The Gardener January 2011

JANUARY 2011

Contents 27

FEATURES

Super-gardeners Three gardeners, with limited access to resources, do their gardens proud.

34 38

Plant Stars of 2010 Plants that The Gardener’s gardeners loved in 2010

1

Welcome

6

Garden Graft Ideas, tips and tasks for January

11

Your Letters

12

Moon Gardening Following January’s Moon

13

Lunar gardening Guide

14

Plant Profile BERBERIS ‘Golden Ring’

REGULARS

Publisher Lonehill Trading (Pty) Ltd Editor Tanya Visser Managing Director Kevin Beaumont Managing Editor (Editorial enquiries) Wendy Moulton 031 764 0593 wendy@thegardener.co.za Chief Copy Editor Desiree Collett van Rooyen Art Director Ruth Brophy Web and Graphic Design Tanya Campher Photography Geoff Redman, David van den Bergh

Rose Strategies Water wise ways to grow roses

CREATE

DEFINE YOUR LIVING SPACE 59

Shower Power Build a rustic outdoor shower

62

DIY with PPC Cement Fabulous fire pit Pebble inlay

65

Glass in the garden with PG Glass Artistic detail

MARKETPLACE 70

New Books

72

New Products

74

The Gardener DVD series

75

Groundcover advertisements

76

Classified Directory

17

In the Garden with Tanya Marvellous Plants

42

Indigenous with Jenny Dean A Radical Plan

44

Growing Herbs Herbs to the Rescue

46

Growing Vegetables Potted Tomatoes

49

The Spice Collection Cardamom

7

Paint a Poppy Competition with Starke Ayres, Wizzard Worms and The Gardener Magazine

50

Diary of a Cape Gardener The Challenge of Clay Soils

10

Events and open gardens

52

Rose Care The Summer Snip

72

Red Rhino Premium Range

53

Petpourri A Happy, Yappy New Year

54

Koi Transporting Koi

68

Tales from the Green Dragon If You Could Visit …

Advertising Jonathan Gouws 031 764 0593 jonathan@thegardener.co.za Advertising and Classifieds Mokete Maepa 031 764 0593 mokete@thegardener.co.za Groundcover Advertising/ Advertising Production Controller Rusty Croft 031 764 0593 rustyc@thegardener.co.za Office Administrator (Enquiries) Kim van Rooyen 031 764 0593 kim@thegardener.co.za

COMPETITIONS PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS

56

SUBSCRIBE AND WIN Everyone who subscribes or renews this month gets a DVD from The Gardener

TV series

DIY Expert Garth Demmer Subscriptions RNA 011 473 8700 subs@RNAD.co.za Editorial contributors Alice Spenser-Higgs, Angela Beckx, Anna Celliers, Di-Di Hoffman, Gerald Schofield, Glynne Anderson, Kevin Beaumont, Louis van Aswegen, Dr Hugh Glen, Ilona Thorndike, Jenny Dean, Ludwig Taschner, Margaret Roberts, Ruth Brophy, Tanya Visser, Wendy Moulton.

Editorial Head Office 3 Haygarth Road, Kloof PO Box 29244, Maytime 3624 Telephone (031) 764 0593 Telefax (031) 764 1148 e-mail: info@thegardener.co.za

Copyright subsists in all work published in this magazine. Any reproduction or adaptation, in whole or part, without written permission is strictly prohibited. The Gardener will not be held responsible for any omissions or errors. Unsolicited material will not be accepted. The Gardener is available at leading nurseries and selected retail outlets nationally.

Welcome

I

f your holiday tan has started to fade then may I politely suggest that perhaps you are not spending enough time in your garden? Even though mine is a ‘farmer’s tan’ (only my arms!) it’s a pretty impressive one and it was deepened considerably recently, during a most therapeutic bout in my garden. I have been thrashing around in a new section, moving rocks, turning soil and planting up a walkway – lining it with flowering perennials; ground covers that will gently make their way to the edges; glorious grasses; and Inca lilies.

This was an area of my garden that I had not yet planted up, mainly because I kept changing my mind about what I should plant. (Yes, I too have those dilemmas.) But when thinking about what I’d like to do in the garden in remembrance of my Mom, it all became clear.

