Landscape Design

Behind The Scenes - Coastal Dune Garden

2010-03-20T08:03:00.000+02:00

Creating gardens on the coast is always a challenge. There are all kinds of things to consider, like salt air, strong winds and sandy soil. Added to these natural limits, is the fact that the garden is often just the foreground to the real view - the ocean. So it needs to compliment rather than try to steal the show.

This garden is actually the second garden I've done for these particular clients - they moved from their previous home in Morningside when they found this odd 1970's house in the La Lucia area of Durban with potentially amazing views of the ocean.
They kept the general layout of the house and completely gutted it, but essentially started again. The garden itself was a neglected, overgrown mix of plants that sloped down to the neighbour's house below.

This was a really great project for a number of reasons. I have the benefits of having a good relationship with both the client and the architect, and that, coupled with being involved right from the start, I was able to add my 2 cents worth to the project as it evolved. Also, having the advantage of being part of the project from the start - almost 3 years in total, it gave me the time to really digest the site and the design. These are definitely key ingredients in making a successful garden.

Too often in landscape design, everybody involved is in a rush. We designers, are usually brought in at the last minute, and are usually the last on site, and so we often bear the brunt of the clients lack of patience because of the usual contractors delays. Being last in the chain also has other disadvantages. In most cases, projects run over budget, and the easiest place to save money is by cutting back on the 'luxury' areas like landscaping. But its not all frustration. You also get the best look at the finished product, and share in some of the excitement that the client is beginning to feel as they see the project nearing completion. This really makes for great job satisfaction.

My clients previous garden, with roses and lavender

My clients were wanting the garden to be quite different to their previous garden, which was full of roses, and quite formal. I was relieved to hear this, because the property was quite exposed on the top of a dune, which meant we would be using a fairly limited range of plants. Roses or similar exotic plants would need an inordinate amount of attention to keep them alive - let alone looking good. The words Aloe and stone were mentioned during our preliminary discussion about the garden, and I could feel my excitement levels rising...
Although they did have one request, coming from a relatively small garden they would want it to be as open as possible, with as big a lawn area as possible.

The "Blank Slate" - you can see the unusable lawn, and the house below, that needs screening.

We removed almost all of the plants while the builder began the demolition of the existing house. The only plant that had any real value to the garden was a huge milkwood in the driveway. The driveway and boundary wall was laid out to make sure that it was kept safe.

One of the first steps, as in most landscape designs, was to sort out levels. As I've mentioned before, creating level areas makes the garden much more user-friendly. Keeping the garden on the same level as the house means that people are more likely to spill out into the lawn.
The retaining wall below the garden had a height restriction which was well below the homes ground floor level - this would mean I would have to do some lateral thinking to try to find a way of getting the lawn level right.

Due to height restrictions, the top of the retaining wall was still well below the level we needed it to be

The second challenge in the design of the garden, was the proximity of the house in front. From the ground level of the house it not only partially blocks the view of the ocean, but is the last thing you want to be looking at when you're sitting in your lounge or dining area.
The solution would be to raise the garden to the groundfloor level. This meant that we would be able to keep the planting relatively low, and still screen the neighbour's house.

Making use of the attractive vistas, and hiding the less attractive can be one of the hardest balancing acts in a garden design. It needs to be done subtly, but effectively.
This garden was one of the trickiest I've worked on, because of the multiple levels and views in the house. Also, having the beautiful sea views and the big house both dominating the front view, made it particularly difficult.

Oehme & Van Sweden - Chicago Botanic Gardens

I began the design of the garden with a picture in my mind of flowing grasses, and mass planting along the lines of an Oehme and Van Sweden garden. They use a more naturalistic style, which would suit the site, and the use of indigenous plants. The challenge would be to create this feel in the narrow space available for the planting.

I also had a picture of the way sand forms ripples on the beach, and thought I'd like to capture something of that feel in the design. This would translate into building up berms of sand, which would make a great platform on which to plant. Slowly, the design was beginning to take shape.

I took some photos of the garden, and used these to trace and sketch the picture that was beginning to form in my head.

After all the planning comes the hard slog. To begin with, we had to move about 80m3 of soil into the garden, and shape and level, and re-shape and re-level, and then do it all over again. Finally, the structure was all there just waiting to be dressed up with plants. We're almost there now, but I'll post a follow-up on the planting once we've completed it.

Food For Thought

2010-03-16T12:08:00.000+02:00

I'm reading a book by Barbara Kingsolver at the moment called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It begins with an honest look at the divorce in the United States between humans and nature (especially their food), and the resulting social, economic and environmental catastrophe that we humans are hurtling towards.

A tinker reed frog I found the day after planting this Aloe

Here in South Africa, we have the fortunate ability to be able to see into the future. We are like the furthest island from an earthquakes epicentre - we are able to receive the early warning, long before the tsunami hits. We could be likened to the late adopters in trend forecasting - there is often a lag of as little as a few months to as many as a few years in our adopting of certain fashions or trends.

So you'd think we would see the consequences of another nation's life in the fast-food lane, and make the changes necessary to steer clear of the mess to follow? The sad reality is that we are so distracted by the present problems that we have little capacity or will to take advantage of this advantage and plan for the future. The result is that the warning signals go un-heeded.

There has long been an inevitable shift in allegiance from rural farm life and a dependance and understanding of nature to urban living with its attendant ills. But urbanisation, doesn't have to spell out the death of communion with nature.
It does require a certain amount of commitment on our part though. We need to take steps every day to notice nature, and welcome, and encourage it:

In South Africa, we have a term - Local is Lekker - which means buying locally made/grown/produced, is always better. Choose food that is locally grown as opposed to buying food which needs exponential amounts of energy just to get it to your door.

Encourage nature back into your garden by planting indigenous, or better yet, endemic plants. This gives animals a natural place to eat or rest - you'd be amazed at how quickly you will see all kinds of birds and wildlife returning to your garden.

