The Gardener December

YOUR FAVOURITE GARDENING MAGAZINE

gardener the

DECEMBER 2010

for everyone who loves gardening

SOUTH AFRICA

Beautiful

The story & chillies cinnamon of a Farm

Gardenias & African dog roses

Two Taste garden Sensations

Polygalas Poinsettias Poppies

Pot up our Cover Recipe inside

R22.95 INCL VAT

OTHER COUNTRIES

www.thegardener.co.za

R20.13 Excl. TAX On sale 22 November to 20 December 2010

It’s

chillies & The story cinnamon

Christmas!

DIY ts Pr o je c e G al o r

ofTwo a Farm Taste

Sensations garden

Build: patio tables & benches, water baubles & half moons make: table décor, lanterns, herb baskets, strawberry trees & more

December 2010 FEATURES

06 32 40 46 52

Thank you!

A letter to Santa The Merry Garden DIYer Things to make and seek out The Story of a Farm Garden Janbasterskloof near Montagu

Polygala Fast growing and free flowering marvels Festive Tropics The pot recipe you need to plant up our cover

REGULARS

1 8

14 16

17 18

21

50

54

56

58

60

64

66

67

68

86

104

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

Welcome Garden Graft Ideas, tips and tasks for December Your letters Moon Gardening Following December’s Moon Lunar gardening Guide Plant profile EUPHORBIA pulcherrima In the Garden with Anna Plants to love, things to do Diary of a Cape garden Instant shade & screening Indigenous with Jenny Dean The Perfect Gift Rose Care Holiday Roses Growing Herbs Make Your Own Herbal Gifts Growing Vegetables Peppers – Sweet & Hot Bonsai Terminal buds Petpourri The Festive Season The Spice Collection Cinnamon Koi Thinking about taking the plunge?

Tales from the Green Dragon Party Time The Day is Done Vermont Salt Pan

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

CREATE

DEFINE YOUR LIVING SPACE 73

76

80

83

Making Waves Make a patio table with pizzazz Back from the edge A garden makeover Garden projects using cement A garden of many Moons Festive water Bauble Glass in the garden Focus on reflections

MARKETPLACE 91 94 97 99

New products The Gardener DVD series Groundcover advertisements Classified Directory

COMPETITIONS PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS 12 13

20

Happenings and events Paint a Poppy Competition with Starke Ayres, Wizzard Worms and The Gardener Magazine Elands Emerald Collection Astroemeria - Princess Lilies 36 Gift from Starke Ayres

California Poppies 38 The Biggest Horticultural

Show of the Year 88 Subscribe and win

Aquaponic Barrel Planters

from Home Organic 90 Reduce your Koi pond running costs

with Waterfall Pumps

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, Gary English, Gerald Schofield, Graham Duncan, 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 Happy times!

Mom and I on 12 June 2010 – a very special day.

M

y mother has been my biggest fan and supporter, my moral compass and my inspiration to garden. This issue of The Gardener is dedicated to her memory, so forgive me, please, for using this page to celebrate her life and share my sadness at her passing.

My Mom, Jenny, died on 19 October 2010, only three short months after a diagnosis of cancer. My family and I had the privilege of caring for Mom right to the end, so we got to spend almost every minute of those last precious months with her. Losing someone you love really hurts. The fact that Mom is now at peace and in no pain takes away none of the hurt and loss and emptiness.

My Mom grew up in and around Umzinto, where she spent much of her time with her best friend Dawn. Her best friend went on to become her sister-in-law because Rodney, my Dad, was Dawn’s brother. From those early days the Voster and the Visser family were linked, and they remain so today. The two families became one big, loud unit that spent almost every day together in some way. In later years my Mom was often central to the gatherings, many of them taking place at her home in Pennington.

