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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.

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.

Blue Felicia and white Sutera cordata – now Chaenostoma cordatum – add a cool beach-holiday feel to the stoep.

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.

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!

Hot and sunny wall gardens are notoriously difficult to plant up successfully. So, what plants will survive these conditions?

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.

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.

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.

Plant list for the wildflower grassland

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?

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!

The Krantz Aloe and Blue Flowering Companions​ By Jenny Dean I have often been enchanted by images of fields of exotic Lavender -...

Many animals respond to colour, like sunbirds and many from our vast insect world, including bees; on the evolutionary timeline, flower...

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

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.