Resist the urge to throw chemicals at your problems. Pesticides and herbicides are no solution - they just delay the inevitable. In extreme cases you may have no alternative, but most times all thats needed is a little patience. Nature's own balances, will kick in soon enough.

We need to take advantage of our prophetic viewpoint in SA, and begin learning from the mistakes made by other countries.

I do believe that every little action makes a difference - if we wait for governments or politicians to pass laws or push policies to protect and improve the environment, we'll be waiting till there are no longer cows to come home. We need to resolve to take a step now, no matter how small.

Durban Heat

2010-02-22T07:44:00.000+02:00

Durban is famous for many things; a collection of Art Deco buildings to rival Miami, some of the best beaches and waves in the world, the Sharks rugby team and a whole lot more besides. But one of Durban's hottest inventions is the bunny chow.
A quarter loaf of bread hollowed out, and filled with a tasty and extremely spicy curry. It's a meal of indistinct origins from the 1940's, but definitely worth experiencing on a trip to Durban. You know that it has to be good, if most Durbanites don't mind braving its spicy heat even in our ridiculously hot and muggy weather.

Working in the garden in Durban in Summer is also not for the feint-hearted. We've been seeing temperatures in the mid 30's (C) over the last few weeks, and combined with 80% humidity it makes for tough working conditions.
But this last week things have been hotting up for us even further. Having 5 of our 6 machines break down on our garden care service in a single day would always put the pressure on, but even more so during the season that sees our fastest growth. Throw in a few deadlines, and its no surprise we've been sweating quite a bit.

An ingenious garden feature that was used in North African and Mediterranean gardens to cool things down is the Rill. Its a narrow channel that was used to irrigate the hot courtyards in Arabic or Moorish style gardens.
As the water runs along the channel to water the fruit trees or gardens, it helped cool down the sheltered courtyards. Its a device we've used in our recent Sica's Guest House garden as a device to link the pool, and water feature along the main axis. It creates strong lines, and is ideal in a formal or contemporary garden.
Unfortunately, its not working just yet, so we'll have to brave the heat for a little longer.

I must admit I'm hoping this next week will be far more normal. Or at least a little cooler weather-wise. Maybe a bunny for lunch will help?

Behind The Scenes - A Restored Guest House Garden

2010-02-09T14:31:00.000+02:00

I've been working on the designs for a garden since the end of last year, for a beautiful old house high up on the ridge of Berea. I've driven past the house quite often in the past, and wondered when or if it would ever be renovated.

Last year, the owners of a guest house down the road took on the honourable task of restoring it to its original beauty. From white ant nests in the walls (which were held together in some places not with cement, but hard clay), to leaking roofs - I'm not sure if they realised the amount of work that was in store for them when they began. But they've taken to the task admirably, with the deadline of being ready for the 2010 World Cup looming.

My clients were incredibly trusting, and have allowed me quite a bit of freedom with the design of the garden. I felt obligated to make sure that the garden was a suitable adornment to the soon-to-be renovated house.

There were 2 main areas to the garden - the front entrance/parking area, and the back garden. I started with the design of the back area. This was the largest area, and I felt that this area would influence the design of the rest of the garden.

My first thoughts were that the garden needed to be terraced to make it more usable. A slope, even just a slight one can make it hard to use an area, so I prefer to level out a space to make it more inviting, and at the same time, allow it to be have multiple uses.
I also felt that because this back garden area was quite low down and there were no real views to make use of, the garden should be inward rather than outward looking.

The ideal way to do this would be to create a central focal point, and possibly screen the outside views with hedging, creating something close to a cloister garden.

The other aspect to bear in mind is that the garden will be viewed from above almost or more often than from inside. So it would be necessary to create a garden that would be as beautiful when looked down at from above. I believe the garden will have a very different feel when people take the time to walk down into it, than how they will perceive it from above. When you stand on the verandah on the main level, there is a great feeling of space and openness with views to the North West. You will look down onto a garden with a strong axis, focal points, and a lot of colour but it will still feel very open. Once in the garden it will feel far more introspective.

I thought the space would also lend itself to outdoor weddings, so in the long term it would be ideal to have an arbour on the lower terrace, which could also double-up as a shady outdoor eating area. A swimming pool in Durban is an absolute necessity. I positioned a long narrow pool on the top terrace, and then linked it with a rill to the main focal point which is a central fountain. Running water also helps cut out some of the faint sounds of traffic.

I wanted the garden to provide abundant cut flowers to be used in the guest house, so there will be a strong focus on flowers, and colour.

The Top 6 Aliens To Watch Out For

2010-01-19T11:19:00.000+02:00

You didn't expect to see little green men did you? This is a blog about Landscape Design - albeit from a South African perspective...but still...

I've recently joined Sprig as a guest blogger, and have written a post about an extremely important subject for us here in South Africa - Alien Invasive Plants. You may have noticed a few posts about the subject here before. I wrote about the efforts to control them through biological agents, and the differences between exotic and alien plants

Its important to be able to recognise them, so that you can eradicate them as quickly as possible. So here are some pictures of the most dangerous aliens to be on the lookout for where I live - in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa:

1. Chromolaena odorata - Triffid Weed - This plant spreads like wild-fire, because it seeds itself when it is still young, but it is easy to pull out when its still small.

2. Litsea glutinosa - Indian Laurel - I think this is our biggest threat here in KZN. Under a single tree, thousands of saplings shoot up. They grow at a rapid pace, and are difficult to pull out, even when small.

3. Cardiospermum grandiflorum - Balloon Vine - Grows up into the tops of trees extremely quickly, and spreads its seeds out of sight. Easy to spot and pull out when its still small.

4. Lantana camara - Don't confuse this with the hybrid, which is safe to plant. Easy to uproot when its still small.

5. Melia azederach - Syringa - Like Litsea, it grows quickly and is hard to remove even when small.

6. Schinus terebinthifolius - Brazilian Pepper - It used to be planted as a fast-growing hedge, because of its pretty berries, but soon became a pest.

