Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2021 i The Gardener Magazine

Watch on GardenTube What you need Quick-set cement Petroleum jelly (Vaseline) Spray paint: we used Rust-Oleum Metallic Gold and Bright Coat Chrome Ribbon A piece of wood as a casting surface Clingwrap Tools: Cookie cutters, glue gun and sticks 1. Apply a 2mm-thick layer of petroleum jelly to the surface. Apply petroleum jelly to the inside of the cookie cutters to prevent the cement from sticking 2. Press the cookie cutters into the petroleum jelly. (This will seal the bottoms and prevent the cement from escaping.) 3. Mix quickset cement with water to make a sloppy consistency. Fill the cookie cutters and leave to dry. 4. Remove the cookie cutters from the cement. Use pliers to pull the cookie cutters from the cement if they are stubborn. Wipe off excess…

What you need Colander 3 x 550mm chain 1 x quick link chain coupler 3 x M5 x 30mm U-bolts Bin bag Scissors 4 clothes pegs Succulent potting mix (Make your own: 70% premium potting soil, 25% silica sand, a handful of organic fertiliser) Extra silica sand for decoration Plants 1 x Crassula ovata ‘Hummel’s Sunset’ 1 x Crassula pellucida 3 x Sempervivum tectorum Steps • Slip a chain loop through a U-bolt and then thread the U-bolts through the existing colander holes and fasten them. If the colander’s holes are not big enough, drill them bigger. Make sure that U-bolts are evenly spaced or your colander will be lopsided. • Line the colander with a bin bag and secure it with pegs. Cut some holes in the plastic for…

Pets are basically a full-time job. They demand attention and love, and with more people working from home this year those demands can be difficult to meet. Toys are a go-to to keep pets entertained but cost far too much for something destroyed within 24 hours. These DIY pet toys will keep your furkids entertained for hours, without breaking the bank. T-shirt rope with tennis ball This toy combines everything dogs love – ropes and tennis balls. As a bonus, it only uses things you likely already have at home and aren’t using – it’s always good to recycle! You will need 1 old T-shirt 1 old tennis ball (one your pup has already broken will work) Scissors Steps 1. Cut the T-shirt along the side hem and into strips.…

The indigenous bugle lily (Watsonia pillansii) is a very elegant and showy evergreen perennial that grows from a corm and forms sturdy clumps with light green, lance-shaped leaves. From November to February, the slender flower stalks of between 50 – 100cm long will appear, each carrying a large spike of bright orange to orange-red tubular flowers. This is a very popular plant for a cut-flower garden as the stems last well in the vase. Watsonias like a sunny spot in well-draining, moist soil and are great to use for mass planting, mixed with tall grasses along steep banks, or in rock gardens. W. pillansii is semi-hardy and not tolerant of heavy frost. The underground corms multiply readily and the plants can be divided every 4 - 5 years in early…

Despite being able to transmit an incredible amount of data over long distances faster than any other medium in history (even telepathy, I suppose), optical fibre is apparently as thin as a single strand of human hair. So why does installing it cause so much havoc? As a remote worker with a home office, my relationship with Wi-Fi connectivity has always been a long and winding road. I first used the dongle thing (which always sounded to me like a dirty word). This device took its own time and sometimes connected, but mostly not, and in the end I simply faxed copy to head office, or dictated some stuff over the phone. Then technology evolved to the pole in my backyard belonging to Telkom, which was there to help me…

Dusty miller Senecio cineraria ‘Silver Dust’ is a perennial shrub that is mostly used as an annual in summer gardens. This low-growing little shrub has exquisite silverygrey to almost white leaves with a felty texture. The lace-like leaves, which reach up to 15cm in length, are deeply divided and covered with very fine hairs that give them a fuzzy appearance. It likes full sun and will reach a size of 25 x 25cm. Loose flowerheads with insignificant yellow flowers will appear in summer, but should be snipped off to keep the compact plant’s neat shape. Cushion bush Calocephalus brownii, which hails from Australia, is a fantastic accent plant due to its eye-catching silver-to-white foliage. The plant naturally grows into a rounded shape like a tumble weed or a silvery ball,…

