Gardening challenge
We would like to feature attractive gardens in Mossel Bay Advertiser.
Residents should contact us if they wish to show off their gardens in the newspaper.
One interesting garden is that of Yolanda Dunkerley, who lives in De Bakke.
Our town's hilly topography makes for beautiful views of the sea and the Outeniqua Mountains.
Some houses, such as Yolanda's, are perched on extremely steep plots. She has a terraced garden and a footpath from the top of her plot down to George Road, so she can walk down to Santos Beach.
She is immensely proud of her garden and says it is a new challenge for her because she knows little about gardening, although she loves flowers.
Yolanda, who retired from work in November last year, moved into her property in August. She says her house is "amazingly built. I know the previous owners and the engineer. The house was owned by elderly people, who were not able to maintain the garden, but they were passionate about it."
'Fresh look'
Yolanda notes: "I gave everything a fresh look." She also removed dead trees and branches from a servitude bordering her property.
Among the plants in her garden are ferns, clivia, wild olive trees, hibiscus, arum lilies, bougainvillea, poinsettia, frangipani and palms.
"I rerouted all the water from the house into tanks."
Yolanda has a small dam at the bottom of her garden and attractive, large natural rock formations
"The house is built on rock and I have a phenomenal view over Santos Beach," Yolanda says.
There was much growth that had to be cleared from her garden. "I planted things carefully. The layout was carefully done. I did lots of pruning and used special soil, compost and organic plant food." Her gardener is immensely proud of his work.
She concludes:
"Mossel Bay is a little heaven on earth. I love this town. I'm very privileged to be here."
Yolanda, who comes from Cape Town originally, has lived here for almost 30 years.
Email lindas@ groupeditors.co.za if you would like us to feature your garden in the newspaper.