Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i The Gardener Magazine

The northern slope is a mosaic of aloes, grasses, perennials and bulbs. This garden mixes exotic and indigenous plants for year-round interest. Perfume and colour add a touch of the romantic to the home. An enticing mix of indigenous plants attract birds and other wildlife to the garden. Attention to detail is critical when constructing paths and seating areas on sloping land. Close on eight years ago a couple swopped their home with a large, fairly level garden for a magnificent property with sloping land, uninterrupted views and a section of mature indigenous forest on a golfing estate in KwaZulu-Natal. The brief to the garden designers, husband and wife team Tanya and John Keating from Tandi Landscapes, was to create a predominantly indigenous garden in keeping with the estate rules,…

How to keep up the flower power Now that our winters are milder, it’s possible for roses to flower all the way into July. While enjoying the autumn rose flush of March and April, keep up the care with extra feeding and encouraging new basal shoots, and you could expect a continuation of the flush. It’s all about leaves The strength, health and flower power of a rose depends on its leaves, especially when the days are getting shorter. All you need to do is keep the bush covered in healthy green leaves. The rose will do the rest. • Prevent black spot by spraying twice a month with Chronos, or alternate with Garden Protector. In autumn there is more dew on the leaves, creating the perfect condition for black…

Summer’s coming to an end, and unfortunately that means all our favourite summery herbs are also coming to an end. Life without basil, mint, chives, parsley, dill and coriander – what an awful thought. Admittedly, coriander is an acquired taste, but basil surely has no detractors? The answer is to preserve them, but here’s the catch. Most summer herbs lose their taste when dried, or become soggy when frozen. Drying also takes up space. And if it is wet or humid, the herbs can even become a bit iffy. The answer is to preserve them in oil or butter. This makes sense, because the flavour and aroma of herbs is found in their volatile oils, and if these are sealed up in an oil or animal-fat base, the flavour remains…

Strawberry pots are designed specifically for strawberry plants and can be stacked to make the most of limited space. They also keep the precious fruit off the ground where it can be damaged. Here’s how to plant them up: What you need Strawberry plantsStackable strawberry potsBonemealPotting soilPalm peatOrganic fertiliser like Atlantic Fertilisers Flower and FruitVermiculiteBinding wireWater-soluble plant food like Starke Ayres Nutrifeed What you do • In a bucket, mix the soil together: 1 bag of potting soil, 3 handfuls of bonemeal, 1 bucket of palm peat (a block reconstituted in water), 2 handfuls of organic pellet fertiliser and ½ bucket of vermiculite. • Make sure there are drainage holes in your strawberry pots, and remove the centrepiece if necessary. These pots come with drainage trays. If you choose other…

Lunar gardeners ideally plan planting and garden activities according to the “best” days, which are determined by moon phase and sign. This month has two full moons, but both are not on the “best” planting days. The first full moon is not good for fruit or seed, yet fine to repot small flowering shrubs or indoor plants. The second full moon is exact in the afternoon, so safe to plant flowers after then. Note that the 25th and the half-day before and after are the perfect period to sow/plant cool season brassicas.…

If you’re looking for a tool that effortlessly keeps garden hedges in check, look no further. The STIHL HSA 45 is an ultra-convenient battery-operated hedge trimmer with excellent cutting performance, ideal for smaller trimming tasks around the home. It is part of the STIHL Lithium-ion range, and a great option for homeowners with the smaller gardens typical of townhouse living. The STIHL HSA 45 starts at the touch of a button. It has buit-in 18V lithium-ion battery that charges using a charge cable that plugs directly into the wall socket. So aside from there being no cumbersome mixing of fuel or struggling with extension cords there is also no need to manage a seperate battery or charger. It doesn’t get more convenient than this! Thanks to its lightweight, compact and…

Bougainvilleas were introduced to gardens centuries ago from South America, and today remain popular shrubs and climbers in many parts of the world. Their small, tubular, white or cream flowers are surrounded by colourful leaf-like bracts with a papery texture. It’s these bracts that adorn the plants with cascades of colour for months on end, especially after extended dry periods. The colour range is wide and varied, from white to purple as well as shades of yellow, gold, orange, red, pink and lavender. Growth habits vary from dwarf shrubs with few or no thorns to large climbers sporting sturdy thorns on stout stems that can reach the canopies of large forest trees. Selecting the correct bougainvillea for specific purposes in the garden is of the utmost importance. Planting the wrong…

In the two previous parts of this series we chatted about complementary and harmonious colour schemes. Now we turn our attention to the monochromatic colour schemes, which is a challenge of a different kind. A monochromatic colour scheme is one where a single colour, often white, is paired with green in a planting scheme. Of course, the term ‘monochromatic’ is misleading as green is always present as a second colour. The colours of autumn Burgundy, bronze, brown, deep orange and apricot – all of these colours evoke a moody, autumn feel in the garden. One finds these colours on the stem of a plant, the underside of a leaf, in the colour of a berry or in an ornamental grass in winter. These moody colours can be paired with green…

Get ready for winter Like September, March is a prime sowing month, only this time it is for autumn and winter crops. The cooler days make working in the garden a pleasure, so make the most of available time to set up the veggie garden for the next few months. The main crops to grow are leafy greens (lettuce, Asian greens, spinach and Swiss chard), easy root crops (carrots, beetroot and radishes) and the brassica big four – broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale. Getting started Make space by taking out summer crops that are finished or almost finished. If you don’t want to sacrifice the last tomatoes, pull out the plants and hang them upside down (roots and all) in a cool place for the fruit to ripen. Wash seedling…

