Home Made Pest Control Solution(s)

I'm really not a big fan of pesticides or chemicals. Actually, that's putting it mildly...I hate pesticides. They are almost always used too liberally, and often used as a preventative measure rather than to get rid of a problem. But at the same time, I'm not a big fan of caterpillars shredding my fresh new cycad leaves, or aphids sucking the life out of my new buds or snails devouring my lettuce leaves before I get a chance.

So what do we do? Where is the middle ground? Am I supposed to console myself with the fact that I have well fed snails? What do I do while I wait for the birds to get off their feathered behinds and do their job eating the insects that I'm restraining myself from spraying? When do these natural ecosystems kick in?

Before we begin, its important that you ask yourself these very important questions!

The first step is to figure out whats behind the carnage or the ailing plant.

Plants are usually pretty good at fending the insects or diseases off themselves. A healthy, well looked after plant is not likely to be affected by insects or diseases. So firstly, make sure that your plant is getting the optimum combination of the 3 essentials - light-water-food.

Once you're sure you're not under or overwatering, or you know the plant is in the right place, and you've fed it with a good nutrient-rich compost then maybe its time to get off defence and plan your attack.

Health problems in plants can be divided into 2 categories - Pathogens that cause disease, and Parasites that eat the plants.

So, before reaching for the pesticide spray, take a look at these natural remedies for getting rid of pests and diseases. These are the most common problems that I have seen throughout the years, and the home made remedies that go a long way to getting rid of them:

Pest Problems:

Aphids

These are tiny green or light brown insects often clustered around new buds. They suck the sap out of the plants, and can spread plant viruses. Often the most obvious sign of aphids is an abundance of ants, and a black sooty mould on the leaves and ground. This ants are actually milking the aphids which secrete a sugary substance which is what forms the black mould. (Soap Spray, Garlic Chilli Spray and Horticultural Oil)

Caterpillars

Caterpillars vary in size and description, and love all kinds of soft leaves and juicy plants. They are often found hiding on the under sides of leaves. Evidence of their presence is usually their little black poos on leaves and around the base of plants (Garlic Chilli Spray and Horticultural Oil)

Mealy bugs

Mealy bugs are small cotton woolly insects that hide along stems and midribs, and similar to aphids, encourage ants with their sugary sap that they produce. Black sooty mould is often present. (Soap Spray, Garlic Chilli Spray and Horticultural Oil)

Red Spider Mite

These tiny almost microscopic little spiders are more easily spotted by their tiny cobwebs on the underside of yellowing leaves. They thrive in dry windless environments like indoors or sheltered spots near buildings. (Water, Wind, Soap Spray, Garlic Chilli Spray and Horticultural Oil)

Scale

Often look like tiny waxy bumps along the midrib of leaves or around soft stems of plants, they can be black, brown or white, and also encourage ants to feed off the sticky sugary substance that they produce. (Soap Spray, Garlic Chilli Spray and Horticultural Oil)

White fly

These are extremely tiny little "flies' that are actually more similar to aphids. They congregate in their thousands often on the underside of new leaves and fly away quickly when disturbed. It is best to do follow up sprays every 2-3 days. (Soap Spray, Garlic Chilli Spray and Horticultural Oil)

Snails and Slugs

Often found hiding in the cool undersides of leaves or rocks. You can often spot their silvery trails around the plant or soil beneath. (Beer, Grapefruit halves, Egg shells)

Pest Control Solutions:

Soap Spray – Dissolve 3 teaspoons of liquid soap or washing detergent in 2 cups of water into a spray bottle and use it to control aphids on roses, citrus and other plants. The soap removes the aphids waxy coating and dries them out. Also good for mealy bugs, ants and whiteflies. 

Garlic-chilli spray – Chop and boil 4 onions, 4 hot chillis and 2 garlic cloves in 2 litres of water for about 15 minutes. Let the liquid cool overnight, then strain into a jar and add 2 tablespoons of liquid soap. To spray, mix 10ml of your concentrate in 1 litre of water in a bottle and use to control aphids, caterpillars, whitefly, and other pests. 