Now that you know how to recognise them, take a walk through your garden, and pull them out as quickly as possible...

You can also download a pdf list of all the Invasive Alien Plants of South Africa.

My Darwin Awards Attempt

2010-01-12T14:20:00.000+02:00

Everybody wants to be famous, unfortunately for some of us, the only route to fame is infamy. I had decided to keep this embarrassing episode quiet, but infamy calls...

Things have been a little crazy around here the last couple of months - as you may have noticed by the lack of regular posts! I've had lots of ideas for posts rolling around inside my head, but have been seriously short on time because of the weather.

Like my plants, I am happiest when I see storm-clouds gathering, and I relish the prospect of getting drenched in a downpour. You'd probably have to be outside during a Durban summer to truly appreciate the satisfaction of being soaked in a rain shower.
But this year, its been an unreasonably-rainy and warm Summer, which has made it tough trying to fit in all the gardens that we had planned to finish by the Christmas deadline.

Rushing around in the rain and mud, its easy for accidents to happen, and my thoughts kept going back to last Christmas, when I attempted to add weight to Darwin's theory of evolution.

Christmas-eve 2008 was one of those days that just don't seem to have enough hours in it to get everything done. Deadlines, a lack of sleep, add to that a promise to lend a friend my 800 pound roller, and you've got the setup for the perfect Darwin Awards attempt.

I managed to get everything done by early evening, with just enough time to drop off my heavy roller (which takes about 6 strong men to load onto the back of my truck) at my friend's place before rushing to our traditional Christmas-Eve dinner with family.

By this time, all my staff were on their way home, so there was no-one to help me take the roller off the back of the truck. I reversed back up to a pile of sand, to help cushion the fall of the roller as I planned to get it off on my own.
What I didn't notice was the slight incline I had parked the vehicle on, so when I began to pull the roller towards the back, it began to gather momentum.
I stupidly thought that the best way to stop it was by putting my big steel-toe-capped shoes in the way. But the roller had other plans.
It proceeded to roll over my foot, and knock me off the back, onto the sand. At which point I realised too late, that it was still coming.
Before I could move, it fell off the back of the truck, crushing my legs before rolling away.

I lay in agony, before someone called the neighbour (an orthopaedic specialist) who told me that I had surprisingly not broken any bones.

I learned many valuable lessons that day, the most important of which was that no matter how big you think your feet are, never try to stop an 800 pound roller by standing in front of it! Also, don't try and fit too much in before a holiday.

To look on the positive side though - at least I got to truly put my feet up for the entire holidays, and not feel guilty about it. (It took about 4 weeks before I felt normal)
And I suppose I'll always feel a certain embarrassed camaraderie with the actual Darwin Award Winners...well, at least I'm not on my own...

Bad design kills - a gnome for the gnomes

2009-11-07T08:47:00.000+02:00

I think we have a serious problem on our hands. I predict unrest in monolithic proportions - if the garden gnomes around the world get wind of this.

I am sorry to say this but the garden gnome has been unceremoniously dethroned as the king of all redundant garden objects. I have just found an object that (as hard as it is to believe) is more redundant than the garden gnome!

I have been looking for a sundial to use as a focal point in a garden that we are finishing up, and found that I had 2 choices. The first being unsuitable because of its rustic look, but the second was closer to what I was looking for. Until I looked closer...

It didn't work. It was made for a Northern Hemisphere garden.

The only obvious answer to its source is that it was made here in South Africa. Surely it couldn't be cheaper or at all necessary to import a piece of concrete from somewhere above the equator?

So that means it was intentionally designed that way?

The person who designed this object is fully deserving of all Dwarvish Wrath that will surely come their way. But I really hope the Gnomes don't forget to scorn the people who sell, distribute and buy a piece of rubbish like this.

I surprised myself at the irrational irritation produced during this discovery. But after giving it some more thought, I realised that what really upset me has less to do with sundials and solidarity with gnomes and more to do with lazy, short-sighted, ill thought out or just plain bad design.

To my way of thinking - a man-made object with no function must have an allegorical, or an aesthetic reason for being. This had neither.

Good design has a lot of responsibility resting on its shoulders. I believe good design should make the world a better place to live in. It should make our lives better, easier, more pleasurable, and simpler. It should save us time, or money, or give us more energy. And truly good designs should be able to fulfill many or all of those descriptions at once.

Unfortunately there are too many bad designs out there, and too many people propagating them. To a certain extent nature evolves, we should take a leaf out of her book. We as intelligent beings should be looking to improve our design with every step, and in every aspect of our lives.

And we should shun bad design as if the lives of gnomes depend on it.

Update : Steeply Sloped Garden

2009-10-07T10:54:00.000+02:00

I got a chance today to visit a garden we completed in the beginning of winter this year. Its one of my favourite parts of my job - going back to check and see how things are going in a garden that I've planted months or even years before.

I approach these visits as if I were seeing a long lost friend again - with mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation. You're really looking forward to seeing them, but you're also wondering whether time may have been unkind to your friendship.

As much as I research, and deliberate and finally decide on a design for a garden, there are always things that I haven't bargained for, and sometimes things don't always turn out exactly as I'm expecting. Sometimes a certain plant may not have worked in its situation, other times, weather or pests have taken their toll.

But often the hard work does pay off. Sometimes I'm even pleasantly surprised to see how well things have taken. It may be a combination of plants that I'm trying for the first time or a plant that does very well in its new home. But it always makes me happy to see one of my gardens thriving.

Today was one of those days, and it also happily reinforced my love affair with grasses. The steep slope from the road up to the house, on which we planted mainly wild grasses is covered in lush green Aristida, and the bergundy plumes of Melinis are a lovely greeting as you drive into the property. Bearing in mind that the garden was planted at the beginning of a relatively dry winter, the growth has been amazing.

