The Best Way To Landscape Your Website

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting a whole bunch lately? That old idiom has been coming to mind quite a bit recently "Make hay while the sun shines". Its a great piece of advice, especially for us procrastinators, who might rather be blogging than tackling any tough tasks.

Another task that I have been tackling in the last few weeks, has been the pruning and replanting of my landscape website. Its been a project that I have been working on bit by bit for the last year or so, but I felt that it was time to make a concerted effort to finish it.

As I've gotten it closer to where I want it, I've realised how similar creating a website is to landscaping a garden:

1. Its essential to have a plan of what you want the finished garden/website to look like.
2. Before you start figure out who will be experiencing the website/landscape.
3. Use the best tools you can afford.
4. Its important to have a theme that brings everything together. In a garden, you could have more than one theme depending on the size of the garden, but if you do, it could leave the visitor confused.
5. Figure out the structure first, and build onto and around that.
6. Simpler is often better.
7. Don't make the landscape/site too busy or distracting, it leaves you feeling unsettled and less likely to enjoy the experience.
8. Repetition of certain elements throughout the site/garden is important to give the eye some familiarity
9. When its looking messy, and you're feeling a little overwhelmed, don't give up. Its usually just on the other side that you'll start to see the end in sight.
10. Look at your use of colours carefully - complimentary colours are really restful and harmonious, contrasting colours are bold and exciting.
11. Make sure you do as much research as possible before you start, and if you're unsure of any code/application/plant, do some more research.
12. Experimenting is how you learn. Place the plant/code in your website, and see how it looks. If it doesn't look right, be ruthless and pull it out - it'll get harder to do when you build other plants/code around it. If you feel bad about pulling it out, you can always give it to a friend - a gift of 'html code' is always welcome. (ok, maybe I'm pushing the similarities too far there.)
13. Ask experts for advice (if you can afford it - hire a professional to do it for you), and get feedback from friends, but trust your instincts too.
14. Have fun doing it, but don't let it consume you - everybody needs a hobby, no-one needs an obsession.

I'm currently at number 13. I would love some feedback about the website. Feel free to be as critical/honest as you want. Personally, I think its the best landscape website I've ever seen - but hey, I might be biased ;-)

The Importance of Beauty - A View on the 2010 World Cup

Its been hard to ignore the fact that there's a World Cup happening in our backyard at the moment. Its been something we've been building (literally and emotionally) towards for the last several years, with equal doses of pessimism and excitement. I'm looking forward to seeing the long-term benefits to our economy and nation, as the rest of the world has a chance to see what a truly amazing place South Africa is. The truth is, once you've lived here, its hard to be happy anywhere else.

Flag Wrapped Tree outside the Africa Art Centre on Florida Road

Huge amounts of money have been spent on things like building brand new stadiums, fixing infrastructure that wasn't too bad before, and tidying beaches, parks and other public places. None of which would and should probably be a high priority in a country, where there is such an extreme between rich and poor. Where the AIDS epidemic has effected almost everyone to some degree, and where many essentials are spoken of as priorities, but are in actuality, neglected.

But honestly, I'm not sure that I'm unhappy that money has been spent on these "superficial" things. You can't deny the effect that this World Cup has had on uniting a nation obsessed with pointing at our differences, rather than celebrating what makes us unique.

Natal Mahogany wrapped with South African Flag for the World Cup

The money that has been spent on revamping our Durban beachfront, or creating parks where there were empty lots before, or planting trees to beautify the neighbourhoods, would never have been spent on these 'less important' things. Sadly, creating beauty is seen as unimportant in our needy world.

But beauty is what inspires us, its what takes our minds off of the mundane. Beauty affects our emotions, and perceptions. It changes the way we feel about ourselves. I'm not advocating choosing something pretty over buying food to eat. But if we're not looking, we might miss the fact that the beautiful doesn't always have to be sacrificed to the practical.

Wrapped Trees lining the streets of Durban for 2010

Very often, beauty doesn't have to even be costly. Sometimes, it just needs a different perspective, new eyes, or the desire to appreciate.

Thinning Plants or Thieving Plants?

A common mal-practice amongst landscapers here in South Africa, and particularly the larger companies that provide landscaping or maintenance services on a large scale, is the theft of plants.

Aloes in flower, planted with Strelitzia back-drop

Its an accepted fact that when a bed becomes overcrowded, it becomes necessary to thin those plants out, and then replant them elsewhere. Often, they are just replanted elsewhere in the garden, and sometimes they are even sold on to other clients. Both of which I believe are acceptable solutions.

The lines become blurred, however, when there is no real need for thinning. The landscaping company is just looking for free plants that they can then sell on to another client.

I saw a particularly bad case of this recently, in the turning circle of an office park in La Lucia. The bed was planted with a swathe of Strelitzia reginae (Bird of Paradise Flower), which had begun to mature over the last couple of years, and was creating a perfect backdrop to the Aloes planted in front. When I drove past the other day, all the Strelitzia had been removed and replaced with Anthericum - a favourite amongst generic landscapers because they are fast growing, and cheap. The value of the Strelitzia when sold on, would have been in the tens of thousands.