Horticultural oil – Use 2 cups of vegetable oil and 1/2 cup of liquid soap. Shake together in a jar, where the mixture will turn a milky colour. Add 2 tablespoons of this concentrate to a litre of water and spray.  This controls most insect pests, including scale, aphids, white fly, leaf miner, mealy bug and mites.

Hollowed out orange or grapefruit halves placed upside down overnight - These attract snails and slugs inside them. These can then be collected from the garden and thrown away.

Glass of beer - Snails and slugs are a sucker for a good glass of beer, into which they crawl in and drown. At least they die happy?

Crushed-up egg shells spread around the base of plants deters snails and slugs. They are too sharp for the soft undersides of these creatures.

Other Home Remedies:

Baking Soda is great as a preventative measure against powdery mildew on plants. Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap and 3 litres of water. It can burn the leaves of some plants so water plants well before use and don’t apply in full sun. Try and get the under side of the leaves too.  In very humid conditions, Powdery Mildew can also be prevented by watering the soil rather than leaves.

Vinegar, or Boiling Hot water can be poured into paving to kill plants between bricks or pavers.

Milk Spray Fungicide – Also works best as a preventative measure or in the early stages. Mix 50ml milk into 450ml water and spray onto the leaves. Re-apply every time it rains. Not effective on badly affected plants.

Making Mountains Out Of Moles

So...your lawn is looking amazing.  The grass has just been manicured...it looks like an immaculate green carpet out there. You couldn't be more proud of the kingdom you survey. Suddenly, you start to notice little piles of earth being pushed up around your pristine lawn. The ground becomes soft and uneven in places. Where there was once perfection, little brown piles now punctuate your sea of green, taunting your obsessive compulsive side. This means war! How can I get rid of these damn moles!

But before you begin, its important that - in the words of Sun Tzu - you know your enemy.

The first thing you should know is that (if you live in South Africa) there are no moles in your garden.

"But wait!" I hear you say, "I'm definitely not imagining this mess in my garden." Thats true, but moles are not native to Africa. They are a resident of North America, Asia and Europe. What you are actually seeing in your garden is one of either two groups of mole-like creatures that are found in Southern Africa - Golden Moles, or Mole Rats.

Take a look at this cute little Golden Mole (picture credit)

Golden Moles are a distant relative of the hedgehog, and are mainly insectivores, with a predilection for termites. They range in size from 8-20cm, and are covered in a moisture and dirt repellant, black/grey/yellow fur. Their eyes are non-functional, and their ears are just tiny holes, so their sense of touch is highly developed to the point where they can feel termites and other insects nearby. Golden Moles are generally solitary creatures, and can travel great distances (up to as much as 6km in the case of the Grant's Golden Mole) in search of food.  Sadly, 11 of the 21 species of Golden Moles are now threatened with extinction.

Mole Rat caught pink handed (picture credit)

The name Mole Rat is a misleading title, as it is neither a mole, nor a rat.  It is possibly a closer relative to a porcupine. They're herbivores, and enjoy munching on bulbs and grass stolons. Very often eating but not destroying the bulbs that they feed on. They tend to live in family units of up to 14 individuals. Their tunnels are quite extensive, and can go down as much as a 80cm below the surface. Tunnels have been found to be as much as a kilometre in length. They can be quite grumpy little creatures if they are cornered, so take care when handling them.

The second thing you should know about these 2 groups of creatures that we have up till now been mis-calling moles, is that they also perform an important function of aerating the soil, improving drainage, and essentially tilling the soil from underneath.

Thirdly, and most importantly, based on my experience, it is very difficult to get rid of mole rats in particular. I have employed most of them - sonic devices, spinning plastic coke bottles, garlic solutions, urination (not me personally), Jack Russells, and I'm sad to say that when I was younger I even used pesticides. None of these solutions have worked for more than a couple of months, and most didn't work at all. Pesticides seemed to work the best, but you have to weigh up the long term damage that you are doing to the environment. The chemicals are highly toxic, heavier than air and will poison the groundwater, all the surrounding soil, and in the process killing off all the life in the soil. In the long term your grass and plants will end up suffering, as the symbiotic relationship they have with the myriad organisms in the soil will be destroyed.