The only blight on the visit, was that white ants had eaten the bark off the base of 2 of the Crossberries that we planted on the bank, and in the process assigning them to the compost heap.

The groundcover in front is Asystasia, a pretty little groundcover that thrives in coastal sand dunes, and great for stabilizing banks quickly. The plan is that in time the grove of Cross berries will hide the fence, and blur the boundary. At the same time they will help create a bit of screening from the house.

The Consequences of a Life Disconnected

2009-09-11T09:46:00.000+02:00

I noticed today that the Jacarandas are flowering again. Here in South Africa, the purple portent was a signal to students to start studying for end of year exams. If you waited until they layed their purple carpet below the tree you were already in big trouble. How many of these natural signs do we pay attention to these days?
In the past, our ability to survive depended on our intimate knowledge, and connection with nature. We'd be watching for the migration of birds, or the lengthening of shadows to guide our decision making in everything from when to plant vegetables, to when to propose marriage.

In our modern day lifestyle, we live our lives very disconnected from nature. Seasons come and go, and we hardly notice the changes, cocooned in our temperature regulated environments. Food no longer comes from last seasons planned planting, but is neatly packaged at the local supermarket for our last-minute convenience.
Both are perfect examples of our great sophistication, our triumph over the capriciousness of life, and our ability to design our landscape to suit us. But what happened to working with nature? Good design has to be more than imposing our will on our environment, surely its got to include a harmonious relationship with the landscape.

I'm far from being ready to return to an agrarian existence, and finding ways to keep chickens in my 3rd floor apartment - as much as my cat would argue for the perfect logic of that decision. Nor do I plan on basing my decisions on the changing seasons, when science can give such exact information. But I just wonder if the repercussions of this basic disconnection are more insidious and far-reaching than we imagine.

The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

2009-08-21T12:00:00.000+02:00

Ok, I'm not holding out for my Nobel Prize, but I have got this roof gardening thing down to a simple, easy to use formula. Here it is, but remember, you saw it here first:

roof garden + high winds = hard, scary work

Throw in the fact that even though the artificial grass we were laying weighs nearly one and a half tons, and was being lifted by the wind as if it was a pancake being flipped on a teflon pan, and the fact that there is no real service elevator to get the couple of tons of materials up onto the roof of the 10 storey building...well lets just say my calf muscles would now give Usain Bolt a run for his money.

Anyone Have Any Garden Maintenance Advice?

2009-08-04T17:08:00.000+02:00

As part of our business, we provide a regular garden care service to many clients around the Durban area. We care for our gardens on a regular basis - mainly on a weekly or 2 weekly cycle.

For years we have struggled with finding a solution to the complications to our schedule created by not being able to work in heavy rain. Fortunately this is not much of a problem in our dry winter, but summer is just around the corner, and soon we'll be having our usual summer rains.

Sunny Durban in winter

Missing a day because of rain isn't too big a deal especially for our weekly clients - the garden still looks reasonably good. But missing 2 services in a row for fortnightly clients results in a gap of nearly a month between services. With the growth that we experience in summer, you'd be lucky to find your way to the front door through your garden.

I would love to find a solution that would make our clients happy, but would also not require us having to constantly play catch-up.

Any ideas or advice?

5 Points to Consider when Planning a Roof Garden

2009-07-31T14:59:00.000+02:00

This roof garden on Durban's Berea, must have some of the best views in Durban. We had been asked to install artificial grass in order to soften the hardness of the roof, which would also reduce the maintenance requirements of this lofty perch.

The garden was once a simple but attractive foreground to these spectacular views.

The garden is probably about 20 years old now, but there was some careful thought that was put into the planning of it initially, with some good ideas to keep in mind in the planning of any roof garden:

1. Wind-Barriers - As on most rooftops, wind is one of the biggest factors to be planning around. The plants initially chosen were all quite wind resistant, including the grass that was used as the lawn. The planting on the South East side where the prevailing wind comes from is quite dense, creating both privacy and protection from the wind. A solid barrier often creates swirling wind as air moves over or around it, but using plants to help minimize the chaotic movements of the wind, it filters and slows the wind rather than blocking it.

Plants create more effective wind-screens than any solid barrier

2. Frame the views - the planting on either side, framed the views of the city very well. This is one of the simplest methods of enhancing a view from any garden By creating a frame, using plants on either side and even above, your eye is naturally drawn out towards the views. Thick safety glass was used all around the edge, so that there is almost nothing blocking the views of the city and ocean beyond.

3. Don't Distract from the view - there was nothing too showy in the planting. A common mistake when planting in front of a view is to use plants or features, that are bold and distracting. This is especially easy to do on a rooftop, where space is a premium and you want to get the most out of the space available. You should rather look to emphasize the best features - in this case the views outside of the garden. By adding too much visually to the garden, it pulls the focus away from the view. As always though, good design is a tightrope walk as you try to balance all the considerations.

Views out from the entertainment area

4. Use Wind-resistant plants - As I mentioned before, the plants initially chosen were all very wind resistant. Using succulents, and plants that would naturally thrive in similar conditions is a good place to start. Wild grasses and flaxes are also a great complement to a rooftop garden. In this case, the plants chosen were also salt resistant, because of the proximity to the ocean.

View out between palms, showing Moses Mabhida Stadium in the distance

5. Careful Maintenance is essential - For several reasons, maintenance is an extremely important part of any roof garden. Moisture on the ceiling below is an all too common problem when the waterproofing hasn't been done properly. But when plants with very aggressive roots are left to thrive in the small reservoir of soil on a rooftop, you are just asking for trouble. This is a problem easily avoided in the early stages, but with serious consequences if left too long.

Ficus natalensis preparing itself for roof-garden-domination

In this case, a fig, which has probably been planted by birds using the garden as a resting point, has now become quite large, even managing to squeeze in between the glass panels. This is one of the worst plants you could allow to establish itself, because of its massive root system. This should be cut back and poisoned as soon as possible.