I realised that only the most spectacular walkway would do. I needed to create one with a riot of colour on either side that envelops me, and invites me to explore all the beautiful colours and textures; one that I can stroll along slowly, pausing to reflect and breathe along the way. This garden is still in its infancy but already it is my therapy, my place of reflection; I know my Mom loves it and I have many conversations with her in its comforting embrace.

Whatever your reason for getting out there and tackling a new area of your garden, or just doing a little revamp of an existing section, it will be rewarding. And, if you find yourself short of ideas, the contents of this issue will most certainly inspire you. Take a look at our article ‘Super-gardeners’ to see the most inspiring gardens that Anna Celliers and Geoff Redman visited in Caledon. The creators of these three gardens, Anna, Emma and Louise, have some great lessons to teach us, most importantly how to make the best of what we have and to be inventive.

Along with Ludwig’s regular rose care page, this month we also bring you an unusual take on rose growing strategies by the good people from Rand Water. They tell us how to combine rose-growing and water-wise gardening – which is great news for everyone who thought the two were incompatible. Be sure, also, to take a look at our Builder’s DIY. It’s my favourite! Garth shows you how to build an outdoor shower, and isn’t his timing perfect?

On hot days when you’re grubby from gardening, what better way could there be to cool off and clean up?

Now is the time when we set about coming up with resolutions for the year ahead.

Like it or not, we do it, and even when we don’t tell anyone else what we have promised ourselves, we get terribly disappointed when we break our resolutions. So, this year I’m going to keep it simple: love more, garden more and stop often to smell the roses.

Happy gardening!

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2

PS Tanya dressed by: Green Champion

FREE: A 2011 calendar featuring 12 beautiful photographs, chosen to delight the heart of every gardener, can be downloaded (for free) from our website.

Go to www.thegardener.co.za. /2011calendar

Anna is now a GRANDMA! Welcome to Björn Daniel Vrey and warmest congratulations to his parents, Jana and Andre Vrey, and to his grandparents. Little Björn has brought the widest smiles you can imagine to the faces of the Celliers and Vrey families. (And I hear that Anna says he could recognise flower colours at two weeks old, so he’s definitely going to be a gardener!)

ON THE COVER

Marigold – Tagetes species It seems marigolds have been around forever, but we still think they’re pretty! Along with the colour their blooms contribute, some Tagetes species are reputed to give off sufficient quantities of thiophenes and polythienyls to kill soil-inhabiting nematodes, making them handy companion plants in the vegetable garden.

3 1. Yours truly during the shooting of our 8th season of The Gardener for the Home Channel (DSTV, channel 182). 2. Our awesome stand at the Good Food and Wine Show, Durban. There were unbeatable subscription specials and everyone cooked up a storm. 3. Björn arrived on 12 November 2010, to the absolute delight of his parents and grandparents, and all who know and love them.

Visit us on:

w w w.t h e g a r d e n e r.c o. z a

JANUARY DIARY

Garden

Graft

Prime Planting For flower power all summer long, you simply have to plant a few specimens of JUSTICIA brandegeana – the old-fashioned shrimp plant. The shrimp plant is evergreen and will grow in any soil. It needs regular watering and some cutting back to encourage bushy growth and lots more of its rewarding flowers. The shrimplike flowers of J. brandegeana are an unusual rusty brown colour, while those of J. brandegeana ‘Chartreuse’ are lime yellow. Both are perfect filler plants for mixed borders – expect them to grow to a mature size of 1 m x 70 cm.

Plant now Colour up the shady spots in your garden with bright foliage; you need not look much further than trusty old coleus – SOLENOSTEMON scutellarioides. The modern varieties are available in a wide range of colours, including lime yellow, maroon, red-pink, rusty orange and dark burgundy, and they have the most gorgeous leaf markings and shapes.

Their best characteristic is their willingness to grow and glow brightly in light to fairly deep shade. Some types will tolerate morning sun, but they will then need much more water than their neighbours in the shade. Give them well-composted soil, regular water, a good layer of mulch, and a light pinching back now and again, and enjoy the richness of their jewel-like colours.

Your lawn Water deeply at least twice a week.

If necessary, feed with slow-release fertiliser, taking care to water before and after feeding. Do not fertilise if the weather remains dry and water is scarce.

Watch out for lawn caterpillars. To find out if they are present, leave a wet sack or old piece of carpet on the lawn overnight. If there is an infestation you will find caterpillars clinging to the underside in the morning. To remove them you will need to treat the whole lawn – preferably with an organic spray.