Mom started work early and stuck with it! She started at the Standard Bank when she was just 19, and she retired after many, many years, still at the same branch. Later in life Mom had the opportunity to travel. I wasn’t able to accompany her and Aunty Dawn when they visited our family in Canada, but the photographs allowed me to feel that I had been there too. I was there on her other trips and I remember her relaxing under the palm trees on a beautiful beach in the Comores; sailing on a catamaran in Mauritius; eating baguettes on the balcony of a villa in Majorca, and wandering through parks and gardens in England. (Perhaps I should be more accurate about the trip to England – I dragged Mom, together with my Aunty Dawn and my Aunty Ria, through every possible botanical garden in the whole of England, and I think they were a little averse to gardens for a while after that.) Actually, Mom loved gardening and she loved her garden. She spent many happy hours in it, with azaleas, orchids and anthuriums taking pride of place. She enjoyed being a garden club member and won quite a few trophies – I think she was fairly competitive because she would often phone me to ask which plant in her garden best matched the current competition’s requirements.

In many ways Mom was quirky. She had a dry, sharp sense of humour. She loved telling a story and sharing a good joke. My Mom was everyone’s mom, aunt, friend, sister or carer. She did so many kind things for so many people, most often without anyone else knowing.

She loved life and she spent hers well. She was so brave in the face of loss and illness, and she dealt with her illness with more dignity than I knew any human being could muster, and through it all she retained her sharp sense of humour. We loved her so much, and we still do.

With holidays and celebrations starting, or just around the corner, there cannot be a better time to make peace with enemies, to make contact with old friends and those you have neglected, and to tell those close to you how much you love them. And, of course, spend some holiday time in the garden – few things ease a gardener’s troubled heart better than a little time spent gardening.

A typical family gathering, here we are celebrating Mom’s 73rd birthday in August 2010.

SUBSCRIPTION PROBLEMS?

PLEASE CONTACT OUR HELPDESK If you are a subscriber and have experienced poor service from our subscriptions agency, RNA, please accept our sincere apologies. RNA has recently installed a new IT system to improve its operations, but we have become aware that ‘teething problems’ have affected the service badly in some instances, causing some of our subscribers to suffer frustration and disappointment. If you are one of these subscribers, please send an e-mail to us at admin@thegardener.co.za or phone Daleen on 031 764 0593, so we can assist you.

Visit us on:

ON THE COVER

Turn to page 52 for the ‘recipe’ and details of all the plants that make up our festive pot.

Tanya dressed by: Green Champion

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

DECEMBER DIARY

Garden

Prime Planting

Graft

STACHYS byzantina

We dig this hot combination! In front is the humble STACHYS byzantina (lamb’s ears) with its velvety, silver-grey leaves that are so cooling in a summer garden and so soft to the touch. In the back, grows the fiery LOTUS berthelotii, a very photogenic, spreading groundcover that is quite hardy in hot and windy areas. Both plants can be grown to perfection in containers as well. L. berthelotii on its own is magnificent in summer hanging baskets. The grey foliage of both is an indication of hardiness to heat, wind and dry spells, but regular watering is needed to keep them lush.

Plant now A new blue that can take the heat in hanging baskets and containers is Scaevola ‘Blue Print’, which has lavender blue, fan-shaped flowers. The mounded plant starts off compact and then trails as it matures. It flowers from late spring to autumn. Scaevola prefers a free-draining soil that should be allowed to dry out between watering.

Monthly feeding encourages more flowers.

Your lawn

Scaevola ‘Blue Print’

Continue to feed, water and mow regularly. However, if you are going away on holiday, then do not feed now, just give the lawn a last mow and a deep watering the day before you leave.

Damp weather can cause fungal diseases, which can be treated with a suitable fungicide – your local nursery will recommend the correct product. Look out for the following symptoms: Dollar spot is characterised by bleached patches that merge and darken, leaving visible fungal cobwebs in dew.

Brown patch shows up as irregular dead or brown patches and causes grass cover to become quite sparse. This problem is exacerbated if the lawn is compacted.

Fairy rings are dark green rings, ever increasing in diameter. Clusters of slender toadstools can also make an appearance.