Holidays are always something to look forward to. But who will take care of your plants while you’re away? GARDENA Holiday Watering Set takes over that responsibility. You can relax, enjoy and return home to healthy plants. The Holiday Watering Set can water up to 36 pot plants automatically. Simply fill a container with water, sufficient to irrigate whilst you plan to be away, place the pump in the container of water and irrigation will take place for 1 minute daily. Installation is simple and easy with various connector blocks that allow a different quantity of water to flow through the irrigation pipe. The holiday watering kit allows for light, medium or heavy watering needs. Water flow can be planned, from 15 ml for light watering, 30 ml for medium/normal…

Herb-scented Christmas card What you need Blank card Brown paper Wax paper String Candle and lighter Dried herb of choice: we used thyme Scissors Glue stick Ink pen 1. Fold brown paper in half and place on the inside of a blank card. Cut the brown paper to approximately 1cm bigger than the blank card and glue the two together along the seam. 2. Place the card at a 45° angle on wax paper and cut a square around the card. 3. Cut off the top sections. Write a message in the card and add sprigs of herbs. Close the card and fold over the sides of wax paper. 4. Tie string around the card, making sure that a centre knot is on the wax paper fold. Place herbs on…

you will need A glass jar with a large opening and no lid, for air flow Succulent soil mix Gravel Activated charcoal (available at pet stores) Fine gravel Succulents of your choice Tip Use a Lazy Susan when planting terrariums for easy access Steps: 1. Fill the bottom of the glass jar with a layer of gravel. 2. Add a 1cm-layer of activated charcoal. This prevents the water from turning green. 3. Add another layer of fine gravel to cover the activated charcoal. 4. Fill ⅓ of the jar with succulent soil mix. (The layer was 5cm deep in our jar.) 5. Remove each succulent from its pot and tease out the roots. Dig a small hole for each succulent and plant them, firming down around the plants. Leave some…

Pet owners know that cats aren’t the easiest creatures to entertain: they are extremely picky – if they don’t like something you buy, they won’t give it a second glance. Luckily, this DIY doubles as a fun craft project for the gardeners too – a cactus cat scratcher that can transform into a décor project for your greenhouse, or maybe a coat rack, if your fussy fluffy friend is unimpressed. You will need 3 rolls of twine Polystyrene balls PVC pipes and joints, for the cactus stem (we used 50mm pipe and 45° joints) Pet-friendly green paint A 300 x 300mm x 20mm wooden block for the base A 300 x 300mm small rug or tight woven carpet/floormat 3 x 60mm x 18mm brackets 3.5mm x 20mm screws 3.5mm x…

The lily borer (also known as the amaryllis borer) can be identified by its distinctive black-and-yellow banded body of up to 40mm in length. Host plants are: Clivias, agapanthus, crinums, haemanthus, amaryllis and other summer bulbs. Damage caused is: Leaves with holes and chunks eaten out of them. You will also observe tunnels in leaves where hatched larvae have entered and fed while tunnelling their way into the bulb. If uncontrolled, they will eventually kill the whole plant. Collapsing bulbous plants are normally a sure sign of lily borer infestation, but by this time it might be too late to save the plant. When are they active? The white moths start laying their eggs on the underside of the leaves in early September (although in warm subtropical climates they do…

New Homebarrow A new spin on the old wheelbarrow, finally! It’s space-saving, light yet strong, and very user-friendly. The Homebarrow has replaced the heavy old-school one and has made life in the garden a whole lot easier. Designed and developed in South Africa, it’s ergonomic, has a cleverly designed swivel-wheel steering mechanism, and when you’re finished using it, it simply hangs up on your wall or is flat-packed out of the way. www.homebarrow.com To win one of these Homebarrows, visit our Facebook pages @The GardenerMag. Win a Rolux Magnum Electric Lawnmower This electric lawnmower is everything you’d expect from a Rolux Magnum – cost effective, durable and reliable. Built for life, a Rolux Magnum X is designed to give you the perfect cut every time, so you can do it…

