Indigenous Landscaping
Maybe it was just a long, lonely COVID-19 winter or I am the eternal optimist, but I think Spring is in the air. Or if it is not, it is a good time to start thinking about it. And now I am talking on behalf of your garden.
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Ecological intelligence refers to our ability to understand the processes that occur in nature and our affirmative response to these processes.
That includes our impact on natural resources. In order to understand these processes, we firs have to understand ourselves.
Inherent in the previous topic “Go with the Flow”, is the concept of low maintenance. Although many of you are already familiar with the topic I think it is worth highlighting some points in this regard none the less. I think that low maintenance gardening is something we should all aspire to.
The concept of low maintenance is very closely linked to water, and as we all know, water is becoming a great concern globally.
Before we can discuss this topic, let us just look at the concept “ecology”. It simply refers to the interaction and interdependence of all the aspects that play a role in environmental health. Obviously, it refers to plants, but also to soil, temperature, moisture and of course the birds and the bees that visit and use it. These components interactions form a very special environment called a “niche”. For instance, a shady spot, a rockery and a damp spot could all have the same components but the type of plants and the wildlife can differ substantially amongst the different niches.
Since soil is the most difficult to manipulate of all ecosystem parameters required for optimum plant growth, we deliberately identified this topic as the point of departure. It was also crucial to highlight the concept that soil is an ecosystem in its own right and must be treated as such.
The secret to a resilient garden is to put the right plant in the right place. Simple, isn’t it? But the right place has a few aspects that we will elaborate on in the next few newsletters. Bear with me, it might save you thousands of Rands in the near future. The most obvious place to start is the soil.
Has a new mass extinction of life on earth already started? After all, it has already happened five times! To answer the question we need to step back and recap some of the earth’s history as related to life.
The English TV show ‘Grand Designs’ should be accompanied by a warning for viewers. Watching this programme will make you feel that you could, and should, also build that slightly different masterpiece that will become a great family home. So when we returned to South Africa, after 10 years of living in the UK, we aimed to do just that.
The rehabilitation* of disturbed land, especially in an urban environment, can add so much value to the users of the site. Think Central Park in New York. It need not be on that scale, but it can add the same quality of life.
The current mainstream approach to landscaping in South Africa still has its roots in the Western European model. The general approach is a beautiful garden full of flowers with straight lines, small variety and trimmed edges. In other words, dynamic exterior decoration that is pleasing to the eye, but high maintenance and to a large extent, sterile. (There are, of course, exceptions like the British meadow garden).
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