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Wind Barriers for KZN Coastal Gardens
There is a trick to designing a windscreen that both deflects the wind upwards and over the barrier and slows air movement by filtering it through the foliage.
Anno Torr
5 min read
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Pelargoniums to Brighten the Patio
As colours go, this is bright, but it sets up the pink, red and white blooms magnificently and adds gaiety to the entrance. Be generous with the quantities of plants, and add quirky touches with ornaments and potholders.
Anno Torr
2 min read
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Stoep Pots
Blue Felicia and white Sutera cordata – now Chaenostoma cordatum – add a cool beach-holiday feel to the stoep.
Anno Torr
2 min read
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The Best Way to Plant Up a Container
It’s simple, right? What’s to know? Pop in some gravel and a few large shards of broken pot for good drainage, perhaps even a bit of sand to take up space, and fill with potting soil. Finally, pop in the plant. Not so fast.
Anno Torr
2 min read
2
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THUNBERGIA ALATA
As winter wanes and our thoughts turn to spring and puddles of warming golden sunshine, a coastal garden pulls on its itsy bitsy teeny weenie orange-pink-yellow polka dot bikini! Against a lapis lazuli sky, the colours are clear and oh so cheerful!
Anno Torr
3 min read
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Hot, Dry Wall Displays
Hot and sunny wall gardens are notoriously difficult to plant up successfully. So, what plants will survive these conditions?
Anno Torr
3 min read
1
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Understand & Manage your Garden's Microclimate
Many factors influence micro-climates: some we can manipulate to our benefit, others we either have to live with or find ways to mitigate their influence. It is worth taking the trouble though because even the smallest change in conditions can have a significant impact.
Anno Torr
9 min read
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ECHOES OF NAMIBIA IN THIS TINY SPACE
The client’s brief to landscaper Jenny Dean was simple: change a tiny corner of their tiny Hillcrest estate garden to resemble a snapshot of their Namibian break – red-tinged boulders to resemble a rock wall, gravel to echo stony ground, and a smattering of succulents and grasses in between.
Anno Torr
5 min read
1
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Adding Purpose to your Garden Design
When designing gardens these days, especially wildlife gardens, we talk about mimicking a habitat. But it is challenging to translate a habitat type legibly and functionally, especially in small gardens. A woodland arrangement, for example, requires more than one tree to suggest woodland with its understory community of shrubs, perennials, bulbs, grasses, and groundcovers.
Anno Torr
3 min read
1
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Plant List for the Wildflower Grassland
Plant list for the wildflower grassland
Anno Torr
2 min read
1
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Designs for a Shady Garden Floor
Dictionary synonyms like ‘soft’, ‘calm’, ‘balmy’, ‘soothing’ certainly help to make ‘bland’ a little more attractive, but I’ll admit, ‘insipid’, ‘wishy-washy’ and ‘drab’ are there too.
In the shady areas of our gardens, the luminous orange-red Scadoxus blooms have died off, leaving the Bell Clivia, C. miniata, to carry on the vibrant display. But, when those flowers fade and plants recede once again into the monotonously green backdrop, what then?
Anno Torr
5 min read
1
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Scent up the patio with these fragrant plants
Enjoy time with family and friends and the heady scents of jasmine and mint
The summer holiday season brings warm, bright days and balmy evenings to spend outdoors with family and friends and the entertainment patio is the perfect place to mix the delicious aromas of red wine, beer and boerewors with Nature’s fragrances – peppermint, jasmine and honey!
Anno Torr
3 min read
1
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Lavender & Flaming Orange
The Krantz Aloe and Blue Flowering Companions By Jenny Dean I have often been enchanted by images of fields of exotic Lavender -...
Anno Torr
3 min read
2
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The Autumn Colour Wheel
Many animals respond to colour, like sunbirds and many from our vast insect world, including bees; on the evolutionary timeline, flower...
Anno Torr
2 min read
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Design a Rockery for year-round interest
Do you have a slope or bank ready to be dressed more creatively than the default retaining wall blocks or mown lawn? An eye-catching cocktail dress rather than a comfortable pair of jeans; a brightly coloured pashmina to replace a worn monotone windbreaker? Aside from adding a beautiful feature, this style detail/ element increases the sustainability of the garden too, for it saves on lawnmower fuel, provides level planting pockets for better water penetration, and provides h
Anno Torr
4 min read
1
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Successful Verge Plants offer up design ideas for Resilient Gardens
Thriving verge designs translate well into resilient home gardens. Easy-care, low-maintenance and water-wise characterise the loose-limbed Plumbago auriculata; add sky-blue flowers for much of the year, and there is little to beat this well-loved shrub.
Anno Torr
3 min read
2
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