Cape Town - Landscape architects are behind the creation of stylish and sustainable gardens at Pearl Valley Golf Estate.
How much would your garden have to change if you followed their rule book?
Situated beneath the towering Drakenstein Mountains between Paarl and Franschhoek, the Pearl Valley Golf Estate opened in 2003.
The homes and gardens are situated around the Jack Nicklaus-designed signature golf course, which features 81 bunkers and has one of the most spectacularly scenic mountain vistas in the country.
From the outset, the aim at Pearl Valley was to create a landscape of sustainable and beautiful water-wise gardens.
Overseen by top Cape Town landscape consultants Planning Partners, the estate has a dedicated horticultural department that offers critically needed jobs in the Upper Berg River Valley and plays a key role in the estate’s environmentally friendly landscaping initiatives.
Fire damage:
In the recent Paarl fires, major sections of the entrance road foliage and main irrigation pipeline were damaged.
The refurbishment of the estate’s garden entrance has cost R1.2 million, and includes the planting of an avenue of exotic Water Oaks (Quercas nigra), underplanted with agapanthus.
The oaks were chosen for their natural shape and ability to handle the unavoidably soggy conditions in the entrance area during the winter, explains Pearl Valley’s horticultural manager Heather Stipinovich.
The existing trees growing in the area are to be moved to other parts of the estate.
“We have chosen a specific design to allow for seasonal colour, at the same time as being water-wise and ensuring we keep to environmentally conscious principles,” Stipinovich adds.
In the spirit of the indigenous, sustainable and water-wise ethos, homeowners at Pearl Valley are given a set of guidelines for gardening.
How many of these principles do you follow in your garden?
* Lawn areas may not exceed 50 percent of the garden.
* Only indigenous buffalo lawn may be planted. No kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) or Cape kweek grass (Cynodon dactylon) may be cultivated in a garden, to prevent invasion of the fairways.
* Hard landscaping may not exceed 10 percent of the garden.
* Only one tree may be planted in every 50m2.
* Lawn areas must be prepared to a depth of 250mm, with a minimum of 50 percent (of total area x 250mm depth) compost or topsoil worked into the soil before planting.
* All flower beds must be trenched to a depth of 500mm.
* Holes dug must be square and trenched to a depth of at least 1m.
* All new gardens must have a 30mm layer of mulch covering all exposed areas.
* When planting ground covers with six-pack material, use a minimum of eight plantlets to a square metre.
* When planting shrubs from 4kg bags, use a minimum of 1.5 plants to a square metre.
* Ground covers (six-pack and cutting material) may not exceed 80 percent maximum of allocated groundcover areas.
* Perennial or small shrubs may not exceed 40 percent of allocated planting bed areas.
* No invasive alien plants, trees, shrubs and grasses are permitted in the estate, and may not be cultivated in any garden. This includes any plant listed as a proposed declared invader.
* All potted plants must be supplied with a dripper.
* All trees need to be double-staked with cross-braces to strengthen the tree stake.
* A full list is supplied of plants that are suitable for the estate. Most are water-wise, indigenous or fit the ethos of a Franschhoek Valley garden.
New gardens are checked by landscape architects as soon as landscaping is complete.
Environment:
With 19 lakes spread across the estate, Pearl Valley encourages gardening for birdlife.
More than 120 species, including Bat-Eared Foxes and the endangered Cape Clawless Otter, now live on the estate.
Three critically endangered plant species are also protected: the pink-flowering Erica alexandrii, a ground cover from the protea family, Diastella buekii, and the rare ground protea (Protea scorzonerifolia), which is pollinated by the Cape Striped Mouse, are encouraged and propagated.
Eighty percent of all residential and public gardens are planted with indigenous species.
An additional 40 hectares of the 212ha estate has been set aside as a biodiversity corridor to preserve threatened alluvium fynbos and allow for smaller animal life to flourish.
GENERAL GARDEN TIPS
* Indoor plants can become dusty. Clean leaves with Wonder Wipes, or use a damp sponge on smooth leaves, and a soft brush on hairy leaves. Fires and heaters tend to make the air dry, and brown tips on leaves can be an indication of low humidity. Mist foliage to help increase humidity.
* Lion’s Ear (Leonotis leonurus) is often referred to as the lion’s tail shrub or wild dagga. Orange is the most common colour, but there are also cream and apricot forms, with flowers arranged in tiers, a feast for sunbirds. Leonotis grows easily in ordinary soil and requires little water. Plants can be pruned after flowering to encourage bushiness.
* Red-hot poker is the everyday name for Kniphofia, with torch-like flowers that attract sunbirds. Some varieties are evergreen, others deciduous; some flower in summer, others in winter. Orange-red is the most common colour, but there are also cream, yellow and apricot varieties to complement pastel colour schemes.
* Slopes cleared of vegetation develop problems with erosion if not planted. Even a slight slope is perfect for sun-loving arctotis (African daisy), bulbine (cat’s tail), felicia (wild aster), gazania (treasure flower), ivy geranium and mesembryanthemum (vygies). Mediterranean natives like cistus, lavender and rosemary also work well.
* When buds on fruit trees appear in early spring, apply fertiliser granules for fruiting plants at the rate of 500g a year of the age of the tree, maximum 4kgs. Always extend the fertiliser to the drip line of the branches, and water thoroughly. Fertilise citrus trees with 3:1:5 (SR), keeping away from the stem and extending to the drip line of the branches, then water thoroughly. - Weekend Argus
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