natural history
Franchesca Watson reflects on the gardens that have left a lasting impression
PARADISE FOUND Oscar de la renta, september 2012
The late oscar de la renta’s garden in the dominican republic has everything I love – tropical and scented plants, strong design, individuality and local limestone walls and pavings. he layered the gorgeous bold planting over a strong formal grid design. The space benefitted from his gardening experience and their design and gardening confidence shines through in this most elegant and exciting space. ‘You need to contain certain things, and then let others go,’ he said. so true.
BRIGHT STRUCTURE sheila boardman, may 2016
The symmetry of layout and the exuberance of the colourful mixed borders make this garden a tour de force in the traditional country house manner. With formal elements such as soaring pergolas and clipped patterned hedges, set amongst crafted borders of roses, flowering shrubs, annuals and perennials, the idyll of this english-style garden beguiles and satisfies the most romantic garden lovers.
A NATURAL HIGH KIRSTENBOSCH BOOMSLANG, AUGUST 2015
The Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway – or the Boomslang – at Kirstenbosch is one of those amazing structures that really push the boundaries of experience. Inspired by a snake skeleton, the walk takes one from the ground soaring up into and above the forest canopy of the natural areas of Kirstenbosch, allowing views and tactile encounters that are like inhabiting an avian life. This project embodies close collaboration between engineering, architecture and horticulture, something that is becoming more everyday.
NATURAL ORDER Henk Scholtz, April 2012
This extraordinary farm garden by henk scholtz is quite an experience and the rigidly formal design defies all odds: intense heat, drought, wind, poor stony soil, and baboon invasions. Ingenious beyond imagination, it’s a lesson in sustainability, achieving a dramatic elegance with a tight palette of highly suitable plants. henk’s work is always consistently clear, and reflects his view of the world and his pared down sensibility. This garden showcases all his skills, achieving a Versailles-like effect in an incredibly hostile and stark environment.
WELL TURNED OUT ANOUSKA HEMPEL, JULY 2004
repetition, form and monochrome are always a winning recipe and I don’t know of many gardens where they are combined to such great effect. and I love the way that the overhanging trees give a wild feel to the ensemble.
BREAKING NEW GROUND PATRICK WATSON, MAY 2013
I am awed by the concept behind this garden – the strict use of highveld grasses, bulbs and perennials, a large percentage of which are rescued from local development sites. There is a geometric pattern of simple mowed grass pathways between which is spread the mosaic of summer treasures, a collection at once simple and precious. no drama, no pretensions, just an emblematic compilation of everyday grassland plants that are becoming rarer every day – something that will accumulate in importance as we busily destroy our countryside.
FINE FORM AND HARMONY MARIO RODRIGUES AND ANDREW IRVING, DECEMBER 2010
The otherworldly feel of this garden is created by the cathedral-like grove of palms into which the garden is woven. The fronds of the palm ‘ceiling’ create patterns on the surface of the central raised pool, set like a glassy pond in an oasis. The bold textures of hosts of tropical plants such as giant ferns, delicious monsters and orchids make up the understory. The whole effect is of a subtropical paradise.
COLLECTIVE EFFORT FRANCHESCA WATSON, OCTOBER 2016
I love this garden because it’s so striking – it has to be to stand up against the bold, simple architecture which extends strongly into the garden in the form of chunky dark stone walls. There are lavish bodies of water, mirroring and balancing the bulk of the house. Subtle plant combinations with an emphasis on texture soften and complement the overall scheme, and there’s a grove of Silver birches planted hard up against the house walls, which is always a winner. It has a lovely Scandinavian feel.
BEYOND BORDERS KATHY WADDELL, OCTOBER 2014
This garden in the foothills of the Tsitsikamma Mountains fully acknowledges its sense of place. Tapestries of local plants are used to blend the garden into its wilder surroundings, be that undisturbed natural growth or planted forests. There is an austere beauty to this garden; there’s little fuss and plenty of sustainable planting that combines practicality with fabulous texture. There is a disciplined approach – less is more – and this gives an admirable purity to the natural arrangement of the planting.
THE BEST OF FRONDS EMMIE AND LUCIA VAN WYK, NOVEMBER 2000
This Komatipoort garden in the Lowveld has a distinctly African feel I love. An essay in colour and texture, it breaks all the rules and looks surprisingly current. Plants are chosen for their architectural form, be it palms or strappy clumps of Ophiopogon ground covers. Bold colour is introduced with vivid scarlet-flowering Clerodendrum
paniculatum and metallic red and copper Crotons.
LIFE FROM STONE TIM STEYN, SEPTEMBER 2013
This garden was my first introduction to the work of Tim Steyn, which I find incredibly sure-footed. The tall modern house, with its strong, clean lines, perches on a rocky koppie on the Westcliff ridge. The wild styled garden rises sharply up behind the house, a perfect complement to the house and the site. Tim has clothed it in a blanket of flowing grasses enriched with clumps of aloes and other indigenous treasures. A few loose Acacia caffra trees lead one up the stone steps, a stairway to heaven, a perfect composition.
OF TREES AND STILL WATERS MARY MAUREL, APRIL 2015
This large Constantia garden has at its heart a set of four very modern Corten-steel serenity ponds, placed in order to reflect the majestic collection of old trees. Mary Maurel’s simple arrangement over three levels offsets the strong lines of the water and trees with a softly exuberant planting of grasses, agapanthus and gaura. The combination of painterly planting and architectural lines is a signature of her lovely, composed gardens.