Kitchen gardening JUSTICIA brandegeana ‘Chartreuse’

SOLENOSTEMON scutellarioides.

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If you sow basil seeds now you’ll have a crop that will last well into autumn. After watering lightly, cover the seed tray with a sheet of glass and place it in a warm but shady place to speed up germination. Once the plants have grown into a nice size, outside in the garden or in pots, you need to pinch back the shoots to ensure bushy, long-producing plants. Remember that the ordinary green basil is an annual that will die down in cold weather. If you currently have a good crop of basil then you can freeze some leaves for later use. To do this, harvest and wash the leaves, then chop them finely and pack them in an ice tray, and fill with water. Chopped basil can also be frozen in olive oil.

Along with using the aromatic leaves of the bay tree – LAURUS nobilis – for cooking, the tree itself can be trained into a beautiful standard specimen for a large tub or

LAURUS nobilis

container. It is a hardy plant that loves a sunny spot, but it must be protected against frost in winter.

Bugs, pests and problems The presence of ants can also indicate that there are aphids, scale insects and mealy bugs around, because ants feed on the honeydew that these creatures secrete. Ants thrive in dry, sandy soil conditions, so adding lots of organic matter to garden beds will help to drive them away by enabling the soil to retain more moisture. Other remedies include dusting anthills with a suitable ant killer, and some gardeners swear by a mixture of icing sugar and borax (please note that borax is not a registered chemical for this purpose).

Windowsills can be dusted with baby powder to discourage small ants that try to come indoors from outside.

Must do Delphinium seed sown in trays in January will be ready to plant out in March for flowering in November, with another flush in autumn. When Delphiniums finish their first flush they should be cut back to encourage a second round of blooms. At the same time place a layer of fresh compost around them and be sure to water them only at soil level.

(Water on their leaves invites disease.)

If your petunias are looking scraggly then prune them back lightly. Feed them every two weeks with a foliar fertiliser to encourage another flower crop.

Fill up hanging baskets with plants from the lovely new ranges of perennial petunias.

Keep the baskets in full sun, water them every day and feed them every two to three weeks with a liquid fertiliser.

If you want to grow large shrubs in a small garden then train them as standards. Cut away all low side branches and leave only a main stem, and shape the crown into a tight ball. Many an old hibiscus or viburnum that has been pruned in this way has been given a new lease on life. You can plant all kinds of lovely summer perennials around their bases.

Indoor ferns love humidity, especially in hot weather, so place your fern pots in trays filled with gravel, keep the gravel damp and spray the leaves regularly with tepid water.

Take care with the soil in the pots though, it should be kept just moist, not soggy, and never allow the bases of the pots to stand in water.

Stake dahlias, and other tall-growing plants, and continue to remove old flower heads.

Remember that dahlias need to be watered often. Put down a thick mulch of compost to prevent the soil around them drying out. Also feed them regularly with a liquid feed as they are a hungry lot. Pick the beautiful blooms early in the morning and cut the stems at an angle as that allows them to take up more water in the vase. Keep the vase out of direct sunlight, in a cool spot.

ASPLENIUM nidus Deadhead hydrangeas by cutting the (Bird’s nest fern) stems back to two healthy buds. If you are not going to dry the spent blooms then spread them and the stem trimmings around the plants at soil level to act as mulch. Feed them again, either with a general fertiliser, or one specially formulated to enhance either pink or blue flowers.

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JANUARY DIARY

In your

region

Summer rainfall temperate Use the ashes from wood fires (not those made with briquettes or charcoal) to mulch around hostas and other soft shade-loving plants that snails love to eat. The snails hate crossing over ash, so they generally head in another direction when they encounter it.

Wood ash is an excellent source of potash (potassium), so you can expect great flowers from those hostas.

Buy some of the lovely hybrid arums that are available in nursery bags or as potted colour plants and transfer them to containers filled with good quality potting soil that is light and free draining. The best growing position for them is full sun or light shade. If present, hawk moth caterpillars (which eat the leaves of arums) will be visible at night.

These caterpillars never appear in great numbers, so they can be picked off the plants by hand.

Summer rainfall subtropical

Stock up on colourful plants like these arum hybrids

Take lots of cuttings – they will root easily in the warm and humid conditions.

