Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2021 i The Gardener Magazine

It’s a beautiful thing when you get people together with the sole intention of simply enjoying themselves, being chilled and having a fun day out. At the end of September we opened our garden to the public, and hundreds of people navigated our terrible Controversy Drive (who would have thought?) in the hope of finding a parking and then having to walk the rest of the treacherous hill. We had left it late, deciding just a week earlier to open the garden – I know, a little short notice! I’ll really try and work on that timing for the next one. I guess life has just been a bit hectic of late. One late afternoon while walking around the garden, I thought to myself, “Shew, the garden is looking rather…

When the MOcke family bought the house it had been standing empty for close to three years, so both it and the garden needed a bit of work before they could move in. The garden in particular was in quite a state of neglect. “There was no style to the garden, just a lot of lawn, with a few uninspiring flower beds randomly tagged on,” laments Michelle. “It lacked both personality and character.” To further complicate matters, most properties in Waterkloof perch on the sides of the valley, and this site was no exception. Apart from a flat patch of lawn around the pool, the rest of the garden was steeply sloped and full of rocks. Michelle knew that she would need a lot of help bringing the picture that…

Make a spicy four-herb chimichurri topping for grilled or braaied meat using chopped basil with chopped parsley, coriander and oregano. In a blender, pulse the herbs together with chopped onion, red bell pepper, a chilli pepper (hot or mild), garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and chilli powder, adding about 6 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. The mixture should be saucy but still coarse. Pesto with a difference. Substitute avocado for olive oil, especially if you find that half a cup to a cup of olive oil feels a bit too much. Using avocado results in a creamier pesto that still uses all the other traditional ingredients: pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Add 1 tablespoon of water (or more if necessary) to…

Phlox paniculata (garden phlox or autumn phlox) is a typical herbaceous perennial of the high summer and early autumn garden, and has always been part of the cottage-style perennial border. These plants form upright clumps of erect, branched stems clad with narrow dark-green leaves. The phlox-like flowers in two-tone shades of mainly pink and white, as well as solid pink or pure white, are clustered in dense panicles, sweetly scented and rich in nectar, making them much-loved by butterflies and birds. Although modern hybrids are bred to be more resilient to disease, powdery mildew can still be a problem if the plants are planted too densely or watered too enthusiastically from above. To grow them successfully, plant them in full sun to very light shade in fertile, well-draining soil and…

If you have a sunny space available where large annuals can reach for the sky with their tall flower stems bearing lots of cut flowers, pick old favourites like sunflowers, cosmos and hollyhocks, which grow easily from seed and can be sown in situ now. Do this for direct sowing: Prepare the soil well by spreading out ample compost and bonemeal while digging the soil over well. Remove stones and old plant roots and rake to a fine tilth. Plant the seed in rills at the depth recommended on the back of the individual seed packets (mostly 3 – 5mm deep), and at the recommended spacing distance (which is not always easy as most of us tend to over-sow, but never mind as it can be corrected later). Tamp them…

Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands Asparagus, bush and runner beans, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, marog (amaranth), melons and watermelons, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, radishes, Swiss chard, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes Middleveld (Tshwane and other less frosty areas) Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, cucumbers, marog (amaranth), sweetcorn/mealies, bush and trailing squashes, sweet melons, pumpkins, Swiss chard, tomatoes Eastern Cape and Little Karoo Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, radishes, bush and trailing squashes, Swiss chard Western Cape (and southern coast) Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, sweet melons, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes Northern Cape and Great Karoo Asparagus, bush and runner beans, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, spinach, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes Lowveld and KwaZulu-Natal coast Marog (amaranth), sweetcorn/mealies…

Keep them in flower These salvias should naturally give two good flower flushes, but to get them to perform even better in one season, with blooms continually appearing, the trick is to remove old flowers by tracing their stems down to where you can see two new leave sets and buds. Simply cut them off above it. Blue is quite a scarce colour in the garden as not many plants have deep-blue flowers. It is so cooling and soothing to look at, and such a good colour to combine with white, yellow, orange and something with silvery leaves. Luckily, amongst the modern salvia varieties there are three that flower as blue as can be… Salvia ‘Big Blue’ Generous branching stems bearing dark green aromatic leaves boost the mature size of…