Bugs, pests and problems The two-spotted mite, also known as the red spider mite, is a bad pest in hot and dry weather. Affected leaves show light mottling then eventually turn yellow and fall off. On close inspection fine silk webbing is visible on the underside of leaves. Infestations of this mite are worst when air circulation is bad and there is a lack of humidity. To prevent this, mist the foliage of plants frequently in dry weather, particularly on the underside of the leaves. Strong smelling herbal sprays and organic remedies containing pyrethrum can be used to combat this pest.

8 l www.thegardener.co.za

Hints when going on holiday Postpone delicate tasks like seed sowing, division, potting up and the taking of cuttings until you are home again.

Rid all flowerbeds of weeds and then mulch thoroughly. Trim all hedges before leaving – a very neat, well-kept garden might fool prospective burglars into thinking you are at home.

Remove old blooms and disbud repeat-flowering plants just before leaving to encourage new flowers for when you return.

If you do not have an automatic irrigation system, ask a friendly neighbour to water your garden in your absence. To make it easier on them, attach time switches and hosepipes to all taps, and group potted plants together in the shade of a tree where they will be easier to water and will dry out more slowly.

Add water retention granules to the potting soil in all your outdoor pots. This can go a long way to preventing precious plants from drying out and dying. Top up every pot with fresh compost, this helps keep the soil moist and cool.

Remember to cancel newspaper deliveries and ask somebody to empty your post box otherwise both will be a dead give-away that you are not in residence.

To give your indoor plants a fighting chance do the following: place an old blanket in the bath, wet it thoroughly and place all your pot plants on it after watering them well. Leave curtains or blinds open to allow the most light to reach the plants.

Pack away all garden tools, the wheelbarrow, small pieces of garden furniture and ornaments that can be carried off. Make sure that the garden shed is locked up securely.

Fix any outdoor security lights that are not working and remember to let your neighbourhood watch and/or security firm know that you are going to be away.

Give a neighbour or family member a key to your house, in case your alarm goes off.

The sound of a siren blasting away, non-stop, is unpleasant for the whole neighbourhood. Make sure that all security ‘eyes’ and alarms are clear of debris and insect nests before you leave. It is sometimes only an innocent spider crawling over a watchful ‘eye’ that sets off the racket!

Kitchen gardening

If your vegetable garden is in full production and you are planning to go away, then harvest as much of the ripe fruit, vegetables and herbs as you can. Dry, can, bottle and freeze the excess for when you return. Invite your neighbours and friends to pick fresh produce while you are away. Put down a thick layer of organic mulch to keep the soil moist and suppress weeds. www.thegardener.co.za l 9

DECEMBER DIARY

In your

region

Summer rainfall temperate Get the look of tempered steel from silver lamb’s ears and add a touch of pink from a ‘My Granny’ rose. This is a great combination for a narrow but sunny bed next to a house. When asked about watering, the gardener who planted the combination photographed here said she irrigates as needed.

Although the rose needs more water than the more droughttolerant lamb’s ears, she has found that the lamb’s ears function as living mulch, keeping the rose roots in the shade and the soil cool and moist for much longer.

Winter rainfall

AEONIUM ‘Sunburst’

Summer rainfall subtropical Feed hibiscus and take tip cuttings.

Plant brightly coloured annuals in pots for the patio and around the pool area.

Plant some of the ‘Bambino’ range of bougainvilleas in large containers and dot them around the garden. When in flower, they are colourful and very tropicallooking.

Try some ‘oddball’ plants in pots – the beautiful AEONIUM ‘Sunburst’ springs to mind. Although it hails from Mediterranean climes, it will fare well here if watered regularly and kept in light shade.

10 l www.thegardener.co.za

Keep your greenery in top shape. According to all the gardening books SYZYGIUM paniculatum ’Globulum’ grows slowly, but it seems to pick up speed in summer and frequent clippings are needed to preserve topiaries created with this plant. Would these lovely specimens not make fantastic Christmas trees?

One can never prune enough in summer. This goes for all evergreens, whether they are together in hedge form, acting as windbreaks or just screening off a nastylooking corner in the garden. The more you prune (although gently) in summer, the denser the growth.

This means good pruning tools are essential, so add them to the ‘most wanted’ column on the Christmas gift list.

Dry continental It’s time for colourful portulaca!