Our next step with laying the artificial grass, is to put down a porous base for drainage, and then begin laying out the Duraturf. Once completed, I will post some before and after pictures of the garden.

Some Soul In The City - Durban

2009-07-17T15:32:00.000+02:00

This month seems to be a month for straying from the subject a little. So if you'll indulge me again, you'll see the tenuous link to landscape design and gardening. It is there, its just hidden behind the charity.

Gardening in a 'Third World' (although that term doesn't quite describe SA's contrasting economies) can sometimes look a little agrarian at times. Eating food grown through subsistence farming is probably the closest many South Africans may ever come to enjoying their garden. Those of us fortunate enough to look at gardening from a purely aesthetic vantage point don't get to experience a worldview where plants are functional long before they are beautiful.

But that's just what about 350 Christian students from the UK have had a chance to experience this past week. Working in various projects in some of the poorest communities around Durban, they've been helping out doing anything from caring for abandoned and HIV positive children, planting and digging vegetable gardens, painting orphanages, planting trees, and vegetable gardens, putting up wash lines, running kids clubs, soccer and volleyball tournaments.... All this, at their own expense!

As part of Soul Survivor, they each saved up about £1000 to pay for their plane ticket, accommodation and food to fly across the globe for 2 weeks, so that they could come to our city and help out in the various projects scattered around Durban. The movement is called Soul In The City (SITC) and they've already done this in a few other cities around the world, but I think SITC Durban is the furthest they've travelled in making a difference in peoples lives.

I'm amazed by these kids generosity. love and energy...

The Search for an Alternative to Lawn...

2009-07-16T09:49:00.000+02:00

While walking through a garden this morning, I stumbled on a very strange plant growing as a 'weed' in a very sad lawn. Its the middle of winter here, so most lawns look like they are just hanging on to life by their bare stolons. The only things that seem to be thriving are the weeds.

I noticed the plant, because of its pretty pink flowers - and although there was something quite familiar about it, I didn't think I had seen it before. That is until I looked closer.

The flowers looked very much like the flowers of a ribbon bush - Hypoestes aristata. For those of you that don't know it, its a great indigenous shrub, that gets covered in pink or purple flowers that look like little bits of ribbon spread all over the place. It normally gets to about 1.5 - 2m in height if its left to its own devices. But here its growing quite contentedly - and its being kept regularly cut at about an inch in height! Given time, it will probably happily replace the lawn.

Hypoestes aristata

Hypoestes is a great garden shrub. It likes to be well watered and fed, and if you pay it some nominal attention, it will look good throughout the year. It grows in full sun and shade, but will flower better with more sun.
Its also a favourite snack for most buck along the coastal forest of eastern South Africa - as I found out too late, after planting a garden with it!

Here though, its a great example of the ability of most plants to adapt and thrive in almost any conditions. Without any looking after, its looking green and even flowering. It probably would not have entered my mind, and isn't the ideal, if you're looking for an alternative to lawn. But here it is doing quite well when the grass around it is looking dry and brown.

The Thyme Garden by Dan Pearson

The search for lawn alternatives hasn't truly begun here in South Africa - the ideal for any SA garden is still a perfect monoculture of grasses that require copious amounts of water and fertiliser, and weekly mowing. But the tide will turn. Eventually. We will begin to realise the real cost of this unsustainable ideal of having most of, and every garden covered in lawn.

The difficulty comes in that, in most peoples minds there is no alternative to a beautiful green lawn - even I sometimes find it hard to imagine anything better. And lets face it very little beats that look of a perfectly mown carpet of grass. But I think its the responsibility of every gardener to help swing the tide by putting alternatives out there. How about a wildflower meadow? Or even planting some indigenous/native grasses to let them grow tall, and cutting pathways through? People want what they see, so we as designers, need to put examples out there to try to coax them out of their comfort zones.

Amy Stewart's Backyard Garden

Fynbos meadow at Farm 215 in the Overberg

Indigenous Beauties : Aloe vanbalenii

2009-07-08T15:10:00.000+02:00

Who needs flowers when you've got this Aloe in your garden?

Aloe vanbalenii

I started these 'Indigenous Beauties' posts as a way of highlighting indigenous plants that are not very commonly used in the garden, but really should be. This plant doesn't quite fit into that category, because I've noticed that people are paying more attention to this particular Aloe...and for good reason.

Aloes are especially useful in a garden, because they mostly flower in winter when everything else is looking dry and spent. Add to this, the fact that during hot, dry periods, the foliage of many aloes will start to turn red, and you'll begin to see their unique place in a garden.

Aloe vanbalenii especially, needs very little attention, and forms dense clumps of competing plants. In times of plentiful water, or in a little shade, their foliage is a pleasing apple green, but as the heat increases, they turn a deep orange-red colour. They remind me of a bunch (what is the collective-noun?) of Octopuses jostling for their place in the sun.

Their foliage looks great in combination with yellows and other warm colours. Here they've been planted with equally hardy silvery Kleinia fulgens to fill the gaps. The silver really emphasises their colour.

They are stemless, so they don't get tall, but each plant will spread to about 1m wide and about 50cm high. Their flowers are yellow, and occasionally pink.

A Time For Everything

2009-07-02T14:20:00.000+02:00

Well, its been a while since my last post... the last few months have been quite difficult. My mom passed away last month after a long fight with cancer. We weren't taken by surprise, but I don't think you can ever be entirely prepared for losing someone close to you.
Her death has brought about a time of contemplation (which is probably quite common) in my life, and I haven't felt much like getting back into the daily tasks of life. The pull to continue with this blog has felt a little like the plant sitting on my window-sill, calling me to feed and water it and get on with life.
I haven't known how to get the process of writing going again, so I decided to start with where my thoughts are at the moment. So if you'll forgive this departure from gardening for a moment...

My Mom was an amazingly, strong, positive woman who taught me to enjoy life, and to squeeze every drop out of it. She had a pretty difficult time during her life, but she almost always had a smile and a laugh even when things were at their worst.