Watch on GardenTube What you need Pine cut to: Base box 1 x 400mm x 200mm x 20mm 2 x 400mm x 80mm x 20mm Tree branches and support 1 x 700mm x 90mm x 20mm plank (back support) 1 x 630mm x 90mm x 20mm plank 1 x 510mm x 90mm x 20mm plank 1 x 390mm x 90mm x 20mm plank 1 x 280mm x 90mm x 20mm plank 1 x 200mm x 90mm x 20mm plank 1 x 90mm x 90mm x 20mm plank Shelves 1 x 400mm x 80mm x 20mm 1 x 300mm x 80mm x 20mm 1 x 150mm x 80mm x 20mm 3.5mm x 41mm wood screws Rust-Oleum Chalked paint (Aged Grey) Water in small container Tools: Cordless drill and Phillips drill bit,…

What you need: Masking tape and ruler Secateurs Twine Scissors Labels Herbs of your choice (We used rosemary, bay and mint.) Stick a piece of masking tape onto your worktable and measure out 15cm. Cut herbs into 15cm lengths. Secure the herbs together with twine. Hang to dry for approximately 2 weeks.…

What you need Large round container Potting soil Bonsai tree – we used a Ficus microcarpa 4 groundcover plants – we used peace in the home (Soleirolia soleirolii) Flat stones for a pathway Fine fish tank gravel Ice cream sticks Skewers Spray paint String Fabric Tools: Glue gun What to do 1. Plant up the pot, placing the bonsai tree towards the back and surrounding it with the groundcover, making sure to leave space for decoration. Fill in with potting soil and press down. 2. Make a bench with ice cream sticks. First make the seat by gluing four ice cream sticks to two more ice cream sticks that are at right angles to the four. Trim off any excess from the two ice cream sticks. 3. Make a backrest…

When making this set of ‘furniture’, we prepped and sealed the wood with Woodoc 30 before we began assembly. This allowed us to make sure that all the edges were sealed, which is difficult once the slatted boxes are made. You need Pine in the following dimensions (for four boxes): 32 x 750mm x 100mm x 20mm (sides) 16 X 790mm X 100mm X 20mm (bottom) 32 x 400mm x 100mm x 20mm (ends) 16 x 400mm x 30mm x 30mm (cleats) Woodoc 30 Exterior Polywax Sealer Woodoc Stain Concentrate (we used the Teak stain) 300 x 4mm x 40mm wood screws Mineral turpentine To do The steps are to make ONE box. Repeat the steps to make a set of four. 1. Sand the wood until smooth. 2. Wipe…

Although the family Nymphaeaceae contains 5 genera and about 70 species of hardy and tropical water lilies, those that we find readily available locally are mostly the vigorous blue water lily species that are indigenous to South Africa, and beautiful North American varieties in an array of beautiful colours, which are quite hardy in temperate and tropical climates. In areas with cold winters, these perennial aquatic plants will go dormant, while they remain evergreen in warmer areas. They are rapid growers that start flowering from early spring and go on to the end of summer. They have rounded, slightly notched, waxy-coated leaves on long stalks arising from creeping and fleshy underwater stems (rhizomes). Each fragrant, solitary flower has a spiral arrangement of numerous petals and prominent stamens. Basic growth requirements…

The polka dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) is well known as a novelty indoor plant, but it is also used as a striking outdoor bedding plant that is ideal for brightening borders or containers in those difficult shaded areas. The polka dots that give this colourful plant its name and spatter its foliage like a work of modern art come in pink, red, white and a lighter shade of green. Being low-growing makes them great bedding plants, and they will rapidly spread to add colour to borders and dull shady areas. They look good following the contour of a path and combine nicely with impatiens. Hypoestes grow best in filtered sunshine, and the plants will exhibit more pronounced colour in partial shade than full sun. It is best to keep them…

Taper is an important concept in bonsai – it is one of the few unbreakable rules in the art. Taper refers to the flared base of the trunk of a tree, which is called the nebari and is arguably the single most important part of any tree, regardless of the style. Simply put, the wider the nebari, the more impressive is the tree. I often refer to it as the ‘Eifel Tower’ look. Reverse taper, where the base of the trunk is narrower than the trunk further up, is a complete no-no. There has never been a bonsai in history that has looked good with reverse taper, and it is almost impossible to correct. I am expressing this in the firmest terms possible simply to save you many, many years…