Home-grown haven

At Witbos, a small nursery on the R72 coastal road between Port Elizabeth and East London, Rhalda and Rulan Heunis specialise in rare trees and plants that can withstand windy and dry conditions.

macrocarpa), spekboom (Portulacaria afra), plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) and Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) are very effective.

Water – or rather the lack of it – is also a big consideration. For example, Bushman’s River Mouth gets its water from a desalination plant. When you build a house here, one of the first things you have to do is install an underground rainwater tank.