Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa
low ground covers
If its low cover you want, there's something low enough right here on our doorstep, in dizzying diversity. Johan at Kirstenbosch nursery has information
These photographs were inspired by a natural catastrophe ! The drought in South Africa. In many dry summer and wet winter (Mediterranean climate) regions of the world, precious drinking water is wasted on keeping lawns green. The strangeness of this deepened my investigation into water-wise gardening about which I have written many articles such as
on the clever adaptions of drought tolerant plants
on indigenous planting and the eight step waterwise gardeing program
on locality, realism and natural gardening
on the three major ways to plant wisely in a dry country including lawn replacement
on positioning your plants, transplanting and assessing soil for waterwise practice
on lawn replacements, mulching and green manures
on the clever adaptions of drought tolerant plants
on indigenous planting and the eight step waterwise gardeing program
on locality, realism and natural gardening
on the three major ways to plant wisely in a dry country including lawn replacement
on positioning your plants, transplanting and assessing soil for waterwise practice
on lawn replacements, mulching and green manures
Haakgat beach north of Blaauwberg
smoothed by hand or wind: the neatness and beauty of our local 'bushclump' vegetation
if its neatness you like, you need go no further than the lekker local bush clump. Grow one in your backyard and trim the top like a table, or let the wind do it,
water-wise lawn and replacements available at Kirstenbosch nursery
If its availability that worries, I photographed all these in two minutes at Kirstenbosch nursery, guided through the water-wise low cover range by Johan.
seas of green
If its the look of lush greens you thirst for, all these are common native plants growing at Kirstenbosch, and available through any indigenous plant nursery
something to play on or lay on
if you need something cushioned to play on: straw, wood chips, sawdust, sand, organic crumbs all look beautiful with plants around them
when the water has all gone
These wild locals in the Haaakgat dunes have seen it all before, haven't had any rain for months and are still looking like gorgeous green or grey carpets
but its so ugly ! ..... well..... maybe not, its all in your eye !
If its beauty you are after, a well kept water wasting lawn that keeps you labouring all year round is nothing compared to this wonderful Eden that can take care of itself. Some people are insensitive to beauty. If you are, I urge you to meditate on these, the colours, the leaf shapes, the softness of this vegetation of ours, till something happens in your brain and you hear a chorus of angels, or whatever it is blows you away, because this is some mighty writing around us
If trees are the 'problem' in your garden
These plants will do better in shade than lawn. A pathway and seat lets you enjoy the cool carpet, or use high moving shade to conserve lawn water
if you are eco sensitive
This progression from bare sand to the first trailing pioneer ground cover, that builds up debris and seeds, that allows the canopy species to grow, at first low and sprawling, flattened by the wind, but slowly growing taller over the years with no rude interruptions, till you can eventually walk in their shade !
the climax
Climax vegetation in the sandy Strandveld is a bush clump, a closed canopy. Called a lilliputian forest by ecologists, it contains forest indicator species.
recreation of the soft, cushion shapes and gentle colours by gardeners at Kirstenbosch
weeds, roadside plantings and vegetables
Weeds make lovely green carpets uninvited, so here are tough roadside volunteers, irrigated roadside plantings, and native edibles. Spot the difference ?