She was an expert markswoman receiving numerous awards for her shooting abilities. She enjoyed her shooting so much so, that she was back on the shooting range two days after having given birth to my sister.
Everyone who knew her, and especially those she spent time with in her last days were surprised at the measure of strength and positivity that she held right up to the end.

Thinking about the life she lived, makes me realise how much of our attitude and outlook is based on a choice that we make in every moment, in spite of our circumstances or situation. I 've also realised the need to prioritise the things that I value the most, and to try to keep my focus on the things that are most important. I hope I can savor every moment of life by a similar measure that my mother has set for me.

Almost Successful Minimalist Front Garden

2009-06-10T10:53:00.000+02:00

I'd been waiting in anticipation when I saw the bones of this landscape being formed. I was looking forward to how it would turn out, because it looked like it would be something different to the usual front verge on Essenwood road.

As it turned out, it was different. But to tell you the truth, I was disappointed. Where it had great potential was in its basic structure, but it was let down from that point on.

Everybody has their own opinion on what makes a beautiful design, but there are some basic fundamental things that make a good concept into a good design. And only a good design can be beautiful.

To play with an old saying by St Augustine - In all things sensible compulsory, in all things aesthetic freedom, but in all things passion.

I appreciate the minimalist simplicity of the design, and it probably looked good on paper. Breaking the bank up using terraces was a good practical idea, and the curve gave it something fresh. The huge rocks emboldened the design. The use of Aloes gives a different feel, they're low maintenance, and when they flower, will look amazing.

But the positives can only carry it so far. The first and biggest flaw, is using grass that has to be constantly cut, more than a metre off the ground. Why not use a simple ground-cover, even something as over-used in South African gardens as Mondo grass would have been better from a maintenance point of view. Who wants to lug a lawnmower up onto a terrace?

Why do people over-use white pebbles? Gardeners that use them remind me of magpies that are just attracted to shiny and sparkly things, thinking that the garden will somehow be improved by them. As a general rule, use white pebbles sparingly. They seldom stay white anyway.

You should always be careful using contrast in a garden. There is a very fine line between contrast and kitsch. I believe the design would have been better if the pebbles used had picked up on another colour in the design - whether the rock that they are spread around, the plants used or even the colour of the walls.

In a situation like this, where the rocks themselves are the focus of the design, they should be chosen and positioned deliberately. Japanese garden design has very precise ancient guidelines for using rocks, and while this is not an oriental garden - those guidelines are built around good aesthetics, and should be followed more often than not if you want rock to work well in a design. But that's probably a post for another day. In this case, the third rock looked completely out of place - it was flat and didn't have the presence that the other rocks had.

Another basic mistake made, was not hiding the water valve (it was at least hidden in the standard municipal cover). The design could have been easily adjusted to obscure the box, while still giving access to the meter. It was painted the same colour as the wall, which helps to make it less noticeable.

The choice of Pachpodium as the main feature plant (although it is small it will get a nice size in a few years) for the back of the planting looks slightly out of place - but that's probably just my personal preference rather than any design flaw.

Some of these mistakes are basic, and some might seem nit-picky, but I think this little garden could have been very successful had the person who designed it paid that extra attention to detail, instead I think its been left a little short-changed.

A Crush on Chelsea?

2009-06-10T07:55:00.000+02:00

Its not actually my thumbs that are green at the moment - I'm just generally envious after looking at photos of the Chelsea Flower Show. I've been wanting to visit Chelsea ever since I learnt how to say ~~Chrysalidocarpus lutescens~~ Agapanthus.

We miss-timed our holiday by a couple of weeks (in my opinion not my wife's) a few years ago while visiting the UK and back-packing around Europe, and didn't get to see any of the spectacular gardens on display. I did however, get to see a wall at the back of the Royal Hospital Grounds, as we got lost on the way to IKEA - but that's sadly as close as I've come.

I've developed this slight crush on Chelsea, because (judging from photo's only, mind you) you get to see what can be done, with a lot of imagination and similar quantities of cash. I'm sure that very few of the gardens are long-lasting, or could be easily transferred into a real-life garden. But Chelsea's gardens set a standard, and in some cases push the limits of what gardens could be in an ideal world.

So every year, I scour the internet for pictures, vicariously appreciating the gardens from 11000 miles away. But I console myself with the thought that in most cases the actuality of something isn't what you've built it up to be, and judging from my friend Viv's experience, it can be painful too.
She also wrote a story for the Times, in which she talks about how the budget's were pruned back this year, but that designers were taking a positive approach, and showing ways to garden on a small budget and recycle where possible.

I've also found some great pictures of Chelsea by Robert McMillan from Garden Focus.

So I guess another year goes by that I didn't get to visit Chelsea for myself, but so what...at least I have those amazing ice trays from IKEA!

Redesigning the Umhlanga Promenade

2009-06-01T08:34:00.000+02:00

Umhlanga (the Zulu word for 'place of reeds') is a thriving coastal holiday town, within easy distance of Durban. Apart from catering to a regular influx of tourists throughout the year, it also has a large portion of permanent residents, and visitors from around the area. The beaches are great, with excellent waves for surfing, and rock pools for kids. There are amazing restaurants close by, and Gateway - one of the biggest shopping malls in the Southern Hemisphere is just at the top of the hill. But it has always had a bit of a run-down look about it.

A few years back I did quite a bit of work in the gardens at some of the main hotels on the beach in Umhlanga. It always struck me that the walkway in front of the hotels, was an amazing asset, that was not being fully valued.
It should be an ideal place to go for a walk or a run, or to take your dog for a walk, but the walkway was uneven and narrow in places, and it was not very well lit at night.

But recently, the municipality has been doing some improvements to the area. The entire stretch of coast has been re-designed to make better use of the beach, and to generally improve the walkway, landscaping, storm water run-off and access down to the beach. After the recent storms which washed away sections of the beach and dunes, retaining walls were built to prevent this from happening again.