There are 2 solutions that I have as yet not tried. The first is the use of wire mesh. This involves, essentially spreading galvanised wire mesh over the entire area about 15cm below the surface. The problems with this option are that the wire mesh would have to have a tiny aperture to prevent the moles from squeezing through, it would be quite an expensive option especially for larger areas, and there would be nothing stopping the mole from walking along the surface, and burrowing into the newly fenced off area. But it still may be a good option worth exploring. I would imagine the key would be finding the right depth for the layer of wire to be spread out at.

The second solution is in my opinion the best. At one point I heard about someone who traps moles/mole rats/golden moles alive, and then releases the animals back into the wild far away.  I was never able to get hold of his details. I would have been happy to send him lots of work.

At the moment, the advice that I most often give my clients is more of a remedial one. Prior to regular mowing, any mole hills, and and any surface tunnelling, should be stamped down.
Then during your annual top-dressing, the loose soil can be stamped back down, rolled and then top-dressed to deal with any minor unevenness.
This essentially gives the lawn a fresh start, but the moles will still be there and will eventually work your lawn back to its previous bumpy self.

As with most garden problems that come about from our attempts to control our environment, I believe the best mindset is to work with nature and not against it. The Japanese have a way of thinking called Wabi-sabi, which essentially means embracing imperfection. Something we obsessive compulsive westerners would do well to learn.

Embracing the unevenness, the weeds, the creatures, the yellowing leaves, the non-linear and the imperfect is so hard for us to do, but says so much about our need for control of the world around us. I wonder if it is an outward sign of an impossibility that we expect of ourselves and others around us.

The Problem is the Solution

Gardening is for old people.

That sounds like an absurd over-simplification, and besides, why should you care? What difference does it make if young people aren't interested in gardens and nature? We live in a hi-tech world, where all the worlds problems will be solved by computers, and where science will be our saviour.

A group of young people preparing a food garden at Summerhill Children's Home in Salt Rock

That's an attractive thought for today's youth, that live in an instant world with its resulting short-term thinking.

So how does digging in the dirt, or mixing manure compete in this internet age, and why should it?

In South Africa, the latest statistics show that 1 in every 4 people are unemployed.

Education stats are even scarier. Out of 100 children that start school, only 28 will pass matric, 4 will enter university and only 1 out of those 4 will graduate.
Of the staff that I have employed over the last 2 decades, I have noticed an alarming trend over the last 5 years, that school leavers seem to have completely unrealistic expectations. The common perception seems to be that it will be fairly easy to find a job, that job will be well paying, with very little effort or commitment involved. The difference between dreams and reality in South Africa are quite stark.

In the words of the wise Gogo "Qho" Mthethwa - young people don't want work they want jobs. As a country, we seem to be content to foster an attitude of dependence rather than an entrepreneurial mindset.

Realistically speaking, looking to technology to solve our problems, may well be fine in the long term, but we need solutions now. We need to feed people now. Science and technology alone can't give us that. So what can?

If you plant a food garden from seed, you can begin eating the food from your garden within a matter of weeks.
Growing food or plants doesn't need a huge injection of cash. Seeds can very often be harvested from existing crops, providing the next seasons crops for free.
Gardeners are almost to a fault, overly generous in offering their time, information or even seed/plants when they see enthusiasm and willingness to learn.
There are several amazing initiatives around the country with the sole aim of passing on the skills to grow food gardens in our particular climate.

I agree with guerilla gardener Ron Finley that as with many problems in life, the solution is inside the challenge.

With our ridiculously high unemployment rates, we have 1 out of every 4 people who have the capacity to tend a garden, which could if properly managed, feed themselves and even provide an income as they feed their community. As solutions go, its not sexy, and it may not have the mirage-like appeal that science and technology offers, but it is immediately attainable and realistic.

So how can YOU go about doing this? Here's some inspiration:

Ifu Lobuntu is an inspiring South African idea that is looking at ways to harness technology to connect small scale food growers directly with customers. By using simple cloud-based apps and economies of scale, they hope to make it possible for subsistence farmers to sell directly to the public. The idea is still in its formation stage, but hopefully it will grow into its full potential.

Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA — in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys." Check out his Ted-Talk.

Plant Pretty Practical

When I was studying landscaping a couple of decades ago, I spent hours in the library, poring over gardening books, and paging through landscape architecture and gardening magazines, admiring the beautiful, mainly US or UK gardens.  I couldn't wait for my chance to create similarly breathtaking gardens.