The medal I carry around my neck is a Yin and Yang symbol composed of an outer circle enclosing two teardrop-shaped halves wrapped around each other. When I was trying to find out more about the symbol, Wikipedia told me that, “In Ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang is a concept of dualism, describing how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.” Yin is the passive, negative force while yang is the active, positive force. This thing about being ‘obviously opposite or contrary forces’ made me think about the contrary and forceful behaviour that started straight after signing the wedding register under the watchful eyes of…

The genus Asparagus includes very decorative indigenous species and varieties that are popular houseplants or handy shade-garden plants. Although they are commonly called asparagus ferns due to their fernlike appearance, they are not related to ferns at all. They have swollen and fibrous root tubers from which sprout the textured, modified stems called cladodes, which are covered in dense and quite sharp or hard leaf bracts. The plants are evergreen and produce small and fragrant white flowers in summer, followed by bright red berries. They are easy to grow in shade or, preferably, morning sun and afternoon shade, and they like well-draining, compost-enriched soil and regular watering. All can be grown from division of the root system. In case of damage by light frost, the stems can simply be cut…

One of the first things that budding designers and gardeners are taught is that the garden should be an integral part of our living space, and that there should be a relatively seamless merging of the garden with the architecture. It is also true that the garden, like the architecture that it is attached to, is a room or a collection of rooms in its own right. This is one of the basic tenets of the overall ethos of garden design teachings and learnings. What this means is that we must see the space as discrete or distinct areas with floors, walls and ceilings. We can, in this way, view our garden as being placed at the bottom of a glass box through which surrounding views can be seen through…

Add purple basil leaves as a garnish for steamed and creamed carrots, with a twist of black pepper for taste. Goes well with roast chicken. As a side dish for grilled meat, stir-fry thinly sliced baby marrows until tender, season and flavour with grated Parmesan cheese, and garnish with torn purple or red basil leaves. Make a refreshing purple/red basil lemonade. Crush or grind half a cup of basil leaves with 6 tablespoons of sugar to make a paste and release the flavour of the basil. Add a little water if necessary. Add the paste to a bowl containing four cups of water and half a cup of fresh lemon juice. Stir until well dissolved. Strain and serve with plenty of ice and a sprig of basil. Blueberry and basil…

Small gardens as well as small, awkward lawns in bigger gardens can cause lawn maintenance to be a headache, often with extra cost for the gardener. There are pretty, and low-maintenance, alternatives to the traditional lawn grasses that you can plant to give the appearance of a lush lawn in places where real lawns are not needed. The following suggestions are all evergreen, prostrate and spreading perennials that can tolerate light foot traffic and don’t require regular mowing, constant fertilising or a lot of water. They are readily available in large plug trays at garden centres and should be planted in well-prepared, compostenriched soil just like other types of grass plugs. Dichondra repens (wonder lawn) Wonder lawn gives a neat and lush, bright green appearance with creeping stems that readily…

String of hearts (Ceropegia woodii) is an indigenous evergreen, trailing vine with opposite pairs of dainty heartshaped dark-green leaves marbled in white or silver on top, with dusky pink or purple undersides. Small, pinkish, tube-shaped flowers with fused dark maroon petal tips appear sporadically throughout the year. These specialised trap-like flowers, which have an intricate internal structure and minute hairs, can temporarily imprison possible pollinators, like small flies, inside them for some time. The other curiosity of this attractive little trailing plant, which looks great in a small hanging basket, is that it can produce aerial tuberous growths along the stem nodes that, if in touch with soil, will sprout roots and stems. It is a succulent-type of trailing groundcover endemic to the warm, temperate regions of South Africa, Eswatini…