Plant lots of them in your rock garden and they will supply you with heart-lifting colour over many months. You can sow seeds or buy them as seedlings in punnets.

Do you need to cool things down a bit? Plant pots full of the stately KALANCHOE thyrsifolia.

Complement its large, nearly seagreen leaves edged in maroon with HELICHRYSUM petiolare, planted around the edges of the pots.

Together they look extremely smart.

diy

Making Waves

The striking pattern on this patio table and benches makes them especially appealing. It’s easier than you would think to make these ‘waves’, so pop down to your closest Builders and get set to start sawing.

www.thegardener.co.za I 73

Step 1

What you need from

To create the curves in the Meranti for the tabletop and the bench tops and legs, draw a curving line down the centre of each of the 12 Meranti pieces that are 144 mm wide, allowing at least a 40 mm margin from either edge. Cut along the lines using a jigsaw. Label each of the matching pieces so it will be easy to match them up later.

Materials

Meranti pieces, measurements in mm 6 @ 1800 x 144 x 22 – tabletop 4 @ 1552 x 144 x 22 – bench tops 2 @ 1760 x 144 x 22 – bench legs 4 @ 720 x 44 x 44 – table legs 2 @ 1370 x 69 x 22 – table framework 3 @ 745 x 69 x 22 – table framework 4 @ 1320 x 68 x 20 – bench braces 4 @ 292 x 68 x 20 – bench braces 2 @ 251 x 52 x 20 – bench braces 2 @ 1360 x 44 x 44 – bench braces

Step 2

Mark a wavy pattern on the edges of each of the 4 table legs, tapering off 100 mm from the top of each. Using the jigsaw, shape the legs.

Step 3

Using the belt sander, sand every shaped piece, softening all the edges slightly. Finish the sanding by hand.

Step 4

Make the tabletop frame, using the following pieces: 2 @ 1370 x 69 x 22 and 2 @ 745 x 69 x 22. Screw the long pieces into the ends of the short pieces creating a rectangle, reinforcing the joins with wood glue. To stabilise the frame, screw in and glue the last 745 x 69 x 22 piece midway between the two ends. Next, cut 8 sections from the pine for use as cleats: 2 @ 657 mm, 2 @ 705 mm, and 4 @ 630 mm. Screw and glue these pieces to the upper inside edges of all sections of the frame. Now attach the legs to the frame.

Other materials Lengths of 20 x 20 mm pine for cleats (approx. 7 metres) Wood glue 50 full thread screws (40 x 35 mm) 20 oval wire nails Meranti wood filler 1 litre Woodoc Penetrating Polywax Sealer

Tools

Step 7

Use the wood filler to fill the indentations made by the nails and to neaten any other imperfections. Give the table and benches a good sanding, then seal with Woodoc Penetrating Polywax Sealer.

Step 5

Lay the 1800 x 144 x 22 Meranti planks on top of the table frame, in their matching pairs, leaving a 5 mm gap between each ‘wave’. Secure them to the table by gluing them to the frame and putting screws into them from underneath, through all the cleats. (See Figure 1 for a view of the underside of the completed table.)

Jigsaw, belt sander with sandpaper, brush, cordless drill with screw attachment, countersink bit, hammer, pencil and tape measure Some products may not be available at Builders Trade Depot.

290 mm from the end. Use two of the ‘wavy’ 1552 mm pieces for each bench top: attach the legs to them at each end, using glue and wire nails. Next, attach the following, all of which act as braces to strengthen the bench: two 1320 mm pieces along the length of the bench (underneath, along each side), the 251 mm piece crosswise in the centre, and the 1360 mm piece lengthwise, attached to the lower crossbars on either side. Repeat for the other bench. (See Figure 2 for a view of the underside of a completed bench.)

292

mm

1 2

To make up the benches begin by cutting each of the ‘wavy’ 1760 mm-length pieces into 4 sections (of 440 mm each), making 8 pieces. Each leg consists of 2 of these sections. Use the m m 251 292 mm planks as crossbars (2 for each leg) – attach one across one end and the other m

0m

132

720 mm

Step 6

705 mm

745 m

m

mm

0m

136

1552

B

745 mm

Figure 1.

