Reader garden A haven for birds, bats and butterflies
Birds, bats, butterflies – even monkeys – add life to the Cannons’ diverse garden!
“We were so impressed by the towering cliffs of pristine riverine forest framing the Palmiet River that runs through the property. But the place was a mess. We felled as many of the pine trees as we could afford to and then we rented a Bobcat bulldozer to make a new driveway and to get the garden’s levels right,” Helen explains.
“It was a lot of hard work in the beginning. There was absolutely no garden and only bare earth beneath the pines. I often worked until late in the evening, using the driveway sensor light to see what I was doing,” she adds.
When Helen started her garden, indigenous gardening hadn’t really taken off yet and she grew lots of exotic plants. “After six years I was bitten by the indigenous bug – and that was a real game-changer! We ring-barked most of the remaining pine trees; this is when you remove a strip of bark around the circumference of the trunk, which kills off the tree.
“We left a few of the massive old pines to accommodate the annual breeding of yellow-billed kites, woolly-neck storks and crowned eagles. They like tall trees. We planted new indigenous trees among the pines and Plectranthus on the forest floor. The under-canopy of indigenous trees has been a resounding success and is teeming with birdlife. We have an incredible 133 species of birds in our garden – right in the heart of suburbia!”
Although she mainly grows indigenous plants now, Helen will never part with her large collection of exotic plants. “Many of them were given to me by a plant collector friend. I just have to have all of them in my garden and I battle to find enough space to grow everything my heart desires.
“My latest obsession is butterfly plants. After an inspirational visit by gardening guru Geoff Nichols, I planted up a section for the express purpose of attracting butterflies.
“My garden offers a wonderful palette of texture and colour to play with – it’s my form of art. My mother had a lovely farm garden in Harare, Zimbabwe – that’s where my love of gardening originated. It’s a very relaxing pastime and excellent exercise! Fortunately, I don’t need to spend too much time gardening these days; everything is well-established, the weeds are minimal and the indigenous forest takes care of itself.”
Despite the fact that it only had ‘thirsty’ pine trees and an old ‘fake Tudor’ house without a driveway or garden, Helen and Roy Cannon fell in love with this Westville property 22 years ago. We don’t use any pesticides; we rely on our guinea fowl to gobble up the snails. – Helen
Indigenous and exotic
Helen combines a wide range of plants in her garden with great success.
“The exotic section is very shady and full of bromeliads, ferns, indigenous cycads, Anthuriums and begonias. They are at their best in the summer. We have a very steep bank below our swimming pool where it’s very hot and sunny, so in recent years we’ve planted aloes, purple broom (Polygala virgata), Natal cliff bulbine (Bulbine natalensis) and ginger bush (Tetradenia riparia) there – the latter flowers mostly in winter. The dozens of aloes have noticeably increased the number of sunbirds that come to feast on this banquet each winter! The bright aloes look spectacular against the background of white ginger bush that in turn stands out against the dark riverine forest,” she explains.
“The forest floor beneath the canopy of indigenous trees is covered with many varieties of Plectranthus, white creeping foxglove (Asystasia gangetica), forest pink hibiscus (Hibiscus pedunculatus) and dainty white-flowered Rhinacanthus gracilis. Plectranthus and Asystasia are some of the best butterfly plants you can grow. This indigenous forest requires no work at all.” >>