medina County survey includes a Castroville series: a calcareous clay loam described in cropland. Knippa clay sits with it, a calcareous clay also described in cropland. Those are the deeper, darker, farmed soils. The widespread units on the north end are Eckrant and rock outcrop, a shallow, very cobbly clay. A mulcher on that cobble is a different day from a mulcher on a clay field. Web Soil Survey is the check for the parcel.

Floodplain permit and Edwards questions

City code chapter 54 requires a floodplain development permit so work conforms to the flood damage prevention rules. The application can include plans that show landscape changes against the special flood hazard area. TCEQ's San Antonio office covers Medina County, along with Comal, Bexar, Uvalde, and Kinney. Only portions of the aquifer are regulated. The rocky north end of the county is where a recharge-zone question is worth asking. The map viewer answers it for the tract.

Brush field or farmed field

Brush clearing and pasture reclamation match mesquite and thorny brush in old pasture. Forestry mulching fits when the stems can be processed in place. Selective clearing fits where trees are marked to stay. Some tracts are farmed fields and some are brush. The walk separates them.