657 mm

m

a

a

440 mm

1370 mm 1800 mm . re 2 Figu

74 I www.thegardener.co.za

3

6

3b

VOUCHER

6b 4

6c

HELPING BUILD AFRICA 4b 5 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.

Thank you! A letter to Santa Dear Santa To publish our magazines, The Gardener and Die Tuinier, requires a very special team of people – hardy workers with steel in their veins – that have, over the years, become more family than colleagues to one another, sharing each other’s ups and downs. Maybe it was you Santa, who gave us as gifts to each other, maybe not, but, I thank you in any event, just in case you forget some new gifts this year.

• Thank you for Tanya, a real bullterrier (not a yorkie!) who never relents when it comes to fighting for and protecting her product and her employees. Her energy and her love of gardening is an inspiration. Granted, she sometimes has a short attention span and when the rest of us indulge ourselves with too-long editorial meetings, arguing about gardening articles, she simply wanders off to divide some agapanthus, leaving us engaged in our serious think-tank. But anybody who thinks that she’s not listening is a fool – and she can hear even while riding on a lawnmower – and beware if she does not agree…

• Thank you for Kevin, the cool, calm and collected head boy, bean-counter and disciplined Capricorn. He seldom raises his voice, is prepared to listen to long sob stories, does not judge and after a bit of haggling even approves those expenses that were not budgeted for. Kevin is like an oak tree in Stellenbosch – sturdy and forever!

• Thank you for Wendy, our managing editor.

She is fond of cracking the whip but without her, the magazines will never hit the streets.

The rest of us will just say: “tomorrow is another day” and walk off to go gardening.

This woman can do anything, from cooking, planting, designing, styling, DIY-ing and flower-arranging, to dealing with the guilty party when things go wrong. But she’s great fun and always ”n bokkie vir sports!”.

• Thank you for Gerald, our walking gardening encyclopaedia, with his awesome knowledge of plants and all their secrets. Gerald is deadly serious one minute and frivolous the next. If you are tired of working, bored or just feeling down, he takes you to one of his favourite botanical gardens and spends hours telling you all about the plants, which he seems to know on a personal basis. He is just so special!

6 I www.thegardener.co.za

by Anna Celliers

• Thank you for Desiree, our English copy editor. Des is a soft soul who will never hurt a living thing, although I always try to drive her up the wall with all my snail-murdering ideas! Des is like a huge safety net. Every word we write is scrutinised by her for factuality and correctness. You cannot fool Des and she knows how to germinate veggie seeds on her computer box!

• Thank you for Henriette, our Afrikaans translator, living dictionary and ghost worker (we never see her!), who leaves no stone unturned when she is looking for the correct Afrikaans terms for any screw, glue or flower – not an easy job! She is like a warm ray of sunshine and never looses her cool, even when we cover her with last-minute technical stuff to translate and demand immediate attention because we have to go to print in a hurry.

• Thank you for Eunia, our Afrikaans text editor (another ghost worker) who has to edit every story and gets Die Tuinier’s pages printready every month. She puts on her glasses, sharpens her red pen and waves her magic wand.

• Thank you for Ruth, our elegant art director who loves her stiletto heels. We are always wondering how she manages to stay on them all day! She has a tough attitude about long-winded titles and the ability to turn an average garden into an earthly paradise while designing the pages. Her head is full of great ideas that we will turn into features in the future.

• Thank you for ‘TC’ – Tanya Campher – our graphic and web designer. TC is responsible for Die Tuinier’s pretty covers and our goodlooking websites. TC is our ‘fun girl’; she’s very quiet at the office but a frolicking filly when we go outside to play!

• Thank you for Geoff our senior photographer. Geoff and I have a special bond. When he comes to Cape Town on a working trip, we get up at sparrow’s whistle to get into the pretty gardens before the sun spoils the pictures. Geoff can bring out the best in every garden, and make it look like a million dollars! We often get lost on our travels, but we always see things that bring great enjoyment to both of us.

