Glenwood residents Louise Torr and Jon Rash have reduced their carbon footprint by planting an indigenous garden and recycling waste, and they believe all gardeners can make a difference to climate change – by not having immaculate lawns and English roses.
They will be opening their Durban garden to visitors on Saturday, with proceeds from the event going to the Botanical Education Trust and the Society of South Africa’s KZN Coastal Branch.
Louise and Jon run Mackaya Bella Guest House, named after an indigenous shrub that grows in the wetter parts of KwaZulu-Natal, in coastal and mist-belt forests.
“The garden is entirely indigenous and gets water from the heavens,” says Louise, who grew up in the Karoo and was an early convert to waterwise gardening. “Compost is continuously being generated around the plants, which are resilient precisely because they are indigenous. They do not need mollycoddling, although pampering them is difficult to resist. Our lawn covers only a small patch and does not need watering either, as it gets run-off water from a slope. When we buy a jo-jo tank one day it will be used to top up the swimming pool and to water the vegetable garden in summer. In winter the veggie garden does not need water because it is mulched and covered with small pieces of coconut husk that help to retain moisture – on hot summer days a full watering can is all that is needed to revive the wilting vegetables.”
Waste from the guest house is divided strictly into well-labelled bins and every Sunday, Jon takes paper, newspapers and cardboard packaging; glass and cans to the eThekwini dump site at Bellair Road, opposite Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital.
“This is a great and well-organised site, where we meet other people recycling resources they no longer need and which can be used elsewhere.
“All the staff at the guest house take responsibility for the recycling of organic materials – egg shells are crushed, fruit and vegetable peels, and used ground coffee collected and added to the various composting bins, all filled with composting worms. We regard these worms as “garden workers” – they help break down the kitchen waste, weekly lawn clippings, weeds, leaves and twigs into compost. No garden refuse leaves the property and not much is brought here, except a bit of kraal manure and other organic products to augment and speed up the work we’re already doing. We are able to ‘harvest’ our own compost whenever we need it.
“I take advice from everyone, and have a gourmet bin with waste that excludes everything I have been told that worms don’t like – onion and citrus peel. These go into another bigger composting bin, and guess what – the worms are thriving there too!”
Louise says that gardener Dennis Hadebe knows the Latin names of all the indigenous plants. He has read Charles and Julia Botha’s Bring Nature Back To Your Garden in isiZulu, has been on a permaculture course at the Botanic Gardens, as well as a compost-making course at Kloof SPCA.
“He understands intrinsically how to garden organically and we do, in fact, “farm” here. Were it not for our two dogs and the municipal by-laws, we would probably have chickens too, all helping with the agricultural process. Dennis often goes into the adjacent park and collects fallen leaves and drying grass for mulch.
“We have even at times asked the municipal sweepers if they could pile a few bags of swept up leaves from the street next to our property, rather than take them to a landfill site. These make excellent mulch for the garden. When the Durban Solid Waste truck comes once a week, we put out only one wheelie bin from the guest house and our own house.
“Plants play a vital role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and helping to reduce greenhouse gases. We should plant correctly, and view plants as sponges absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Spekboom, for example, has the unique ability to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than most other plants. We can garden indigenously and organically, producing our own compost from organic waste. We can reduce our volumes of inorganic waste and recover materials for recycling, even using these to produce energy.”
* Pre-booking and pre-payment for the open garden event on Saturday is essential as no tickets will be sold on the day. Tickets are R45 for adults and R20 for children, with a discount for BotSoc members. Guided tours take place at 8.30am, 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm. Refreshments will be served and directions will be sent on confirmation of booking. Call Sandra Dell at 073 385 9206. - Daily News