Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i The Gardener Magazine

Take a journey through a horticultural cosmos of spaces within spaces, of distinctive gardens that come together in perfect harmony, all at the annual Lifestyle Garden Design Show. Curated for visitors by Lifestyle College and Lifestyle Home Garden, the 2018 Lifestyle Garden Design Show once again shifts up a gear, and the stage is set for a show that is innovative, fresh and brimming with creative gardening and design ideas to suit a wide range of tastes and preferences. We have created a spatial kaleidoscope of patterns, levels, colours and textures. Held at the height of the growing season, the Garden Design Show is designed to inspire, excite and share ideas, products and beautiful plants. It is another leg of the ongoing voyage of pleasure, discovery and creative spirit that…

Pergolas The dictionary describes a pergola as an arched structure in a garden or park consisting of a framework covered with climbing or trailing plants. Pergolas are typically large structure with beams and posts, no walls and no roof. Garden designers often include pergolas in their designs because they can serve several purposes. Attached to the house they become another room or shaded walkway, which is often decorated as one would a room in the home and used for relaxing or entertaining. Shade is provided by leafy green climbers with a burst of colour and often fragrance as the plants flower. Around a pool they define an area as the place to be when the sun is at its highest in the sky, and the coolness under the pergola is…

All the trends for 2018 point to lavender. Purple is the ‘new colour of health’, as well as the choice of Pantone’s trendsetters. Foodies flirting with ‘botanical’ flavours are experimenting with lavender lattes, and the world-wide focus on wellness underscores lavender’s pre-eminent position as one of the best natural remedies for urban stress, anxiety and depression. Our own move towards heat-and drought-tolerant plants reminds us of lavender’s Mediterranean nature and its affinity with succulents, needing the same sunny, well-drained growing conditions. It is a durable plant for containers, which become trendier by the year. For the ‘grow-your-own’ movement, lavender is a valuable companion plant that attracts pollinators while distracting other pests in search of luscious vegetables. Lavender has shaken off its old-fashioned image (no more ladies in lavender), and is…

The Aristaloe aristata (formerly Aloe aristata) used here produced many little offsets or ‘pups’ that could be divided to create a cute spiral pattern in a shallow, oval dish. The Latin name aristata, which means ‘bristly’ or ‘awned’, describes the toothed, white-margined, dark green leaves that have small white spots and soft white spines as well. The plant is stemless and clumpforming with dense rosettes that can be separated to replant. Nectar-rich, tubular orange flowers are produced on slender panicles in spring and summer. Creating the spiral • Add a layer of gravel chips to the dish to aid drainage. • Use a cactus potting medium or ordinary potting soil mixed with clean river sand to fill the pot, lightly tamping it down. • Draw a line in the moist…

GAUTENG Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 Johannesburg Succulent Society Autumn Show and Plant Sale The Floreum, Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Olifants Road, Emmarentia Time: 9:00 – 17:00 on Saturday, 9:00 – 16:30 on Sunday Entrance: Free entrance Enquiries: jhbss.info@gmail.com, rauschanthony@gmail.com KWAZULU-NATAL Friday 13 – Sunday 15 Kloof Flowers Through the Home Venue: Corner of Abrey Road and Alexander Road, Kloof Time: 10:00 – 16:00 on Friday and Saturday, 10:00 – 14:00 on Sunday Entrance: R60 Enquiries: Fay 072 508 0484; Debbie 072 115 5035 Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 KZN Botanical Society Open Wildlife Gardens Venues: Garden 1: 81 William Younger Road, Hilton Garden 2 is opposite Garden 1 Garden 3: 52 Hillary Road, Hilton Garden 4: 59 Millikan Way, Prestbury, Pietermaritzburg Time: 9:30 – 16:00 Entrance: R50, for access to…

The beautiful farm garden of Strathneva belongs to Ingrid and Kippy Bryden and was an open garden during the 2017 East Griqualand Encounter – a country and garden festival that annually showcases stunning gardens in the Kokstad area. A bit of background Ingrid says there was nothing gardenlike when she and her husband, Kippy, moved to the farm about 15 years ago. So she started from scratch, developing her garden into the flowering paradise that it is today. The climate in this region is always a challenge, with very hot summers and icy cold winters, including snowfalls. And then there is the occasional drought that also takes its toll, although the Brydens are lucky to have a strong borehole for irrigation purposes. Ingrid says she only uses plants that spell…

Collecting and investing in cycads started in earnest approximately 30 years ago in South Africa and has since spread worldwide, to the extent that it is one of the world’s fastest-growing hobbies, with cycads now being collected on a large scale globally. Cycad collections are being bought up everywhere at an alarming rate, by both private collectors and corporate institutions. Cycad species that sold 15 years ago for R500 are now in great demand for R15 000, and the demand for certain species far outstrips the availability. This situation has unfortunately placed pressure on the natural habitat of many species. On the positive side, however, more plants have been successfully propagated from seed by cycad growers in the past 10 years than nature itself in the last 1000 years. Cycads…

GET THE LOOK ‘Just Joey’ is the queen of autumn roses, although it must be admitted she is beautiful in any season. For a show like this you need nothing more than five or six specimens in a group, in a position that receives plenty of morning sun, regular watering and spraying to keep the plants pest free. A green, shrubby backdrop (including elderflower) is fine, but constantly monitor for invasive roots from the shrubs, especially in dry conditions. If the roses start to under-perform, dig down by about 30cm and check for competing roots. Remove alien roots and do this on a regular basis. Watering the shrubs well should prevent too much competition. For many years we have had the ‘Madiba’, rose but now it is official: South Africa…

