Karoo garden

Charmaine and Martin Haines’ Nieu-Bethesda garden is as distinctive as their artworks.

The garden created by this artistic couple is one of surprises and contrasts. Not only is this lush oasis unexpected in the quiet, dusty streets of Nieu-Bethesda, but its formal Victorian layout – with straight gravel paths and demarcated flowerbeds – is even more of a surprise. The garden is kept lush with leiwater that is supplied to residents via furrows running through their properties (similar to those along the town’s streets), while the beds are filled with hardy plants that can withstand the harsh winter frosts. And the artworks on a wall decorated with mosaics – a woman with jet-black hair, a long-legged rabbit, a variety of pots – are not your standard roadside craft purchases. >>

The Onion House

Nieu-Bethesda is best known for the Owl House, a museum featuring eccentric artist Helen Martins’ otherworldly cement and crushed-glass sculptures. Charmaine and Martin, themselves well-known ceramic artists, live just a few blocks from the Owl House in a home that bears the name Onion House.

The couple moved to Nieu-Bethesda from the coast near Gqeberha 20 years ago. “Our daughter, Emma, grew up here. Even before we bought the house it was known as the Onion House because onions, garlic and potatoes harvested from nearby plots were stored in it,” explains Charmaine.

Nieu-Bethesda, which lies about 50km from Graaff-Reinet, became a municipality in 1886. “Our house was originally a simple nagmaalhuisie (communion house) with no bathroom,” says Charmaine. “The only rooms we added on were a bathroom and scullery as we wanted to stay as true to the original character of the house as possible.

“We love Nieu-Bethesda and its tight-knit community. This place is a balm for the soul, with beautiful scenery and wide-open spaces. People here are not as materialistic as they are in the cities. We’re all very environmentally conscious and understand the value of our water resource – despite the town’s name meaning ‘place where water flows’. Whenever we tackle a project, we consider its style, colour and texture. Everything we create must respect the unique character of the Karoo.”

Charmaine was head of ceramic design at Nelson Mandela University for 20 years. Her artwork often features fish, birds and icons, while Martin’s sculptures and functional pieces such as plates usually bear his signature rabbit motif. >>

Symmetry and balance

When Charmaine and Martin bought the property, all it had was a rickety boundary fence, a gate and an outside loo. Everything was overgrown with grass, bushes and weeds – far from the formal aesthetic these two creatives wanted for their garden.

“We like the symmetry and balance of walled, well-shaped beds connected by gravel pathways to demarcated areas.”

Charmaine says they planned and established the garden themselves. “It actually evolved quite organically into the formal layout we have now. We started with a wall and hedges to create privacy and to provide shelter from the wind, and developed the garden further after building the swimming pool in 2005. We also added gravel paths leading to the house, demarcated with rambling rose hedges.

“We like having our plants in well-planned beds, partitioned off with shrubs that are trimmed into squares and balls to enhance the formal look. The low walls around the flowerbeds also have a functional purpose: when we irrigate, no water goes to waste as they keep the water in.” In keeping with its Karoo character, only natural-looking materials such as stone and cement have been used in the garden. >>

Martin built the pool in front of the guest cottage in 2005. “It is nice and private as it’s surrounded by hedges. We like the fact that the design of the pool resembles a naturallooking dam. The pool was lined with attractive green tiles.” WHO LIVES HERE? Charmaine and Martin Haines WHERE Nieu-Bethesda SIZE OF GARDEN 600m2 TYPE OF SOIL Clay

Fine gravel ensures that the pathways are easier to walk on. “We prefer the warm stone colour over the usual grey, and love the textures and natural look of our garden.” The two shrubs on the right are ‘Iceberg’ roses and the shrub on the left is a Chinese snowball (Viburnum macrocephalum ‘Sterile’); it is drought-tolerant and bears green blooms that turn white with time.

The small windows are typical of the Karoo; they keep the house cool in summer and help to retain heat in winter. Martin made and painted the shutters.

Rambling roses tumble over fences, softening the garden’s formal lines.

The grapevine-covered pergola over the back stoep provides shade in summer and lets sunlight through in winter. Since its foliage does not grow too densely, the living room still gets lots of natural light. Yellow urn from The Mulberry Pottery

“People have dubbed our house ‘the unpainted house’,” says Charmaine. The walls were finished with Portland cement mixed with ochre oxide and water-based resin to give it the typical Karoo adobe house look. Stained glass by David Manning Stained Glass

Martin and Emma, then aged four, in front of the house in 2001. The photos were taken right at the start of the renovations after the steel-framed windows had been removed. Some sections of the home’s walls, which had been built with mud, were reinforced with gauze and then plastered. The chimney and alcove of the wood-fired stove in the kitchen forms the backdrop to this lovely seating area with its retro bench, table and chairs. A large glazed pot made by South African potter Yogi de Beer sits in the corner. The glazed plate with the rabbit motif is one of Martin’s pieces. Wire chairs from Chair Crazy

“Even though our garden is structurally formal, it is probably more typically Karoo than Victorian,” says Charmaine with a smile. The neatly trimmed ball-shaped saltbush shrubs are the handiwork of Norman Maswan, who helps out in the garden twice a week. Gravel from AM Harbron Quarries