Cape Town - A shade garden that is as pretty as a picture, indigenous and filled with a variety of plants is a real pleasure – and quite tricky to achieve.
When Erina Botha, a landscaper specialising in indigenous plants, was called in to establish the Herberts’ West Beach garden, it consisted of grass and overgrown trees.
And, while some of the garden is in the sun, the edges were shaded by the large trees.
Botha’s been working this garden for only 18 months, and already the shade garden under the white stinkwood tree is established and a delight.
“First, we did a major chop of branches, and brought in compost and mulch,” says Botha.
The vigorous pruning lifted the trees off the ground and allowed light in so beds could be established.
“The shade garden needed a pathway, which gives contrast and structure,” she says, and so one was built from stepping stones and pebbles. Beds were established, and the soft landscaping could begin.
Botha always works closely with the Herberts.
“Michelle was quite frank in telling me that gardening was not her forte. She had a clear picture of the kind of garden she wanted, though, which was really helpful for me. Michelle also found pictures of gardens she liked in magazines.
“They didn’t want harsh and structured plants like aloes or euphorbias, but a soft, natural look with a predominance of lilacs, pinks, mauves, whites and creams.
“Malcolm wanted the lawn to remain quite large so that they could play there with the kids that were on the way.
“I asked them to let me try indigenous and see how they liked it, as it would be most suited to the conditions and most waterwise – apart from the rose bushes in the only sunny bed in the back along the house wall.”
A fountain is the focal point of the shade garden.
The white stinkwood, with its long branches, is a beautiful tree, but it makes deep shade in summer and in winter drops its leaves. And, that’s a challenge when it comes to choosing plants that will grow under it, that can withstand both shade and sun – especially if you’re wanting indigenous plants.
Botha’s first choice is local plants, then southern African plants, then African plants.
The plants in the shade garden were selected as much for their foliage as for their flowers – the forest lilies (Veltheimia bracteata) are not flowering now, but their glossy, wide, deep green leaves contrast with the small leaves of the crassula multicava, for example.
A great plant for the shade garden is the helichrysum, with its grey foliage, as it grows in both dappled shade and sun.
There’s an unusual plant growing here, Brillantaisia subulugurica, (also known as Groot Salie, although it’s not a sage), a tall plant with purple flowers, which likes its base in the shade and tips in the sun.
She’s also growing Dychoriste thunbergii, a plant which likes a semi or partial shade position.
“It won’t flower if it doesn’t have some sun, and will die if it gets too much sun.”
Botha has grown a canary creeper to climb up the branches of the stinkwood, to provide colour on the bare branches in winter. Air plants on another tree lend a lacy grey.
Various plectranthrus are in flower now, with their delicate mauve and white flowers; there’s also a variegated one.
Also flowering, is the fast-growing groundcover Asystasia gangetica, its white bells tinged with mauve.
Botha makes good use of the asparagus family – the one known as cat’s tail or fox tail with its dense ornamental fronds, as well as finer varieties.
The Asparagus scandens can be encouraged to climb and Erina has planted it to mask the pool pump.
Towards the back, she’s planted Plectranthus saccatus, which will grow to waist height, with white and lilac flowers, and will look lovely against the grey tree trunks.
“I’ll also put in some white watsonias and maybe some white agapanthus,” she said.
While the shade garden is the most complete section, other sections of the garden are still establishing themselves. The area behind the pool is coming along filled with, among other plants, pelargoniums, pink diascia, white vygies and white daisy bushes.
A Syncolostemon obermeyerae (a Highveld shrub) has attractive mauve pink flowers.
“It’s my indigenous answer to lavender,” says Botha.
Pride of the garden right now is the Crocosmia aurea, in full flowering glory, a clump of orange irises with tall stems providing colour and focus in the area. It’s named crocosmia (meaning “saffron scent”) supposedly because the dried flowers have a strong smell of saffron when placed in warm water.
This one has flowered far longer than the others Botha planted – it’s all about position.
As we walk around, I realise that the advantage of having a designer like Botha to look after your garden is that she knows her plants so well – where they grow best and where to source them.
And, she looks after them for you if needed – great for reluctant gardeners.
l See her website www.dreamscapes-ct.co.za
Erina’s gardening tips
l Plant indigenous or mostly indigenous as the Cape Floral Kingdom is the richest in the world and the plants are best adapted to local sandy or clay conditions.
The natural ecosystem that will be created over time is the best way to keep a garden naturally pest-free.
l Create a forest fringe effect under dense, large trees, by thinning out branches to let more light through – a wider range of plants, including more flowering plants, grow better in a forest fringe than in deep shade.
l Use contrasting colour and textures of foliage in your garden to liven it up even when there are not a lot of plants flowering.
l Plant creepers next to deciduous trees like white stinkwood so that they can trail up to soften the bare branches during winter.
You might need to hammer in a few nails to help them upwards.
l If a plant doesn’t look happy, pull it out before it dies and plant it elsewhere.
If it was in shade, plant in a place with more light: if too much sun, give it a little shade.
l There are relatively few specialist flowering plants that love dappled or semi-shaded areas – consult a landscaper regarding suitable flowering plants for these areas. - Cape Argus