Pots of luck

Eleven years ago we bought Veldskoen Padstal near De Doorns on the N1, and we live right next door. Back then, a large rubbish dump covered the area where my garden is today. That’s one of the reasons I love to share my garden with people who visit the farm stall.

I soon realised that the soil was too brackish for anything to grow in it, so I started planting in pots. Later, we also built raised beds, and I’ve always loved a hanging basket.

Roses (especially my favourites, ‘Just Joey’ and ‘Happy Home’), nasturtiums and geraniums are close to my heart – they just give and give. I have a pinkand-purple geranium that flowers throughout winter, and a deep-red one from a cutting a friend brought back from France in her handbag eight years ago.

I find flowers, soft colours, and trees like the river bushwillow with its branches that sway in the wind very beautiful. I’ve looked – literally every tree in the garden contains a nest. At 5am the birds go so crazy you can hardly hear yourself speak.

In summer, the star jasmine blooms abundantly on the pergola under which people can sit, and the lavender and erigeron grow almost too wildly. Olive trees, orange trees and a lemon tree are growing beautifully in their pots. We used to sell our olives to people who would press them for oil, but one winter afternoon, while sitting on the stoep, I noticed how the mice would pick olives and carry them off. The birds love them too – you see the pips scattered all over the stoep. So we decided to leave the olives for the birds and mice to enjoy.

My love of gardening comes from my parents. We had a small property in Thornton, but my father grew every imaginable fruit tree, and they all bore fruit: pomegranates, figs, pawpaws, guavas and bananas. My mother loved rambling roses and she enjoyed planting bulbs, but that’s something I’ve never had much success with.

My husband, Wennie, is the irrigation man; he has worked so hard in the garden. Sometimes when he sits on the stoep he’ll ask if I’ve noticed how much the plants have grown since we arrived here.

Gardening makes me feel good. It’s wonderful to witness how something grows and blooms.