Normally, I would be happy that wild grasses are being used in the landscape - they are a great source of food for birds, and are very under-appreciated. But in this case - I'm fairly certain that the client had no idea what had just happened. The grass will never create the same effect that the Strelitzia had - and I believe the garden is aesthetically poorer for it. Not to mention the fact that I have spotted a troop of mongooses using the Strelitzia as a place to hide.

The sad thing is, the client may never even notice the difference, and probably for this very reason, crimes like this continue to be committed by unscrupulous "landscapers". The unfortunate result of this type of action is that it calls into question everything done by the landscaper, and erodes the trust required to design and maintain a garden.

Planning a Beachfront Getaway

Its been a busy month, with so much happening. Trying to finish up work within deadlines is always tough, but its made a little easier when one of the deadlines is a holiday.

A friend asked for some advice in landscaping the beachfront holiday home he's decorating. In return, he offered the place for us to take a holiday at. I think we delayed it 3 times before eventually taking the gap, and having a break.

It was set behind some coastal forest on the KZN North Coast, and was quite idyllic. I always find it hard to switch off when on holiday - I'm always thinking about the gardens I'm planning, and the things I haven't managed to get to yet. But in such a peaceful place, with the sound of the waves in the background, it was a whole lot easier.

In sitting down to plan the garden, I decided to take photos of the whole process and put it into a video. So here it is (with a special guest appearance while I stepped out of the room):

5 Easy Steps To Growing The Best Hedge

The other day, as we walked through her garden, a client asked me how get her newly-planted hedge nice and thick. I realised that this is one of those questions that are too seldom asked, and some of the answers are actually counter intuitive. Here are 5 easy steps to choosing and growing a great hedge:

A mature Duranta hedge with large gaps underneath - too late to fix easily

1. Feed me. The first step as always, is to make sure that your soil is healthy. If in any doubt, add plenty of rich organic compost. Don't skimp on this part (actually that's number 3's point).
2. Choose the right plant. Ask your local nursery for advice, or better still hire a garden coach who can give you a more complete picture after having looked at your garden. Do research. Look at the suggestions given in books, and look at what plants are making great hedges in your area.
3. Don't skimp. That's good advice when addressing any soil problems, as well as working out how many plants you're going to need. Trust the experts advice about how close to plant. Too close, and the plants are competing for space in the soil, too far apart and you'll have a very sparse hedge with a lot of gaps.
4. A pruning lapse leaves bigger gaps. Don't be fooled into leaving your hedge to grow to the height you want it before cutting it back. Start pruning it back in the first month or two, and repeat a light pruning every few months during the growing season. It may take longer to reach the height you're wanting, but with regular pruning, the plants send out more lateral branches, and will fill the gaps in-between much better. The last thing you want is to have a fully grown hedge with big gaps at the bottom, that you can do nothing about.
5. Feed regularly. Add compost at least once a year, and mulch to retain moisture especially during dry months.

Nothing is Certain, but Death of Plants, and Taxes

Taxes. A swear word in most people's vocabulary.

Nobody likes paying them, but we all enjoy the benefits of public libraries, smooth roads and waste removal.

I had an epiphany the other day - that having a beautiful garden requires the same investment as paying taxes. You only notice the problem, when its too late, and the infrastructure isn't there.

The insight came to me when I visited a garden recently, where I had been called in to consult (a few years ago), during the preparation stage of this garden.

At the time, my client was more concerned with the final product than with what went into getting it there (and trying to get there as economically as possible).

They rashly ignored my insistence that they pay more attention to the preparation of the soil. I suggested that they should almost spend a larger portion of their budget on remedial work for the soil, than on the plants. It fell on deaf ears - or perhaps I didn't articulate it well enough.

Either way, two years later, the result is a problem that is far more difficult to address. The plants are pale and sparse, and the grass is patchy and full of weeds.

My suggestion if you're still in the early stages - pay your garden taxes now. You'll reap the rewards later (literally). If your soil is in overdraft, its not too late to start making regular payments now.
Start by topdressing your lawn with a thin layer of good, rich compost, add copious amounts of compost to flower beds, and mulch wherever possible. It may take a while, but the fruit will be so much richer.

Indigenous Beauties : Helichrysum umbraculigerum

On a recent trip to Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve (which is beautiful at any time of year), I had a chance to take some photo's of this beautiful Helichrysum. Its not a very common garden plant, which is hard to understand when you see the large yellow flowers that rise up above the veld. I really had to fight hard to resist the urge to take some cuttings!

Helichrysum umbraculigerum

Actually, as with many Helichrysum, the 'flower' is actually an umbel. This is basically a collection of tiny flowers that all rise from the same point on a stalk, and form a flattish top - think umbrella. They remind me of little landing pads for insects flying over the grass in search of food.

Its a fast-growing perennial with hairy grey-green leaves. It flowers towards the end of Summer, as most other flowers are starting to go to seed. It reaches about a metre in height, and spreads out about 1 metre wide.

It looks spectacular when planted in large groups.

It generally prefers sun or light shade, rich well-draining soil in summer rainfall areas.
The umbels make excellent long-lasting cut flowers.