If the mosquito population in your garden is soaring then check for places where they may be breeding. Look for standing water in blocked gutters or drains, neglected bird baths, containers and old tires. (Perhaps that old tyre swing under the tree?) Plants that collect a lot of water, like bromeliads, should be sprayed clean with a strong jet of water on a regular basis.

Feed all exotic fruit trees, like avocadoes, mangoes, pawpaws and bananas, with a general fertiliser.

Winter rainfall Summer-prune roses to encourage another flower flush and also remove suckers sprouting from below the graft. Check that standard roses are well staked.

Tie in grapevine shoots and trim foliage lightly to allow for more sun and air movement.

Gently prune lavender plants that have stopped flowering to encourage an autumn flush. Cutting them into round balls with a broad base allows sunlight to reach the whole plant (whereas just cutting sharply across the top can result in bare and leggy bases).

Dry continental

To encourage an autumn flush, gently prune lavenders that have stopped flowering

Keep plants (especially young ones) well watered and mulched.

Take semi-ripe cuttings of buddlejas and viburnums.

Start sowing the spring annuals that take time to mature, this includes Iceland poppies, stocks, primulas and cineraria. Sow the seed in trays, and keep them moist and cool in a shaded place.

You can still sow quick-maturing flowering plants like marigold, zinnia and lobularia (alyssum).

If it is hot and the water available is brackish then avoid watering the foliage of plants as the high salinity can cause leaf burn.

Make sure your bromeliads are not a breeding ground for mosquitoes

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DIY

It is wonderful to be able to rinse off under a cold shower after a morning spent gardening in the heat of summer.

With this rustic outdoor shower the woven wattle panels provide a degree of privacy and blend in with the garden surroundings.

Do this 4-hour project at the weekend, after a quick trip to your local Builders for the materials.

Shower Power www.thegardener.co.za I 59

WHAT YOU NEED FROM

MATERIALS 2 x woven wattle panels (2100 mm x 800 mm)

2a

2 x universal posts (68 x 68 x 2300 mm, mahogany)

2b

6 x Hilti screws (008) 18 full thread wood screws (04 x 60) 5 kg cement 1 bag building sand 24 x cobbles weed control fabric (+-1m2) 1 x concrete paver (large) 3 metres copper pipe (inlet pipe) 1 x 15 mm elbow (female)

2c

3

4

5

1 x 15 mm tap stop 1 x shower rose and arm cable ties

TOOLS Tape measure, pipe cutters, combination/shifting spanner, spirit level, 08 mm masonry drill bit, electric hammer drill, screw driver, pencil Some products may not be available at Builders Trade Depot.

Step 1

You need a site that is level, with a sturdy wall to which one of the panels will be attached. Draw a vertical line on the wall where the frame of the panel will be secured to the wall.

Step 2

Drill 6 evenly spaced holes into the frame on one side of one panel. Hold the panel against the line on the wall and make 6 marks on the wall to match the holes in the frame. Drill into the wall in these 6 places, and use the Hilti screws to attach the panel to the wall.

Step 3

Now that the panel is in place, position a post against its outside edge. Where the post meets the ground, dig a hole about 200Â mm deep and insert the post (adjust the depth to ensure that the top of the post is flush with the top of the panel). Temporarily hold the post in place with bricks and attach the panel to it using 6 wood screws.

Step 4

Position the second panel against the post, parallel to the wall, and flush with the top 60 I www.thegardener.co.za

1

of the post, creating an L-shape. Attach it to the post using 6 wood screws.

so that it fits the space within the cobbles exactly, and lay it in the space.

Step 5

Step 8

Place the second post flush with the unattached end of the second panel, and repeat the processes in step 3.

Step 6

Make a stiff concrete mix of 4 parts stone, 2 parts sand, 1 part cement and water. Remove the bricks holding the posts and fill the holes with the concrete mix, compacting it around them so that they are secure, and then levelling the surface of the concrete. Let it dry then cover with topsoil.

Step 7

For the shower ‘floor’, start by making a firm mix of 2 parts sand, 1 part cement and water.

Put a layer of the mix along three sides (exclude the wall) and lay a single row of cobbles on it. Trim the weed control fabric

Place the paver in the centre of the space, on top of the fabric. Fill the area around the paver with the pebbles. The pebble section supplies the drainage space (the shower is not intended for long showers so simple drainage is all you need).

