Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Noordhoek is ‘house and village proud’
RESIDENTS of Noordhoek will open their gardens to the public next weekend, for the second annual Noordhoek Open Gardens.
The public will be able to stroll through 14 gardens over Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 4pm.
Each day, 10 gardens will open their gates.
The open day is a collaboration between Noordhoek Tourism and On The Verge, a community greening and gardening project.
Kathy Fish, founder of On The Verge, said Noordhoek’s residents were “house proud and village proud”.
There are four categories of gardens on show: large, medium, food and indigenous.
“In Noordhoek, you get a lot of indigenous gardens with properties that are full sun,” said Fish.
Local Girl Guides will help by selling tickets at entrances. It costs R25 to enter each garden. Day passes cost R100, and allow entrance to all 10 gardens for one day. Children under 18 enter free.
All proceeds go towards On the Verge.
Fish, who started the nonprofit community organisa- tion seven years ago, said it employs four gardeners from Masiphumelele. Every Wednesday, a gardening team tends the verges of roadsides, traffic circles and commons.
The gardeners, including community members, also clear alien vegetation and keep walking and riding paths free from overgrowth.
On The Verge, which receives financing from local sponsors, had planted more than over 100 trees and “beautified” 28 verges, said Fish.
Entrance fees from last year’s Noordhoek Open Gardens raised funds for a trailer and water carrier, which helped the roadside gardens make it through the dry and windy summer months.
Noordhoek Open Gardens takes place next Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Visit www.noordhoektourism. co.za for a map and further details. jan.cronje@inl.co.za