There has also been opposition to the changes - as there always is. But some of the residents of the area's concerns are valid - they have been worried about (among other things) the improved access resulting in more noise, increased amounts of vagrants, and worsening of security in the area. All of which can be controlled or mitigated if taken into account in the planning and design of the promenade.

After taking a walk along the promenade yesterday - it is still under development - I was impressed by what has gone on since I last visited. The new pier with its whale bone structure looked impressive and gave a glimpse of what the finished promenade should look like. The promenade itself is wide and the finer details are pleasing. The planting is still being done, but a few of the hotels are also taking some initiative by improving and landscaping their access to the promenade. The retaining wall, along the length of the beach, although functional and necessary is the only aspect that I'm unsure of its long-term success. Any planting in the walls is unlikely to survive without a fair amount of maintenance, which I don't see happening in the long term. And besides I'm not sure how well the walls will stand up to stormy waves battering them anyway?

The finished Umhlanga Promenade should be an asset to the entire area when completed, and already people are using it. I was surprised to see how many families, walkers and runners were using it - even in its unfinished state in the middle of winter. I guess the glorious sunshine didn't hurt though?

Indigenous Beauties : Stapelia gigantea

2009-05-22T07:09:00.000+02:00

I love using contrasts in a garden, and Stapelia seems to have more than its fair share of contrasts all in one plant. The best description I can think of for this plant is that its Pretty Awful - but in a good way?

Stapelia gigantea
Carrion Flower

If you are used to looking at the fairly nondescript succulent stems for most of the year, the flower when it arrives, starting with a blood red bud, opens up into an incredibly beautiful pale yellow flower. The fleshy flower itself seems too big for the small stems, and although it looks amazing, it smells terrible - unless you're a fly of course.

Its common name is Carrion Flower because of its use of its awful rotting flesh smell to attract insects - and particularly flies. The flies spread pollen from one flower to the next as the pollen sacs get stuck to them.

The stems are four-sided and are spineless, and are able to withstand extremes - from dry to relatively moist conditions. It can be planted in semi-shade, but will flower well in full sun. It would often be found in rocky, sandy soil, and even in rock crevasses, where its root benefits from the coolness of the stone. It's large flowers put on their show from summer to autumn.

They generally need a cool dry winter period, and can be cultivated very easily. Stapelia is definitely an easy plant to grow and look after - and is well worth finding a spot for it. But preferably where a breeze will dilute its odour!

Advice on Dealing With Your Garden Designer

2009-05-18T10:05:00.000+02:00

I've recently had some meetings with an architect where I presented some ideas for a project in the Umhlanga area.
I had initially presented an idea to him, where he gave good constructive feedback. He was very clear about what he liked, and what he didn't like about the concept. We agreed on the areas that needed re-thinking, and planned to meet the following week to review the changes.

When we met again, he was very pleased with the final concept, and I left feeling quite relieved.
He was quite apologetic for being so direct with his criticism, but I assured him that I appreciated his feedback.
It really highlighted for me again the value of good, clear, honest communication. Only when we can speak openly without fear of offending, is it possible to get a final result that everyone is happy with. It was only because of his comments that I was able to improve on what I had initially drawn up.

Another aspect that is important to understand in this process of design is that when you are dealing with your landscaper/designer, nothing is final. Almost anything can be altered in order to improve the overall design, and its best to make changes earlier rather than later - because once the design is finalised, changes result in delays, which almost always bring extra costs.

How Do You Classify A Garden?

2009-04-29T16:19:00.000+02:00

Gardening in this new millennium, has become a very different creature to what it once was. In some ways this is an oddity - gardening as a craft being at its core, so basic and archaic, is so intrinsically separate from technology.

But technology has had its effect though - through the development and use of new materials and technologies but also through the spread of ideas via the internet and media.

A Plant Dominant Indigenous Garden

There is more discussion taking place today about gardening and about what defines a garden than has ever taken place before. This conversation is occurring between professionals and hobbyists, intellectuals and labourers.

Out of this conversation, a question I've been asking myself lately is -

'How do you classify a garden?'

Even as I write that, I can hear some people saying, "Why would you even want to classify a garden? A garden is something to be appreciated and felt, and admired."
That is all true, but I see so many types of gardens, from all over the world that it is becoming harder to fit them into the traditional definitions that I'm used to, and as a result, harder to understand.

I believe that people take comfort in our ability to divide and classify the world and put it into nice neat little boxes. In some ways it even makes us human - this ability to define something.

Gardening as an art-form, has not been spared this need to separate and define. Formal, Contemporary, English Country, Eastern, Natural, Wild, Indigenous, Zen...the list goes on and on.

A Structure Dominant Wild Garden

With this classification of gardens into types, and because of the continual segmentation, and the blurring of lines, I believe there exists a need to define gardens in more general terms.

To explain, I'll use an example that we as gardeners are familiar with - just as a particular plant has a Genus, and is then divided into its species, the Species of gardens (i.e. Tropical, Minimalist, Formal) need to be grouped together into Genera.

This is necessary, not for the sake of classifying for classifying's sake.
But rather as:

a way to clear up miscommunication between client and designer.
a tool for teaching and passing on knowledge in clear terms.
a spur to push designers and gardeners to try something different, and venture into new territory.

The most obvious way of defining, would be to look for the defining dominance in the design of the garden.

Plant dominant - Where the garden's essence is about the plants themselves (Tropical, Indigenous/native, English Country, Natural, Collector)
Concept dominant - These gardens revolve around an idea or concept(Zen, Feng Shui, Modern)
Structure dominant - These gardens have strong shape and/or geometry (Formal, Contemporary, Minimalist)
Function dominant - Where the function of the garden takes precedence (Lawn for playing, Parking Area, Patio)

This defining dominance would be primarily visual - it would be the character of the garden that unifies it or makes it stand out. It could also be intellectual - a garden built around an idea or concept that may or may not be immediately obvious, but that was the guiding principle behind its design. (e.g. Jenck's - Garden of Cosmic Speculation)

A Structure Dominant Formal Garden

But gardens are not always so easily put into their respective boxes, and here is where the Linnaeus analogy becomes inadequate. The gardens themselves may fall into more than one of the above groups. For example, a typical tropical garden at its essence is built around particular types of plants (Plant Dominant), but if the structure of the garden dominates, it could also be Structure Dominant. As to which is truly dominant would become a more subjective matter.