Step 9

If your shower is close to the main water supply and you have the skill to do the required plumbing then run a water pipe from there, otherwise a garden hose that connects to the closest outdoor tap will do fine. Run the inlet pipe vertically up the centre of the outside of the panel closest to the wall, to a height of about 110 cm. Cut the pipe, attach the tap stop, insert BU LB IN E the tap handle through frut es ce ns the woven panel, then fit

Stand a chance to

WIN A BUILDERS

6a

6b

7a

GIFT VOUCHER TO THE VALUE OF

R2500 7b

9a the remaining pipe, extending it to just above the top of the panel. Use cable ties to hold the inlet pipe in position.

8a

8b

9b

10

HELPING BUILD AFRICA

Step 10

Using the elbow, attach the shower arm to the inlet pipe, then attach the shower rose to the arm. Next, attach the soap tray and towel hook to the wall.

Finally, plant a swathe of BULBINE frutescens around the outside of the shower. You’ll have worked up quite a sweat by then, so it will be the perfect time to try out your handiwork. (Remember to fetch a towel first!)

Builders Warehouse is the leader in home improvement. You will find everything you might need for home improvement, under one roof, plus each store has a dedicated builder’s counter and quotations department.

Builders Express is the family garden and DIY centre, and caters for all gardening and DIY enthusiasts.

Builders Trade Depot stocks a full range of building materials supplying contractors across a broad spectrum of the building industry.

For more information on the products supplied by Builders, and great advice on almost any garden DIY project, go to www.builders.co.za or phone the customer care line: 0860 BUILDERS/284533.

*SMS BUILDERS to 37291 and your next Builders shopping spree could be on us!

Competition valid until 16 January 2010 *Normal SMS rates apply Terms & conditions apply

Plant Stars of 2010

At the beginning of this new year we take a moment to look back a bit and ask each other the question “Which plant, old or new, blew your hair back (and maybe even your petticoat up) in 2010?”

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By The Gardener’s gardeners

lthough Mother Nature gave us so many wonderful species, there will always be ‘new’ plants that appear in nurseries. It is human nature to want to change things, and so clever growers create generations of fashionable hybrids, which, of course, we gardeners simply have to take home to test drive. Some make their way straight to our hearts and become icons that continue to sell in their millions – like the Iceberg rose. Others tickle our fancies temporarily, and then we move on, looking for newer and more exciting plants, while finding renewed joy in our old favourites.

These are our plant stars of 2010 – the plants that stood out for the gardeners at The Gardener in the past twelve months.

CORDYLINE australis ‘Southern Splendour’

CORDYLINE australis ‘Southern Splendour’ 34 I www.thegardener.co.za

In the olden days, when we were young rookies, the common CORDYLINE australis would be the first plant we would recommend when somebody came into our nurseries looking for a ‘toughie’ to plant in a pot or to use as a focal plant in a garden. This green ‘cabbage tree’, with its crown of straplike leaves and slender main stem covered in rough bark, proudly withstood drought, flood, frost and bitter winter cold. When cats used it as a scratching post it didn’t simply repair the damage, instead it produced more leafy heads and side branches from these injuries. (And if there was no cat around, and a specimen was too lazy to branch out on its own, then a foxy gardener could get it to produce the same multi-stemmed effect by inflicting a few injuries with a sharp breadknife.)

Many a suburban garden still sports this stalwart, but growers must have decided that it was in need of a serious face-lift because the new Cordyline varieties are multi-coloured and smaller, making them ideal foliage plants for containers and small gardens. Amongst these, you will find our star plant: CORDYLINE australis ‘Southern Splendour’. The background colour of the strap-like leaves is dark bronzy-green, but the bright pink stripes in the centre and on the edges of the leaves turn this shrub into a luminously bright plant that catches the eye

CORDYLINE ‘Red Fountain’ in containers

of even the most cynical plant critic. It grows to approximately 2 metres x 1 metre.

Other cordyline stars • C. australis ‘Sunrise’ has narrow leaves with a reddish-pink mid-rib and pink edges.

• C. banksii ‘Electric Pink’™ is very tropical looking, with shocking pink edges to the leaves.

Its smaller size (1 m x 1 m) makes it ideal for pots on balconies.

• C. ‘Red Fountain’ is a dwarf, clump-forming plant with lustrous burgundy-coloured strappy foliage that cascades into a rounded ball. It bears large sprays of small, star-shaped, blush-pink flowers in late spring and summer.

