Stones, colours and textures add interest to a waterwise haven
Gravel, agate and paving complement roses and waterwise plants in this Boland garden.
In May 2017, Ian and Mariaan van Zyl moved to a corner property in a new housing development in Paarl, which had no garden. And the space to create a garden was limited: between the house and boundary line there was scarcely more than 5m, in some parts just 2m. But now, when the large doors on the stoep slide away into the walls, it feels as if you’re right in the garden, even though you’re sitting indoors.
“Other than the trees on the pavement, there was nothing around the house,” says Mariaan. She and Ian love a beautiful garden and since the Western Cape was in the throes of a severe drought, they asked Helia Smit, a horticulturist from Cape Garden, to help them with the design of the garden and especially the plant choice.
“Our wish list included waterwise plants such as spekboom, privacy from the street (but without sacrificing our mountain views), and a small rose garden. Apart from the established patch of lawn on the pavement, we didn’t want any grass.”
Helia says Ian and Mariaan largely gave her free rein with the design and plant choice, except for a few favourites like the sago palms they brought with them from their previous garden.
Planned around water, heat and space
Helia says she took the architecture of the house into consideration with the design as the entire garden can be seen from the house.
“It’s important to draw a small garden like this to scale to make sure that you don’t try to fit too many plants into the limited space. If you do that, it only increases your maintenance later as the plants eventually crowd each other out and have to be pruned back regularly to keep them in check,” she explains. “The plants must complement the size of the space, not overwhelm it.
“Paarl gets extremely hot in summer and with the recent drought it made so much more sense to choose drought-hardy plants. I also made sure we predominantly used plants grown at Cape Garden’s production farm in Vredendal. These plants were already accustomed to high temperatures, which made the adaptation to Paarl so much easier and quicker.”
The Van Zyls have access to the development’s borehole water; in addition, they also capture and store rainwater in two 1 000L tanks. For irrigation, a drip system has been installed that uses little water. The plants are irrigated according to their needs – more water for the roses, less for the cactuses and succulents.
Ian says they made a conscious decision to cover sections of the garden with stone, which added to its waterwise character.
“We laid agate around the large pot near the front door which I was fortunate to get from my brother’s daughter-in-law Christine in Kakamas. The stones come from an old, worked-out mine in Namibia.
“We also added pebbles between the pavers near the stoep. Initially, a groundcover was planted in-between, but keeping it irrigated and alive was a struggle in the heat and drought, and it used precious water.”
The couple says they derive so much pleasure from their garden. “We love it, and even though it needs weekly maintenance, it is a wonderful hobby,” says Mariaan.
“Ian is the avid gardener and loves planting new succulents and cactuses between his stones. He’s always bringing special stones home from his travels abroad, which he enjoys setting out in the garden. My speciality, on the other hand, is pulling out weeds and sitting on the stoep with Elle, enjoying the changing of the seasons.” >>