Cutting list ½ sheet of 18mm MDF cut according to the list below. 1 x 18mm x 380mm x 650mm (back)2 x 18mm x 300mm x 430mm (sides)1 x 18mm x 200mm x 686mm (front)1 x 18mm x 394mm x 650mm (base)2 x 18mm x 466mm x 70mm (side trim)1 x 18mm x 722mm x 70mm (front trim) 32 x 1¼” (32mm) Kreg screws10 x 30mm panel pinsWood glue Tools Kreg Pocket-Hole Jig, clamps, Festool track saw, Festool jigsaw, Triton drill and driver, sander, Triton router and router table, router bit, Triton orbital sander, pencil, tape measure, hammer What you do 1 Cut the MDF board to the dimensions listed in the cutting list, using a Festool track saw. 2 Draw three templates on paper, one for the back, one…

1 MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU! Being in the shade and under the protection of trees seems to soothe anxiety, they say. But trees are also the green lungs of our urban areas, and planting them is a symbol of love for future generations to come. Early autumn (March) is the perfect time to plant new trees, as they will have cooler weather and a whole winter ahead to settle in. Consider deciduous trees with striking autumn foliage, such as Quercus palustris (pin oak), Celtis africana (white stinkwood), Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum) and Combretum erythrophyllum (river bushwillow). All of these are widespread and common garden and street trees. 2 BEDDING BESTIES March is too early for the traditional winter annuals such as pansies and violas, but it is the perfect…

I had a birthday recently. This occasion requires being chained to the kitchen for days on end to cook enough food to feed fifteen very hungry and hearty eaters (who all go for seconds!). This actually means that I should have enough food for thirty meals (doggy bags too!), plus pudding. Without wanting to sound like a bragger, I have to tell you that I have set the bar quite high in previous years with my culinary skills, so this occasion has now become a very popular outing on the local social calendar! When I tried to can it this year in favour of a lazy day going to the beach kiosk for fish and chips, or just working as usual, I was shouted down. I now even get menu…

Yellow or golden foliage always makes an impact in the garden, contrasting strongly with green leaves and colourful flowers. This is abundantly obvious in suburban gardens where golden melaleucas and yellow-foliaged durantas are so dominant that they can be seen from passing vehicles and low-flying aircraft. These two plants still make up a significant volume of ornamentals sold into the gardening trade. Here are three relatively new plants on the local garden scene that are likely to make their mark based on their colourful foliage. Abelia ‘Lemon & Lime’ Abelia hedges have been cultivated for centuries, and are tough and enduring cold hardy plants that grow in most parts of South Africa. ‘Lemon and Lime’ is a new addition to the range of abelais with coloured leaves. Plants are dense…

Busy parents of young kids can’t be blamed for thinking that gardening is just for geriatrics sitting on a porch surrounded by neat flowerbeds. The alternative they choose is to place another electronic device in their offspring’s hands to keep them occupied. And if they do realise that the kids need some exercise (they should – they spend their own evenings in the gym!), they pack them off for a ‘playdate’ or take them to Spur to play in the ballpit. But the best solution to the problem, a lot of fun, healthy exercise and educational play, lies just outside the backdoor. Let me ‘tweet’ you the following... Firstly, kids need to be taught how to play and have fun in a garden, and also how to garden themselves –…

Combine indigenous bulbs with grasses for the meadow look. Bulbous plants come in many shapes, sizes and types, including true bulbs, tubers, corms, rhizomes and tuberous roots – all reservoirs containing reserve foods to enable the plants to survive dry, dormant periods between natural rainy seasons when they grow actively. So when you buy your bulbs this month, consider that each late winter- and spring-flowering bulb contains a healthy embryo that was ‘planted’ in the previous flowering season and will grow from deep within the fleshy layers as soon as the soil cools down and the bulb’s long thirst is quenched. Top indigenous choices to plant in great numbers this year: 1. Babiana (baboon flower) Beautiful cup-shaped, six-petalled blooms arranged on a 20cm-tall floral spike. Colours range from blue to…

There are a number of qualities that make a bonsai tree look like a miniature tree rather than simply a plant in a pot: the overall shape and style, the thickness or girth of the trunk, and the size and quantity of the leaves. Essentially, the smaller and more numerous the leaves the more your plant will look like a miniature tree and less like a pot plant. The leaves of a deciduous tree are replaced every season, dropping off in winter and growing out again in spring. When training a bonsai we develop the trunk first because the trunk is a permanent feature. Then we concentrate on the branches, and only after the trunk and main branches have developed do we concentrate on the leaves. This process can take…

• Control mildew on tomatoes, runner beans and long-season squashes like butternut and gem squash by using a fungicide recommended by your garden centre. Mildew is unsightly but won’t kill a plant. • In hot, dry gardens, check for red spider. Wet the underside of the leaves, and if mites are noticed spray underneath the leaves with an organic insect spray. • Give a last application of fertiliser to long-season crops like chillies and peppers, tomatoes, brinjals and squashes. • Water regularly – drying out affects the flavour and reduces productivity. • Weed as often as possible. • Renew the mulch – it also helps to suppress weeds. Go green: Give one bed a rest this winter by sowing a green manure like mustard, clover, oats, vetch or serradella. Green…

Invisible protection, great strength With Trellidor Clear Guard security screens you never have to cover up lovely views like this one of a beautiful courtyard vertical garden. You can see right through the steel mesh screen, which is strong enough to discourage even the most persistent of intruders. And we don’t mean just people. These screens also block out annoying insects and other wildlife such as snakes and monkeys. They are custom-made to operate seamlessly alongside your doors and windows. The mesh panel has an aluminium frame, so Trellidor Clear Guard can be used in coastal homes with minimal maintenance. www.trellidor.co.za Awards and new designs MayFord Seeds recently won the BASA Environment & The Arts Award in recognition of their innovative series of events designed to leverage their brand by…