• C. terminalis ‘Caruba Black’ has broad, glossy leaves that are dark maroon to nearly black. It has a multi-stemmed growth habit and is suitable only for light shade in protected spots – a perfect patio plant.

SEDUM spurium ‘Bronze Carpet’

‘Bronze Carpet’ is a vigorous, evergreen ground cover with glossy, succulent leaves that are dark coppery-red in colour. Its small, soft pink flowers are produced in spring. It is an ideal plant for rockeries, pots, retaining walls and succulent hanging baskets. It is easy to grow if you can plant it in full sun, in free-draining soil enriched with compost, and provide water regularly when it is really dry.

SALVIA leucantha

If you have a soft spot for graceful arching stems that are powdery white, and willow-like leaves with silvery-white woolly undersides, all on a windswept wild-looking shrub, then S. leucantha, the Mexican bush sage, is the best sage for you. First one falls in love with this herbaceous shrub when the new growth appears on the winter-bare stems (it is semi-deciduous, so sometimes bare). You lose your heart completely when the long sprays of small white flowers appear in spring, protected by their gorgeous, velvety purple or lavender blue calyces. This is a tough, windresistant shrub that grows and blooms with vigour all through summer, reaching peak flower power in early autumn. Just before winter strikes you will need to cut it back into shape, before it goes into a short rest period.

Unfortunately for those with cold, frosty gardens, S. leucantha prefers a hot and dry Mediterranean or subtropical climate. It performs well in sandy, well-drained soil and can tolerate periods of drought with ease. The profuse inflorescences extend way beyond the foliage, making this a very attractive and highly visible plant in a mixed border. www.thegardener.co.za I 35

RHUS crenata (raisin bush, dune crowberry) PHORMIUM ‘Margaret Jones’

If flaxes should ever go out of fashion, we gardeners will sorely lament their passing because they are so useful for creating good contrast between other plants. Where would we find other hardy and semi-hardy, evergreen, long-lasting plants that grow so easily while looking so pretty and graceful all the time? Amongst all the varieties (actually too many!) we picked the new release called ‘Margaret Jones’. It is also sure to become the darling of flower arrangers due to its striped, rust-red leaves with their bright bronze edges. It grows into a clump about 1 metre high with a spread of about 60 cm.

Given its many potential garden uses, R. crenata is one of the most undervalued of our indigenous species. It is a lovely evergreen shrub that enjoys full sun, is semi-hardy (can take light frost), fast growing and can be trimmed into an attractive hedge or topiary or any ornamental shape. Its adult size is about 3 metres by 3 metres.

“I have enclosed a square bed in front of my veranda with a low, formal hedge of R. crenata. The space inside the hedge is filled with four white pots planted up with standard syzygiums, bright red begonias and, growing around the pots at ground level and tumbling out above the raisin bush hedge, is the wild grey foliage of another tough plant, RHAGODIA hastata (saltbush). I get pleasure out of this combination every day of my life!” – Anna

HYDRANGEA macrophylla ‘Endless Summer’

HYDRANGEA macrophylla ‘Endless Summer’ ‘Blushing Bride’ 36 I www.thegardener.co.za

If there’s a man with a soft spot for hydrangeas, it is definitely Gerald. He tells us that he cannot get over the fact that one can have a hydrangea that will flower repeatedly all summer long and into autumn too. To have endless summer pleasure, as the name of this hybrid promises, you will have to provide rich, loamy, well-drained soil, morning sun, afternoon shade, regular water, a monthly feed from spring to autumn with a fertiliser rich in potassium, and a nourishing and cooling layer of organic mulch. You will also have to deadhead spent blooms and give the plants a heavy winter prune every third to fourth year.

HYDRANGEA macrophylla ‘Endless Sum mer ’ ‘Blushin g Bride’

Two great grasses

Grass gardens are high fashion because they are low maintenance and water-wise. The masses of seed that veld grasses produce make them good for attracting birdlife too.

• ARISTIDA junciformis (Ngongoni three-awn grass) While not a favourite grass with farmers because it is almost inedible to animals and encroaches upon areas that have been overgrazed, A. junciformis is coveted by gardeners who adore grasses. It is a very ornamental grass and, more importantly, a grass that will grow and look good in virtually any type of soil, and it covers high banks with ease.