To use a more specific example - many of Gertrude Jekyll's garden's would have been strongly Plant dominant, but with Sir Edwin Lutyens' architectural input, they also had a very strong Structure dominance.

I see the practicalities of this idea being in creating a concept that makes communication clearer and simpler between client and designer, student and teacher, and between various professions relating to the gardening industry.

Gardening has been an art that has been nurtured by the hands of amateurs through the ages, and has at times, and in various cultures been analysed by the mind as well as the heart, but as the world gets internet-smaller, and communication happens across the globe, the thought processes behind garden design will and should become more apparent and utilised by the lay-person and professional alike.
For this reason, I believe that it would help if we spoke in similar terms.

Gardening on a Balcony

2009-04-28T08:08:00.001+02:00

After 20 years of gardening, I'm amazed that I'm still amazed by the effect that plants have on a space. I don't often get to appreciate this first-hand, because I usually have to leave my gardens behind when I go home.

Michelle and I bought a flat a little over a year ago, and one of the things that really appealed to us was the big balcony, which in Durban is a great asset for enjoying our sweltering hot summers.

Its taken us a while, because up until now we've had other priorities, but we've finally gotten round to tackling the balcony.

The cage over the succulents is to keep our
vegetarian cat from munching

The catalyst was a pair of old pots that I had laying around from an old show that I did a few years back. After several coats of charcoal coloured paint to cover their awful green colour, and a quick trip down to the nursery, we had the impetus we needed to really get stuck in to planning and fixing up the area. Which up till now has become a bit of a dumping ground for all the stuff that has nowhere else to go.
A terracotta pot that we've tried quite unsuccessfully to grow herbs in, is now the home for all the succulents that I haven't been able to resist buying when I've been shopping for plants for clients.

Sitting down and appreciating the balcony with the plants, a cup of tea and Michelle's fresh baked biscuits this afternoon, it finally felt like a space that I can enjoy.

Now to figure out the furniture...

What does N:P:K stand for, and is it a four-letter word?

2009-04-24T16:12:00.003+02:00

I'm asked this often, so here is the short answer:

N : Nitrogen (Good for growth of foliage)
P : Phosphorous (Good for roots and flowers)
K : Pottasium (Good for fruit & general health of the plant)
Four-letter word?: Yes & No

The numbers (e.g. 3:1:5 or 2:3:2) that you see on a bag of fertilizer represent the proportion of these 3 elements - N:P:K.

Some quick facts:

A lack of Nitrogen is usually quite apparent when the green foliage of your lawn or plants becomes pale. (Although this is not the only reason for pale leaves)
Phosphorous does not move through the soil, so it should only be added in small amounts near the roots of plants, so that it can be absorbed easily.
Potassium deficiency shows up when the edges of leaves and the area between the veins start to go yellow. Potassium helps plants handle changes in temperature.
Generally speaking, unless the fertiliser is slow release (it will have (SR) after the N:P:K) you should always water your plants straight after applying in order to prevent any burning of the plants, and to help them to absorb the nutrients easily. Wash your hands immediately for the same reason.
The plant family Fabaceae (e.g. Peas, Beans, Acacia, Indigofera, Crotalaria) has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria which actually helps add Nitrogen to the soil naturally.

But good-old-fashioned granular or chemical fertilizer is poo-pooed (sorry I couldn't resist that) in many circles these days, rather there is a strong move towards using organic fertilizers instead.

The problem with this particular type of fertilizer has resulted from its over-use, and mis-use. Chemical fertilizers are sometimes applied in larger quantities than can be absorbed by the plants or held by the soil, they then leach down into the groundwater and rivers, and can result in the death of fish amongst other things.
It is also believed that in large quantities over time, they can actually poison the soil and kill off the natural organisms that are essential for plants and organisms in the soil.

My personal opinion is that chemical fertilizers should always be just a very small portion of the food that we provide for our soil and plants. Because the elements are in their basic form, and therefore easily absorbed, they are often great as a short term solution.
But organic fertilizers, such as composts and manures, provide a whole host of other macro and micro nutrients, as well as improving the structure of the soil. For these reasons, they are always better in the long run.

Lazy Landscapers

2009-04-17T17:40:00.002+02:00

Plants are to a garden designer what words are to a writer. The larger a writer's vocabulary, the better they are able to communicate with their audience.
Unfortunately many garden designers have a very limited 'vocabulary', and they tend to only plant those few plants that they know, regardless of the conditions or what might be appropriate to the site or design.

Every landscaper or garden designer does have their palette of plants that they prefer to use, but those preferences should never be at the expense of good design.

I have been seeing a profusion of 'landscapers' lately, that seem to have a very small range of plants that they use, with the result being that all their gardens start to look the same. In some cases I've had to fix some of these gardens that have been planted up with plants that are not suited to our coastal conditions. All this because garden designers are either lazy and/or have a very limited range.

I believe that the only justifiable excuse for getting stuck using the same old plants, is when we have to revert to plants that need to be easy to look after. In these cases, when the person caring for the garden has limited skills, then its defensible to stick to safe and easy plants. The challenge then for us as landscapers is to be looking for easy-maintenance plants that we can add to our repertoir for situations like these.

How can we as garden designers not be continually learning, reading, watching and testing. We should relish the chance to try new plants, and experiment with new combinations. We should be constantly stealing from others (with our eyes of course)!

But really, how can we justify always using the same old boring plants?