Here’s how...
Follow Karin’s steps for laying out a topiary pattern in your garden:
1 Start by covering the entire surface with Bidim geotextile or weed barrier fabric. Both products are porous and allow water to permeate. Keep the fabric in place by pushing hairpin-shaped pieces of wire through the cloth and hammering them into the ground.
2 Use agricultural lime or maize meal to mark out the pattern on the fabric, then cut out the shape.
3 Fold the fabric back slightly where you want to plant so you can dig a furrow. It is easier to position the plants in a furrow than in single holes. Add compost and bone meal to the furrow and space the plants evenly apart.
4 Water the plants well and fold the fabric back again until it is about 10cm away from the stems. If the fabric is too close to the stems, it makes it difficult to apply fertiliser and compost to the plants.
5 Cover the fabric with a layer (about 5cm) of peach pips or gravel (save a little to fill in where necessary). The finer the gravel, the more elegant the design will look but keep in mind that finer gravel is more expensive. I like 6mm stones as they’re easier to walk on. Grey stones, rather than brown, are the perfect foil for green plants. Also, be guided by the style and colour of your home when choosing stones.
White pebbles are impractical – they soon show the dirt.
6 Give the shrubs an initial boost with LAN and 2:3:2, but take care not to let the plants get scorched.
Thereafter, an organic fertiliser such as Atlantic Fertiliser
All Purpose or Bio Ocean is a good option. With the fabric so close to the base of the plants, it is more difficult to apply sufficient nutrients, so you need to do so more often. It is better to sprinkle fertiliser around the root area than to use liquid fertiliser as most of the latter will be absorbed by the fabric. Since the main purpose of topiary plants is not to bear flowers, it’s not necessary to feed them with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser such as
10:1:5. Nitrogen (the first figure in the ratio) is needed for flower formation.
7 If you want to create the pattern over a larger area, repeat it as many times as needed.
CONTACTS In & Outdoor Gardens 083 658 4762 Rustenberg Wine Estate 021 809 1200, rustenberg.co.za