• Thank you for David our photographer.

He is a soft-hearted, willowy young man with a great smile and lots of patience with temperamental, loud ladies. If you want something, he gives it to you. If you don’t, he leaves you in peace. My type of guy!

• Thank you for Garth, our handyman. His rough hands covered in golden hairs and small flecks of sunshine are always ready to tackle any project we might dream up. Our readers of the fairer sex all want this patient and long-suffering man in their Christmas box, but we cannot let him go. What would we do without him? So, tough cookies for them, I’m sorry to say!

• A special thank you for Jonathan, our advertising man, who has a demanding job marketing our products and keeping our clients happy. Jonathan always has to reach his deadline and goals. If not, we are very harsh, even to the point of pulling out some toenails... He is as charming as Omar Sharif, fully bilingual and seldom at home – just like you Santa, when you are busy on a round of Xmas deliveries.

• Thank you for Mokete, our classified marketer with the warm telephone voice.

Mokete does not like making tea (we are too full of orders!), but his mojo is always intact, his karma is cool and he has a soothing influence on the rest of us. When he looks at you enquiringly while you are ‘shooting your mouth off’, you shut up!

• Thank you for the very special Rusty, our advertising production controller and top scone baker. She often surprises a jaded lot in the office with a fresh batch when coming back from a lunch break. To be coddled by Rusty with the sympathetic words: “how are you, my precious heart?” is to feel at peace. Rusty is a child of a gracious era, when humankind was still well-mannered and caring.

• Thank you for Kim, our office administrator.

Without her we would all be stranded. She is always busy trying to get somebody out of trouble – like finding new flights for those that were missed, or talking to readers that are looking for some elusive plant. Kim is the glue that keeps our office together, and she keeps the milk in the fridge and the coffee on the boil.

My deepest thanks dear Santa, I keep for last, and they are for all the readers that you have given us. It is such a privilege to be in their homes and hearts and to share our love for gardening with them!

Love and regards, as always, Anna PS: Santa, do you have my new address?

The house is small and the chimney narrow so have you lost a bit of weight already? Perhaps rather come via the front door. I do not want my new grandson to get scared and dirty and, with respect, please see that he is warm and cosy, his grandmother does not want to kiss cold hands and feet.

Tanya Kevin

Anna

Wendy

Desiree Geoff

Ruth Rusty

David

Jonathan

TC

Gerald

Henriette

Kim Eunia

Garth Mokete

www.thegardener.co.za I 7

SUBSCRIBE & WIN

If you subscribe or renew your subscription before 20 December 2010 your name will go into the draw for one of three Aquaponic Barrel Planter Kits from Home Organic.

With an Aquaponic Barrel Planter Kit all you need to do is to put in the plants and feed the fish because the aquaponics ecosystem takes care of everything else.

More about

Aquaponic Barrel Planters With Home Organic’s new range of Aquaponic Barrel Planters, growing vegetables and herbs is an easy, exciting and fun activity for the whole family – you feed your fish and your vegetables and herbs flourish.

The Barrel Planters contain a small pond with growing bed above it. The nutrient-rich fish waste water is fed from the pond to the gravel bed, the plants absorb the nutrients (and flourish), and the clean water returns to the fish below. The system is a basic eco-cycle that is 100% organic.

The Aquaponic Barrel Planter Kit comes complete with barrel, pond, pump, timer, grow bed and simple step-by-step instructions to get the system up and running. It makes an attractive feature in any garden or on any sunny veranda.

Visit the Home Organic website to see the other aquaponic units available.

For more information contact Dayle on 084 501 6152, e-mail: dayle@ homeorganic.co.za or go to the website: www.homeorganic.co.za.

Renew for R207 and

save 25% on the cover price Senior Citizens pay only R193 and save 30%

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.

CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs. Cathy Bowles from Camperdown who won the 8-box garden unit from Home Organics, our September 2010 prize.

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

88 I www.thegardener.co.za

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.

Overseas subscribers R678. Rest of Africa R578. Please allow four weeks for processing of orders. All prices include vat. All prices valid to 31 December 2010.