Creating a garden for all seasons

Environment
We have been talking to Ken, our gardening expert and looked at the benefits of a dry garden. Although Ken is a real fundi on the dry garden and indigenous plants, his expertise goes beyond the dry garden. As a designer, he is pretty much able to follow your dream and design the garden you […]

We have been talking to Ken, our gardening expert and looked at the benefits of a dry garden. Although Ken is a real fundi on the dry garden and indigenous plants, his expertise goes beyond the dry garden. As a designer, he is pretty much able to follow your dream and design the garden you have always yearned for.

 

Report by Helen Devemac A garden in which your children will play and grow, invite their friends over for parties. Perhaps a garden in which your daughter will get married, a garden in which old couples sit and hold hands while watching beautiful sun sets.

  A garden in which to celebrate life! So let your imagination run wild and consider getting some expert advice. A garden is an extension of your home and should reflect your personality. Every garden is different because it’s all about you. A lot of thought and effort must go into the design and creation of a garden.

  A consultation with design experts would be very much worth your while, should you be thinking about adding value to your property. This is where Ken and the guys at Tribal Landscapes come in.

  They will help you create a garden for all seasons, taking into account the lay of your land, the type and pH of the soil in your garden, particularly its capacity to retain water, how much of your garden is in shade and in full sun.

  All these are important factors which will be used to determine just what to plant and where, giving your garden that added advantage. Having an expert opinion in the design of your garden will be a little more costly, but remember, you do not design a garden every season or every year.

  A job well done will save you time and money. This is the beginning of a beautiful future for you and your garden. Once well-designed, your garden should continue to give you pleasure and joy at every turn of the season.

  For those gardening enthusiasts with more than a passing knowledge of gardening, getting expert opinion pays. It is an opportunity to hone your skills and plant know how, that is which plants to put in at the end of winter and what would give you mileage perhaps up to Christmas and what to look for when you next visit your local nursery.

  When the guys at Tribal Landscape design your garden, they do make use of plants which they have in their own nursery, but they are also able to source plants from anywhere in Zimbabwe, and I believe as part of the design contract, they replace any plants which do not thrive during the first three weeks of planting. And the story does not end there. Tribal Landscapes offer garden maintenance contracts to households and corporate organisations and offer the following: Regular maintenance contracts for your garden and this can be weekly or fortnightly and includes the following services:

 

 

  • Weeding and turning of flower beds.
  • Lawn mowing and trimming of edges
  • Trimming and cutting of bushes and shrubs.
  • Dead heading flowers and removing dead leaves from your flowering plants.
  • Removing refuse related to this work.
  • Supervising your gardener and generally showing him the ropes.

Seasonal contracts are important, even more important than the weekly or fortnightly contracts as this generally covers the jobs that make the difference between any garden and that wow factor. Knowing when and how to do the following tasks is absolutely critical:

 

  • Rose pruning.
  • Fertilising lawns and applying top soil.
  • Weed control.
  • Applying plant fertiliser.
  • Pest control.
  • Rotation of plants and planting of winter and summer plants.

 

Beautiful garden … As a designer, Ken is capable of following your dream, designing the garden you have always yearned for.

An unfortunate reality in gardening

Unfortunately for many of us, creating a garden means a visit to a local nursery and choosing the most beautiful and healthy blooms available, without much thought as to where we will be planting these purchases. Doing it this way often results in great disappointment for the gardener and plants alike.

 

Gardening requires expert advice

 

Gardening is a pleasant occupation and very relaxing, but for most of us, having a healthy beautiful garden remains a mystery.

  I for one tend to rely on my gardener who is as ill-informed as I am, about what has to be done in the garden and when. A gardening maintenance contract makes more than good sense. For those with pools, the garden maintenance contract may upon negotiation, be extended to include standard pool care, but this is an add on and not inclusive of a garden maintenance contract. It covers teaching your gardener the following skills;

 

 

  • Testing the pH
  • Brushing walls
  • Application of chemicals
  • Backwashing and rinsing of filters
  • Cleaning the leaf basket.

Looks like we are well set for the summer, sparkling pools, weed and pest free gardens — what absolute bliss.