Wow Lesli, a Live oak, I love them. I'm trying to grow a Live oak here in Pa. It is the Quartz mountain Live oak, the hardiest Live oak, probably in the world. It did good last winter, which was a mild one. Your's is likely a Texas Live oak, but, if you are in Eastern Texas you could grow the plain Live oak that is usually grown in the more humid (rainier) parts of Texas. And is usually found in the moister southern states. Either way that is a beautiful tree, and good sized, well, you did say it's 500+ years old. I hope mine can handle my winters good enough to get some size to it before I croak.

Laura, Thanks for the response. I am in Orlando. Most of my plants are in clay pots, and i am using miracle grow cactus mix with additional small pebbles mixed in. Seems to be pretty good draining. I have left them in a rain a few times, but limited it to no more than two straight days and I'm a miser about turning of the sprinklers when its raining. I've seen the C&S in Tampa.. do they have a website .. I cant seem to find one. Seems like desert rose does OK in the rain here, and a neighbor of mine keeps his outside all the time as well as a few succulents. Anything other than aloe/agave you have has success with outside unprotected? How are you protecting them and getting them enough light? That seems to be my main problem, as my patio is east facing and i have no place on the south side i could enjoy them or that would be protected. Wife doesn't want them out front ( west side) :(

There is extensive experience with CBS construction--probably 96% of residential and 60% of low-rise commercial--here in the rainy sub-tropics of So-Fla. I'm suprised to find this block construction in NJ, done Florida-style, i.e. without insulation, and wonder how good the local builders are at executing it. But, I believe the OP that the issue IS wind-driven rain. The 'S' in CBS stands for Stucco, and that is the ONLY thing that makes an inherently leaky bare-block wall watertight. What jumps out at me is the OP mentions a "light" coating of stucco. There is nothing "light" about a proper stucco job. It is a THREE-coat process, and the end result is over 1/2" thick. Again, the stucco is the primary water blocking factor. Paint/sealers only enter the equation "down the road", after foundation settling has caused hairline cracks. Proper stucco IS the waterproof membrane. However, in a place like NJ with real winters, the other posters are correct that, rain aside, you probably need to clad the exterior with some kind of stiff insulation and, style permitting, fiber-cement planking. If you wish to keep the stucco look, there are EIFS systems that can be stuccoed-over. The EIFS systems typically include features that allow exterior condensation to drain away... make sure the stucco guy does NOT clog these.

This is structure you need for your house. It will take 5 years for growth to over grow this area with proper trimming each year. You need more height and variations for this to work. You don’t need a bunch of low plants. You need a couple taller, a couple mid height and a couple lower. Don’t spread a bunch of low plants out. You are better off having 4 clusters to start. One on each end of house (end area) and one beside each side of porch leaving breathing room from your foundation.