Choose to suit your space
Shaping your garden can be truly rewarding, especially if you know what you’re doing
I HAVE just returned from a three-week hike in Patagonia, Chile, in one of the last remaining true wilderness areas.
Being surrounded by the snowcapped Andes Mountains daily gives you a sense of space and beauty beyond your wildest imagination.
March is the start of autumn, with shorter days and cooler evenings. A lot of rain has fallen in the past few weeks.
When designing your garden, you need to determine the size before selecting the plants you want to buy. The wrong choice of plant could mean it may be too big or too small. This is the biggest mistake most homeowners make when designing a new garden.
Always start with the selection of trees as this forms the main structure. Next are the shrubs, which can vary from large to fairly small, deciduous or evergreen, flowering or non-flowering.
Most shrubs like to be pruned once a year, which keeps the plant in shape and restricts its size. If you have a large garden, often you will plant shrubs that grow 6m high – preferably evergreen.
Many medium to small gardens will be planted with shrubs that can grow tall but once finished flowering will need to be pruned. We are spoilt for choice in KwaZulu-Natal, as we have so many shrubs that grow quickly and flower throughout the year.
Flowering at different times of the year allows you to have colour year-round.
Listed below are shrubs that will suit most gardens:
● Plumbago auriculata – flower colours vary from dark blue to white. Grows into a very large shrub, requires very little water and flowers throughout the year. Grows best when pruned every few year. Can be cut back hard. Best in full sun along walls.
● Tecoma capensis – Cape Honeysuckle. Grows well with the previous shrub. Grows quickly, flowers most of the year and provides lots of nectar for sunbirds and other nectar feeding birds. Grows best when cut back hard and kept into a small compact shrub. Full sun.
● Bauhinia galpinii – Pride of De Kaap. Large scrambling shrub that should be left for many years to grow into a large plant. Once fully mature can be pruned to keep it in shape. Best grown in full sun in a large garden. Flowers in late summer for many months, with light red flowers. Easily grown from seed.
● Polygala myrtifolia – September bush. Grows to about 3m in dune bush, forest margins and to altitudes of 1 350m. Pea shaped purple to mauve flowers, compact shrub that is easily grown from a seed. Can be pruned to shape. Flowers visited by Carpenter bees.
● Hypoestes aristata – Ribbon Bush. Small compact shrub, 1.5m, that flowers in winter. Easily grown from cuttings. Can grow in full sun or dappled shade. Flowers are pink to bright magenta, with dark purple speckles. Cut back hard after flowering.
● Plectranthus ecklonii – Large spur flower bush. Erect to 2.5m in height. Grows into a large compact shrub that can be cut back hard after flowering. Flower colour varies from purple to pink to white. Flowers from February to May. Grows in sun or shade. Fills large gaps in the garden and responds to hard pruning. Very colourful in late summer.
● Dracaena aletriformis – Large-leaved dragon tree. Grows in deep shade along the coastal regions of KwaZulu-Natal. Best planted in large clumps or in pots that can be grown in deep shade. Normally a single stem with green strapshaped leaves, produced terminally, and grows to about 3-4m in height. Flowers are very fragrant, especially at night. Grows on a terminal spike. Easily propagated from seed.
● Tetradenia riparia – Iboza. This flowers from May-August and has purple to white flowers. It has been used in landscaping for many years due to its hardy nature, and can grow and flower in both sun and shade. Does not require good soil so can survive in most conditions. Deciduous in winter when it flowers. Used by traditional healers as a way of clearing nasal passages simple by placing some leaves in boiling water and inhaling the vapours. Grows well in herbaceous borders. Prune, when it loses its leaves, to half its size.
● Leonotis leonoris – Wild Dagga. Grows in coastal grasslands up to 2000m. Flowers in winter which is a huge bonus for not just landscapers but birds and bees. Easily grown from cuttings or seed. Flowers produced in clusters of 3-11 up the stem, with flower colour ranging from bright orange to white during the winter months. In Cape Town this past week end, the Leonitis were all in full flower. This is a must for all gardens, as it grows easily in poor soils and flowers in winter.
● Dombeya burgessiae – pink wild pear. Large shrub, 6m, that grows along forest margins and rocky outcrops. Large heart-shaped leaves that are hairy. Flowers vary in colour, from deep to pale pink or white, with pink veins, that hang in branched, drooping, axillary heads from April to August. Very fragrant at night. It must be pruned each year to keep it in shape and size, as this can grow into a very large shrub.