A stunning formal oasis in the Karoo

Paint colour Dulux Salisbury Stones

The grapevine-covered pergola over the back stoep provides shade in summer and lets sunlight through in winter. Since its foliage does not grow too densely, the living room still gets lots

of natural light. Yellow urn from The Mulberry Pottery

The Onion House

Nieu-Bethesda is best known for the Owl House, a museum featuring eccentric artist Helen Martins’ otherworldly cement and crushed-glass sculptures. Charmaine and Martin, themselves well-known ceramic artists, live just a few blocks from the Owl House in a home that bears the name Onion House.

The couple moved to Nieu-Bethesda from the coast near Gqeberha 20 years ago. “Our daughter, Emma, grew up here. Even before we bought the house it was known as the Onion House because onions, garlic and potatoes harvested from nearby plots were stored in it,” explains Charmaine.

Nieu-Bethesda, which lies about 50km from Graaff-Reinet, became a municipality in 1886. “Our house was originally a simple nagmaalhuisie (communion house) with no bathroom,” says Charmaine. “The only rooms we added on were a bathroom and scullery as we wanted to stay as true to the original character of the house as possible.

“We love Nieu-Bethesda and its tight-knit community. This place is a balm for the soul, with beautiful scenery and wide-open spaces. People here are not as materialistic as they are in the cities. We’re all very environmentally conscious and understand the value of our water resource – despite the town’s name meaning ‘place where water flows’. Whenever we tackle a project, we consider its style, colour and texture. Everything we create must respect the unique character of the Karoo.”

Charmaine was head of ceramic design at Nelson Mandela University for 20 years. Her artwork often features fish, birds and icons, while Martin’s sculptures and functional pieces such as plates usually bear his signature rabbit motif. >>

The small windows are typical of the Karoo; they keep the house cool in summer and help to retain heat in winter. Martin made and painted the shutters.

Rambling roses tumble over fences, softening the garden’s formal lines.

When Charmaine and Martin bought the property, all it had was a rickety boundary fence, a gate and an outside loo. Everything was overgrown with grass, bushes and weeds – far from the formal aesthetic these two creatives wanted for their garden. “We like the symmetry and balance of walled, well-shaped beds connected by gravel pathways to demarcated areas.”

Charmaine says they planned and established the garden themselves. “It actually evolved quite organically into the formal layout we have now. We started with a wall and hedges to create privacy and to provide shelter from the wind, and developed the garden further after building the swimming pool in 2005. We also added gravel paths leading to the house, demarcated with rambling rose hedges.

“We like having our plants in well-planned beds, partitioned off with shrubs that are trimmed into squares and balls to enhance the formal look. The low walls around the flowerbeds also have a functional purpose: when we irrigate, no water goes to waste as they keep the water in.” In keeping with its Karoo character, only natural-looking materials such as stone and cement have been used in the garden. >>

Martin and Emma, then aged four, in front of the house in 2001. The photos were taken right at the start of the renovations after the steel-framed windows had been removed. Some sections of the home’s walls, which had been built with mud, were reinforced with gauze and then plastered. The chimney and alcove of the wood-fired stove in the kitchen forms the backdrop to this lovely seating area with its retro bench, table and chairs. A large glazed pot made by South African potter Yogi de Beer sits in the corner. The glazed plate with the rabbit motif is one of Martin’s pieces.

Wire chairs from Chair Crazy

A view across the valley to the Sneeuberg mountain, with Nieu-Bethesda nestled below. A conifer defines each corner of this formal bed, adding height and symmetry. The rows of small common boxwood plants will later form a hedge.

M A RT I N ’ S T I PS FO R G A R D E N I N G I N T H E K A R O O

• Find out what grows well in your area. • Take note of the wind direction in your garden so that you can provide shelter for vulnerable plants. • Check how much growth space a plant needs and its ideal growing conditions before planting it. • Know when to plant. Our growing season in Nieu-Bethesda is very short. We have to be cognisant of the frost season and never plant before the end of October. • Choose evergreen plants to add life and colour in winter – common boxwood, ornamental kale and spinach are all excellent options. • ‘Iceberg’ roses are very resilient. After a devastating hailstorm in January, we cut ours back hard; by February the shrubs were in full bloom again. • Follow waterwise gardening principles: retain water with good compost-rich clay soil, dam up flowerbeds with soil, create low walls and plant indigenously.

Plant choice

All the plants in this garden are adapted to the local climate. “In winter, the temperature can drop to -16°C,” says Charmaine. “By May this year, we’d already had frost! But roses do well here, as do bulbous plants such as garlic, onions and day lilies. And we can grow fennel and artichokes. We also have wisteria, grapevines, Boston ivy, pomegranate trees, pecan nut trees, quince trees and certain conifers.

“We’ve planted several cactuses, including the queen of the night (Selenicereus grandiflorus); its flowers are so white, they practically glow in the dark. You can propagate it by simply breaking off a shoot and planting it. Or, if they drop off, they’ll grow where they’ve fallen. We favour plants with white blooms because they look so beautiful at twilight.”

They seldom buy new plants, Charmaine says. “We propagate our own plants from seeds and cuttings of those that we know thrive here. Martin is always collecting cuttings and seeds.”

The couple even have plants grown from seeds that they collected in France when they lived there years ago. “Even though we lived in a rented house, Martin still couldn’t resist growing cuttings in bags. Before we left, we gave bags full of plants to a couple who had recently moved into a house without a garden. Back then, they were novice gardeners but they’ve become keen gardeners with a beautiful place.”

Charmaine says the Karoo has very definite seasons. “We love it! In the heat of summer we keep busy with watering. In winter, we can rest a bit as we don’t have to water as often. And July or August is pruning time.

“We’ve almost achieved our goals for our garden. But, of course, a garden is always a work in progress with new, different plants that have the potential to thrive here.”