This is the twelfth in our Working with Wood series. Throughout the series we will introduce you to some amazing new tools on the market that take the ‘work’ out of woodwork. WHAT YOU NEED Cutting list 4 x 89mm x 89mm x 743mm (table legs) 4 x 38mm x 89mm x 651mm (table side rails) 1 x 38mm x 89mm x 702mm (table centre rail) 6 x 19mm x 140mm x 900mm (table top slats) 8 x 38mm x 140mm x 471mm (long bench leg) 8 x 38mm x 140mm x 255mm (short bench leg) 8 x 38mm x 89mm x 419mm (bench support) 8 x 19mm x 140mm x 829mm (bench slats) 64mm Kreg pocket hole screws 64mm Kreg HD screws 32mm Kreg pocket hole screws Wood glue…

1 COMPOSTING IS COOL! You can save a lot of money by using garden and kitchen refuse to make your own compost, and this can be done even in a small garden by investing in a commercial compost bin and ready-to-use compost activators that speed up the process. Making your own compost will use up all your greens (wet matter) like grass clippings, vegetable waste, fresh leaves, and browns (dry matter) like fallen leaves, straw, sawdust, shredded newspaper and pruning waste. Your job will be easier if you use a garden shredder or chipper to reduce bigger cuttings into small pieces for easy composting. 2 MAKE YOUR OWN LEAF MULCH Invest in a leaf blower to collect all the fallen autumn leaves from hard surfaces like paving and driveways. Use…

Autumn is a beautiful season in the garden, and in colder climates colourful foliage abounds adding an extra dimension to the landscape. Not all gardens are large enough to accommodate the trees that contribute so much to the autumn colour, so here are three shrubs with attractive autumn leaves that can be planted in even the smallest of gardens. They’re spectacular during autumn and often still retain their presence through into the heart of winter. Abelia x grandiflora ‘Kaleidoscope’ Glossy-leafed abelias have been cultivated as hedge plants for decades. Today new hybrids with ornate foliage are making an impact with their year-round good looks and neat growth habits. This particular form has small, variegated leaves of green and gold that turn shades of amber and red during the cooler months. The…

The genus Watsonia commemorates the English naturalist and physician Sir William Watson, who lived from 1715 to 1787. W. angusta was one of the earliest species to be described, and in 1796 Watson’s botanist compatriot John Ker Gawler named it angusta (meaning narrow) due to its narrow perianth tube. There are 53 Watsonia species in total, which occur primarily in South Africa from Namaqualand to Limpopo. Most members of the genus are found in the Western Cape and a few are represented in Lesotho and Swaziland. Watsonias are extremely variable in size, ranging from the dwarf, orange-flowered W. minima from the Riviersonderend Mountains, which grows to just 10cm high in flower, to the gigantic, broad-leafed, red W. vanderspuyiae from Nieuwoudtville and Piketberg, which reaches up to 2m. Several species and…

The action of pruning means manually taking away parts of a plant at a certain time of the year in order to force it to react in a positive manner in the months or seasons ahead. If you are perhaps a month or two too late to prune there’s no major harm done either, providing you keep the plant’s biological clock in mind – you might miss something important by pruning it drastically before it is getting ready to flower – ask anybody who has chopped a Cape may (Spiraea) in winter! Pruning includes deadheading, pinching, shaving or shearing, cutting back, or the removal of stems or branches. This short pruning guide will remind you when to do it. January • Remove low branches from trees casting too much shade…

Autumn is a good time to grow vegetables in containers. The milder days are less stressful for the veggies than the blistering heat of summer. Looking ahead to winter, containers can be shifted into sunny, sheltered areas, especially if the veggie garden is draughty or doesn’t get enough winter sunshine. Position Autumn and winter veggies need 5 – 6 hours of sun a day and there should be good air circulation. Move the pots around to make the most of the sun. Container size The bigger the better, because larger containers hold more soil (which doesn’t dry out as quickly). The shape of the container, round or square, doesn’t matter, provided the plant has enough space for its roots and top growth. • Broccoli, cabbage, kale: One plant per large…

In the first two weeks of the month. the moon wanes. Lunar gardeners use these last·moon pha,ses to reduce growth by trimming and mowing; harvest and dear beds; divide perennials; and cultivate the soil. After the New Moon. prepare soil for sowing and planting cool-crop vegetables. like broccoli and cabbage, as they flourish in milder autumn temperatures. On 'vine' days, plant trailing veg and flowering perennial creepers. The very fertile days up to and in the full moon phase provide a perfect planting weekend.…

Autumn clean up The Talon Petrol Blower is perfect for gathering fallen leaves, cleaning patios and general garden maintenance. It has a powerful 26cm3 engine and weighs just 4kg, making it easy to use. www.talontools.co.za Bettamed Care Cream Bettamed Care Cream treats itching, eczema, rashes, athlete’s foot, insect bites, sunburn and mild burns – making it great for gardeners. The anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and antiinflammatory properties ensure a much more rapid healing process. Bettamed products contain CHD-FA (Carbohydrate Derived Fulvic Acid), which is the active ingredient discovered when a researcher observed that some plants were super resistant to viral, fungal and bacterial infections. It can be used safely by the whole family, including babies and the elderly. www.bettamed.com Extending the effective lifespan of various pesticides Picanta forms an elastic and…

The only time that I can remember the same kind of hysterical reaction, despondency, fear and suspicion in a crisis was very long ago when South Africa had a major fuel shortage. Garages dried up and folks stood in line for fuel coupons. They drove very, very slowly and only for short distances, never revving the car’s engine so as to save fuel. They took their cars out of gear and switched their engines off going downhill, driving only on the brake. Some even made their kids push cars from point A to point B. Everybody had cans of fuel stashed all over the place, and if somebody had a dire crisis it was pooled very reluctantly in order to help out. Men stood in garages with oily rags in…