Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2017 i The Gardener Magazine

GET THE LOOK Bee-friendly gardens don’t have to be filled with indigenous flowers – many single or semi-double roses attract bees with their fragrance and pollen. Using a floribunda rose like ‘Butterfly Kisses’ and combining it with other pollen-rich plants, like arum lilies and alyssum, draws both bees and butterflies to the garden. ‘Butterfly Kisses’ is a very healthy, free-flowering rose that grows to hip height. It produces large sprays of 25 – 45 single blooms through to winter. A bee-line for roses In selecting bee-friendly plants for the garden, have you ever considered single or semi-double roses? With their exposed stamens and pistils, the pollen is always fresh and the bees love it. Full-petalled roses, on the other hand, like Antico Moderno roses and hybrid teas, aren’t as accessible…

1 PETIT, BUT HUGE FLOWER POWER Dwarf Inca lilies are magnificent for the garden and suitable to grow in containers too, as they reach a height of only 30 – 35cm. They flower profusely from spring to autumn and can be found in a wide range of bright colours. These shorties can be picked as long-lasting cut flowers, just like their taller family members. Growth in a nutshell • Good for sun or light shade. • Provide loam soil enriched with compost. • Water and feed regularly in the summer months with fertiliser for flower production. 2 QUEEN HYDRANGEA Brighten up shady areas with glorious hydrangeas, which will now be available in flower. Colour in between them with impatiens, begonias and browallias. Remember: Hydrangeas love dappled shade, rich, loamy soil…

This garden, featured in the annual Garden World Garden Design Show 2017, drew inspiration from the show’s theme of ‘colour my world’, as well as the idea of reinventing an old space into something completely different, while retaining as much of the original as possible. It’s a small courtyard garden that fulfils the aspirations of an outdoor living room – the ideal place to showcase the theme. I wanted to encourage people to enjoy the outdoor living a patio affords them, and that includes using the herbs and vegetables that grow there. I know that most people would enjoy the idea of sitting amongst the flowers, herbs and vegetables while having a braai and a crisp glass of wine. To bring in more colour and to make the change of…

Attractive background and middleground shrubs and perennials are always important to any mixed border, but it is what you add to the front edge of the bed that immediately grabs the eye’s attention. Here’s our selection of pretty groundcovers and dwarf plants, up to an approximate height of 40cm, that will add colour and texture to the foreground. Happy planting! Quick tips for great border design A border of just one plant type, such as dark green mondo grass, is neat, very elegant and low maintenance. If you’d prefer a more colourful look, plant your favourites in bold groups, taking care to pick those with complementing foliage or flower colour. You can even double up on your border planting by using something taller, like a row of purple-leaved Ipomoea batatas…

What you need A coir-lined basket Potting soil Palm peat Vermiculite Organic fertiliser pellets Water-retention granules or waterwise crystals A selection of plants Liquid plant food Scissors Craft knife Black plastic A pot or bucket to rest the basket on A bucket for soil mixing What you do…

EASTERN CAPE 11 – 12 November Gardens of East London The Pam Golding Properties Gardens of East London Event will be held on from 10am – 5 pm in aid of various East London Charities. Tickets are available at the Pam Golding offices or all participating charities. Enquiries: 082 963 2202 GAUTENG Gardens of the Golden City Spring Gardens 2017 Gardens of the Golden City is now in its 21st year of sourcing and displaying private gardens to the ever-growing numbers of avid garden visitors on behalf of various charities. For updated information visit www.gardensofthegoldencity.co.za. 4 – 5 November 2017 Quondam Village, 79 Boeing Road East, Bedfordview Hidden behind high walls, Quondam Village is a pleasant surprise combining the neat and meticulous with a friendly and welcoming English village atmosphere.…

For a spectacular show of tall ‘pineapple-looking’ stems of star-shaped flowers in late summer, plant some of the eucomis varieties in your garden. Colours range from green to pale cream and purple, with foliage arranged in a rosette of broad, strap-shaped leaves. The light-green leaves, sometimes flecked with purple, are smooth with wavy edges. The flowers of some species are sweetly scented, but others have a distinctly unpleasant odour. Nevertheless, they are beautiful planted in garden beds that get morning sun and afternoon shade. Enrich the soil with plenty of compost and keep the soil moist during the growing season. Plant facts Common names: Pineapple flower, pineapple lily Family: Liliaceae (Hyacinthaceae) Type: Deciduous, perennial bulb Origin: Some 15 species from Lake Nyassa in the north-east of southcentral Africa to the…

If faced with brackish water, your first step should be to check out what’s growing successfully in neighbouring gardens with the same problem, and then simply to plant the same. But also do the following: • Add copious loads of organic material, like compost and well-rotted kraal manure, when preparing the soil before planting. Don’t skimp on this step! Generous layers of organic mulch around plants can also work as a buffer against the building up of a salt layer on the soil’s surface. • Try to form raised shrub beds that are higher than the normal soil level, as this can reduce the effects of brackish water. • Irrigate less regularly but deeply. Water at soil level, taking care not to wet the whole plant as the leaves might…

Keep your braai wood dry and close at hand. WHAT YOU NEED Cutting list CCA-treated pine cut to the following dimensions: 8 x 1700mm x 25mm x 76mm 8 x 1400mm x 25mm x 76mm 8 x 555mm x 25mm x 76mm 14 x 400mm x 25mm x 76mm 2 x 550mm x 25mm x 76mm 3 x 555mm x 38mm x 38mm battens 6 x 262mm x 38mm x 38mm battens 50mm cut screws Tools Festool jigsaw, Triton drill and driver, Festool track saw, Festool shop vacuum, Bessey K Body parallel clamps, combination square, tape measure, pencil What you do…

NOVEMBER EVENTS WESTERN CAPE Saturday 18 Creative container competition with the Durbanville Garden Club Durbanville Library, Oxford Street, Durbanville Prizes worth R6000! Free entry. Enquiries: www.durbanvillegardenclub.co.za 21 November – 3 December Cape Gift Market Sea Point Civic Centre Mondays to Fridays from 09:00 – 19:00 Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 – 17:00 Enquiries: 082 411 3981, geskenkemark@gmail.com Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 Stellenberg Gardens Open Days In aid of the St. Joseph’s Home for Chronically Ill Children 30 Oak Avenue, Kenilworth 09:30 – 17:30 Entrance: R50, cildren under 12 free. Teas R30. The Stellenberg Nursery will be open. Enquiries: 021 762 7733, 083 300 1196, www.stellenberggardens.co.za GAUTENG Wednesday 22 Talk: Lightning and Research Findings, by Estelle Trengrove The Floreum, Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Olifants Road, Emmarentia Entrance: Members R20, Visitors R30,…

A lifelong friend of ours recently passed away unexpectedly. Although we hadn’t seen her or her bereaved husband for many years, we remembered the good times we spent together and the bond that existed between us. We unanimously agreed to drive from Onrusrivier to Port Elizabeth to attend her memorial service, and seeing that it was an unexpected chance to take to the road again, we decided to make a little holiday of it. We kicked the tyres of the old Chevy, filled up her fuel tank, locked the house, said goodbye to the neighbours and took off on the N2 just after sunrise. When I phoned the eldest kid to tell her that we were leaving the last outpost, she was extremely shocked that we had not pre-booked any…