MARTIN’S TIPS FOR GARDENING IN THE KAROO

• Find out what grows well in your area. • Take note of the wind direction in your garden so that you can provide shelter for vulnerable plants.

• Check how much growth space a plant needs and its ideal growing conditions before planting it.

• Know when to plant. Our growing season in Nieu-Bethesda is very short. We have to be cognisant of the frost season and never plant before the end of October.

• Choose evergreen plants to add life and colour in winter – common boxwood, ornamental kale and spinach are all excellent options.

• ‘Iceberg’ roses are very resilient. After a devastating hailstorm in January, we cut ours back hard; by February the shrubs were in full bloom again.

• Follow waterwise gardening principles: retain water with good compost-rich clay soil, dam up flowerbeds with soil, create low walls and plant indigenously.