Heart Veld

In the small town of Prince Albert, one woman’s passion for the Karoo landscape, and its unique vegetation, is in full bloom

Prince Albert is famous for its olive oil, its artists and the Swartberg Pass. About a year ago I was asked to consult on a garden being built on the site of the old donkey pound on the outskirts of town. The garden was to be a magical desert garden, in tune with the Karoo landscape, installed slowly, season by season and using predominantly local plants. I was enthralled. The property already had an appropriately sleek yoga studio and the low slung main house was being sensitively planned. At the heart of the space was the former donkey pound, its old stone walls lovingly restored, now enclosing a deck from which to welcome the sunrise. The design essence of the garden fell almost immediately into place. A small natural lake was planned for the house to look over – it would be fringed with reeds and giant rocks and surrounded by undulating grasslands. Beyond that, we envisioned shady groves of trees underplanted with fine-textured, local Karoo bossies to blend into the greater landscape.

But where to obtain the plants we envisaged? Plants that would survive the harsh conditions, that were truly local and adapted to the specific drought conditions common to the area. That was when my client introduced me to Dr Sue

Dean, plantswoman extraordinaire and keeper of the Karoo veld secrets.

Sue has lived in Prince Albert for over three decades. In 2005 she and her husband bought a large piece of land outside the town that is now the Wolvekraal Nature Reserve – home to extremely rare species of succulent Karoo plants such as the Prince Albert vygie, (Bijlia dilitata), Prince Albert tongue-leafed vygie (Glottiphyllum neili) and the Noord vygie (Cylindrophyllum tugwellii). Walking quietly across the veld with Sue is an eye-opening experience. She knows the fascinating geology and history of the area, the birds, insects and wildlife and how they all fit, intimately, together. She shows you the big issues – how the climate warming, as well as the pressure of an increasing local population, is affecting the landscape. And the small things – spiders that make traps that imitate buck spoor and karee fence posts in place for taxation purposes during colonial times. But, joy of joys, she knows every plant intimately, has observed them over years and now grows many of them.

She has a nursery in the town, where she sells many of the plants she grows. It’s a wonderland of waterwise plants. She has a vast selection of pelargoniums, including the most beautiful species such as Pelargonium tetragonum, trees, shrubs and a range of wild grasses which she uses for the grassland restoration projects she guides. A few lucky interns from Nelson Mandela University are part of her many projects and I am lucky enough to now be collaborating with her on creating a magical desert garden in Prince Albert. Sue has made the Karoo vegetation her life’s work, I see her as one of our national treasures.

Renu Karoo Veld Restoration 8 renu-karoo.co.za

n

sue has made the Karoo vegetation her life’s work, i see her as one of our national treasures FRANCHESCA WATSON

PREVIOUS SPREAD The dramatic quartzitic sandstone formations of The swartberg Pass support a fascinating variety of Pristine mountain fynbos. Crassula arborescent, coined ‘Karkai’ by The locals of The area, is specifically adapted To The semi-shaded, rocky conditions

CLOCKWISE, FROM FAR LEFT The fences at wolwekraal date back To 1905 and 1912; drought Tolerant Plants such as Pteronia incana, commonly Know as ‘asbos’ or ‘wild lavender’ and restored walls of The donkey Pound; The yoga studio amongst The flowering aloes; a closer look at The donkey Pound’s restored walls

sue leads an early morning walk Through The wolwekraal nature reserve where conditions such as water scarcity and Temperature extremes have created a unique biodiversity and specialised group of Plant species