Are you planning to revamp your garden this summer? Domestic gardens designed, installed or maintained by Cape landscapers belonging to the South African Landscapers Institute (SALI) can offer you many ideas for your private outdoor space.
Local domestic gardens were among the top award-winning projects honoured at this year’s SALI Awards of Excellence, presented at the recent South African Green Industries Council Convention. Gold medals were awarded to 57 projects, and 12 trophies went to outstanding projects. Fifteen of the gold medals and seven of the trophies were taken by Cape landscapers.
Three trophies were awarded to Cape landscapers for their work on domestic-style garden projects. These awards included:
l Efekto Trophy for the best landscape construction with in-house design: Roomtogrow Gardens for House Hodgson.
l MayFord Trophy for the best use of colour in the landscape: GvH Landscapes for House Coronna.
l Evergreen Turf Trophy for the best novice entry: Cape Contours Landscapes for the Rodwell House Hotel.
These award-winning gardens feature the latest trends in the world of home gardens, and will provide you with the inspiration to tackle your garden with renewed enthusiasm this summer.
What are the issues that are most relevant to the Cape’s top landscapers this year?
Coping with slopes
A number of the winning gardens were built on steep slopes. The judges noted that the stone masonry by Roomtogrow at House Hodgson was particularly impressive and complimented Paarman Landscapes on the challenging site due to difficult access and a steep slope at House Truter.
Gardens on steep slopes in increasingly small spaces need ingenious slope solutions and garden design. Moreover, the smaller the garden space, the greater the necessity for retaining walls to create level spaces for recreation and entertainment.
The range of materials used for retaining walls in this year’s winning gardens ranged from conventional brick and plaster, interlocking concrete blocks and walls made from local stone, through to gabions filled with rocks or pebbles – and in some cases a combination of the above.
At all times the landscapers took into account the architectural style of the house and the natural landscape in making decisions with regard to their choice of retaining wall material.
Where a garden is large enough, slopes – often rocky – are planted up with appropriate plants. Plants that have low water needs and those with roots that bind the soil are the preferred choice.
This year’s gardens included some enchanting sloping areas which have been planted up for maximum colour effects, through which enticing pathways wended their way.
In this regard, the judges commended the superb plant selection, colour and slope stabilisation by GvH Landscapes at House Snoeck-Henkemans.
Conserving water
The use of natural spring water in storage tanks concealed for irrigation at the Rodwell House project by Cape Contours was commended by the judges.
A water-smart approach to garden design is now strongly evident in the awards, with water conserving practices employed in most of the winning gardens. Reduced lawn areas were clearly evident, as well as an increased use of water-wise indigenous plants.
Knowledge about which plants can survive the hot dry summers of the Western Cape has increased tremendously over the past decade, so in addition to local indigenous plants, water smart plants from other parts of the country and from other countries with a similar Mediterranean climate are being used.
Increased use of waterwise ground covers, perennials, ornamental grasses and restios
This trend is steadily increasing as landscapers use these plants in massed plantings in areas where, a decade ago, a lawn would have been the norm.
Lawns are now only designed as playgrounds for children or for areas where dogs can romp. Where there is no need for lawn, landscapers tend to use hard landscaping, gravel, water- smart ground covers or attractive grasses.
Permeable hard landscaping surfaces
Instead of solid paving, there is a trend towards laying surfaces that allow water to penetrate into the soil, rather than running off and being lost to the garden. Paths are laid with gravel or flagstones, interplanted with water-wise ground covers, gravel or pebbles.
Winning Cape landscapers
In addition to receiving three trophies for their efforts in home gardens, Cape landscapers also bagged a number of gold, silver and bronze awards for projects in domestic gardens.
These are the top landscapers of domestic gardens in Cape Town this year:
l Gold Awards: Roomtogrow Gardens for gardens at House Hodgson and House Watson, plus a garden in Camps Bay; GvH Landscapes for gardens at House Coronna and House Snoeck-Henkemans; Paarman Landscapes for the Truter garden; Cape Contours Landscapes for three gardens: House Marcus, House Stephen and for implementing the Rodwell House Hotel garden (which was designed by top landscape architect Clare Burgess); and Alan Dawson Gardens for the Pethick garden.
l Silver Awards: Greenacres Landscapes for implementing the Fairtrees garden designed by Uys and White Landscape Architects; and Langverwacht Landscaping for the Nel Garden and a Robertson hotel garden. - Weekend Argus
l Bronze Awards: LM Garden Design for the Van Heerden Garden; and Eco Creations for a garden in Somerset West.
l For more information, visit www.sali.co.za