• STIPA tenuissima ‘Pony Tails’ The beautiful STIPA tenuissima ‘Pony Tails’, which is always waving in the wind, is another favourite with the grass lovers. It looks very dramatic when planted en masse in a controlled landscape, such as a large garden, and it contrasts beautifully with daintyflowering tall perennials.

STIPA tenuissima ‘Pony Tails’

ARISTIDA junciformis (Ngongoni three-awn grass)

AGAPANTHUS africanus ‘Peter Pan’

With all the new varieties of agapanthus that keep becoming available in nurseries, an agapanthus-lover can never get bored. Sometimes, however, it is the trusty old favourites amongst these indigenous perennials that we still love the most. The rest of us were awestruck by the masses of sky blue flowers produced by the swathes of A. africanus ‘Peter Pan’ in Tanya’s garden. (We were also green with envy.) The plant reaches a size of 50 cm x 40 cm, while the flowers are held on slender stems that reach way above this.

ALOE ‘Erik the Red’

In a small nursery one afternoon, we watched how a customer who had come in looking for ‘something special’ fell in love with a whole batch of newly delivered ALOE ‘Erik the Red’. They were in glorious flower and he just could not resist them – he bought them all. ‘Erik the Red’ is a large aloe that bears sprays of deep red flowers in late winter. It is part of a modern range of aloe hybrids called Sunbird Aloes. The range comprises many different varieties – from small, to medium, to very large specimens. These hybrids flower prolifically at different times of the year and the spectrum of colours is extraordinary, certainly not what one would usually expect from aloes.

Steel yourself if you come across them!

SUBSCRIBE&WIN

DVD-series

A subscription to The Gardener costs only R220 and buys a year of reading pleasure along with the added benefits of free delivery and never missing an issue.

The DVD we have chosen to reward you with is the second in our ‘Garden Makeovers’ series; it is just over an hour long and contains the following: • Creating a garden bed; slate pillars and cobble edging.

• Restructuring an entrance garden, pruning topiaries and controlling snails.

• Building a low-walled garden bed, putting up trellis and planting up the bed.

• A courtyard makeover

• Laying a pathway with wooden poles and gravel.

The full series currently consists of 19 DVDs, all containing footage previously broadcast on The Gardener TV series on the Home Channel.

The DVDs can be ordered at a cost of R120 per DVD, which includes postage and packing. For a list of all the DVDs available, or any other details, phone David on 031 7640593, e-mail david@thegardener. co.za or visit www.thegardener.co.za/dvd.html.

CONGRATULATIONS to these lucky subscribers, who are the winners of the ‘Subscribe and win’ prizes advertised in October 2010. They will each be getting Ciso Cordless Secateurs from Bosch: A Roos, Protea Park; A Greyling, Linden; M Thomas, Sherwood; R Pietersen, Bethlehem; L Bensch, Tzaneen; W Kool, Lynnwood Ridge; D Brown, Nigel; S Pride, Bellevue; W Odendaal, Faunapark; R Machado, Garsfontein East; J Purdon, George and I Glatz, Cape Town.

Call (011) 473 8700 with your credit card details or SMS ‘Subs TG’ to 41939 (R2/sms) and we’ll call you!

56 I www.thegardener.co.za 56 I www.thegardener.co.za

If you subscribe, or renew your current subscription, before 17 January 2011 you definitely win all round! You will be making sure that you receive the next 12 issues of The Gardener, and at a generously discounted rate to the cover price, PLUS you’ll receive a DVD showing makeovers from The Gardener TV series.

Post a cheque with your details (name, postal address & contact number) to RNA Distribution SUBS, PO Box 725, Maraisburg, 1700

Debit order option: Call (011) 473 8700 and pay only R48 every 3 months.

Deposit your payment into FNB Corporate Jhb, Code 25 50 05 00, Account number 62104927259 and fax a copy along with your details to (011) 474 5479

Subscribe to The Gardener and nominate one Afrikaans-speaking friend to receive three consecutive issues of Die Tuinier, absolutely FREE.

Renew for R207 and save 25% on the cover price. Senior Citizens (63 years and older) pay only R193 and save 30%.

Please allow four weeks for processing of orders, and six weeks for your DVD. Please note that the DVD cannot be exchanged for cash, and it cannot be exchanged for a different DVD. All local prices include VAT. An annual subscription to overseas subscribers costs R678 and to subscribers in the rest of Africa R578. All prices are valid to 17 January 2011.