Change a dull spot into a billowing colour explosion with Angelonia angustifolia (summer snapdragon), with the added bonus of a sweet, fruity scent in the evening after basking in a border in the sun all day long. If you have no garden borders to fill up with them you are definitely not excused… These floriferous beauties, whose pretty flowers are nearly too large for the many dainty stems, also love to grow in pots, window boxes and mixed containers on a warm patio or balcony. Angelonias were bred for sultry conditions like hot weather (even extreme heat) and high humidity. All they need is full sun, watering only when the top layer of soil feels dry, and a little fertiliser in granular or liquid form now and again, as they…

Prune fynbos plants like buchus, leucospermums, ericas and proteas after flowering. Also prune confetti bushes quite hard. Stop spring-flowering lavenders like Frenchlavenderfrom becoming woody by pruning them now. This will encourage healthy new growth and another flush. Prune about two thirds of the growth away, but never into old wood. Keep emerging summer bulbs moist and start feeding them with bulb fertiliser as soon as their leaves begin unfolding. Stake tall perennials to stop them from toppling in strong wind. Also check that standard roses are securely tied to their stakes. Eat your flowers: nothing makes a summer salad look prettier than garden flowers scattered over it, and it is very trendy too! So add some begonias, daylilies, hibiscuses, borage and pineapple sage to your garden for culinary use. Water…

Stripy aggie for all gardens Agapanthus praecox ‘Zambezi’, brought to you by Keith Kirsten, has unique broad, dark green leaves streaked with creamy-yellow variegation and bordered by a broad golden-yellow margin. It has long-lasting violet flowers on tall stems, and makes a bold statement in any garden. It’s an excellent container plant and is the perfect border plant for the perennial garden. www.keithkirsten.com 2021 Garden World Summer Festival ‘Gardens for the Soul’ ‘Gardens for the Soul’ is the theme for this year’s Summer Festival at Garden World, which will run from Friday 22 October to Sunday 5 December. Both the new and make-over designer gardens will showcase the latest garden trends and find clever solutions for small outdoor spaces, using a diversity of plants and natural hardlandscaping products. Taking a…

All basil varieties like fertile, well-composted soil that drains well, and at least six hours of sun, preferably morning sun and afternoon shade. Being gross feeders, they need regular organic fertiliser and consistently moist, but not soggy, soil. Most varieties are summer annuals, although pink and white perennial basil, Thai basil ‘Siam Queen’ and cinnamon basil are more cold hardy and can be grown as perennials. In very cold and frosty areas they should be protected with frost cloth or moved into a sheltered, sunny area. Preserving basil: In the short-term, keep cut stems in a glass of water at room temperature. Cold temperatures (in the refrigerator) can blacken the leaves. For longer storing, chop basil leaves and put them in an ice cube tray. Fill with water and freeze.…

A healthy patch of Stachys byzantina (lamb’s ears) is a botanical treasure, as you will never be looking for a smart bordering option again. The silver-grey colour of the thick, soft and velvety leaves complements virtually any other plant growing near or behind it. Stachys is trouble-free and rapidly forms a dense mat along the ground with a height of about 40cm. Dividing these plants can be done frequently to give you more to plant all over the garden and to rejuvenate those mats that have become too dense. Do this: Use a small hand fork to dig out a healthy patch. The plants have shallow roots, which makes it an easy job especially if the soil is moist. Gently shake the soil loose from the roots and then tease…

The chartreuse colour of the roundish to slightly heart-shaped leaves of Lysimachia nummularia ‘Goldilocks’ (creeping Jenny) immediately catches the eye wherever this spreading, evergreen groundcover grows. It is low-growing, up to 10cm high, with spreading stems rooting easily when the nodes come into contact with the soil. Apart from its unique colour, which adds iridescent contrast on the ground before and between other plants, it will cascade with grace in mixed hanging baskets and pots where it acts as a spiller. It likes moist, very fertile soil, regular watering and full sun, although light shade will work too, where great companion plants are begonias, impatiens and coleus.…