Aloe cooperi in the morning light. An easy to grow, low maintenance, beautiful plant.

My first attempts at landscaping, (that were fortunately in my mothers garden) failed dismally. The plants that I had used, either died or grew so big that we lost pets inside them. This left me wondering whether I had made the wrong choice in vocation, and I'm sure must have caused my mother to wonder whether she had just wasted a couple of years of tuition on me.

But slowly it dawned on me that the old garden maxim "right plant, right place" were words to live by. Just because something looks amazing elsewhere doesn't necessarily mean that it will suit the situation that I'm working with.

I also began to realise the deception that is inherent in almost all gardening books and magazines. It is the job of publications to sell magazines and books. The best way to do this, is to showcase beautiful gardens in all their splendour. Nobody wants to buy a magazine that shows dry, colourless gardens or gardens that have been pruned back to make way for new growth. These gardens are photographed during the 3-4 week period in an entire year, that they are at their best. In many cases, the planting that you see is entirely temporary, as annuals are planted in their abundance.  Page through any gardening magazine, and you will see the majority of the plants on display are pretty, yet short-lived annuals.  This creates an unrealistic expectation on the part of the casual observer, which when it comes time to garden leaves them frustrated or disappointed.

The garden industry through television and magazines, whilst creating a sense of excitement about the potential for beauty in your back yard, has also created a rod for its own back. I can't tell you how many people I've known through the years, that are keen to get stuck into the garden, but give up after the reality sinks in.

So before you get started with your garden, figure out whether your expectations have been over inflated, by looking around you at the best gardens in your neighbourhood. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do they consistently look that way?
2. What plants have they used?
3. What kind of soil have they got? Is it the same as mine?
4. Do they regularly compost and water?
5. Have they got an irrigation system in place?
6. What are my realistic time commitments and abilities?

Finally, do some research before you buy your plants from the nursery. Have a plan in mind, and plant for the long term. Go with a list of plants that grow well in your area, don't get suckered in by the pretty things that are flowering at the entrance to the nursery because almost by the time you get home, the flowers will be gone.

Remember, beauty is fleeting so don't just plant pretty. Be pretty practical too.

Why Gardening Is Not Sustainable

Sustainability. What does it mean really?

Its a very broad term which at its essence describes the ability of a complex web of inter-relationships to endure. More specifically for us humans, it refers to the healthy inter-relationship between the environment, healthy society and the economy.

The beautiful spiral of Ctenium grass

Seldom has a word meant so much and yet so little at the same time. Its used as a clarion call by environmentalists and other greenies as they try to enthuse an apathetic populace. But its also peppered throughout the speech of politicians, economists and developers, as they attempt to greenwash their (often anything but sustainable) activities.

Let me put it another way - I'm not great at budgets, but even I know that its not sustainable (there's that word again) to spend more than I earn. If I do, I'll be soon be homeless, my health will suffer from the stress, and/or I'll have to take shortcuts (which will soon catch up with me) as I make my finances suit my lifestyle, and not the other way around.

Gardening (and I'm just picking on gardening here, but this applies to most if not all professions) for the last several decades has been built around the mistaken decision to decide on a lifestyle that we want, and make it happen - be damned the consequences.

So we look at the glossy magazines showing gardens that are photographed at their cornucopial prime, that in reality only look like that for maybe 2 months of the year. And we expect our garden to look like that all year round. So we plant unrealistically, we fertilize to death, we water until there is nothing left in the taps - and finally we get our perfect garden.

When is this going to change?

The problem, I think speaks to an underlying human condition called greed that sadly, is not easily remedied. But if anybody should understand the importance of living sustainably, it should be us gardeners. If anybody should be leading the way in the sustainable lifestyle, it should be we who live close to the ground. It should be those of us who see the cyclical and seasonal nature of things, and know first hand that what you sow, you will reap.

When are we going to wake up, and take stock of our lifestyle, and make the kind of fundamental changes that we absolutely have to?

COP17 - Things Fall Apart

Its funny how we tend to leave the tidying of the house to the last minute before our visitors arrive - I tend to do a quick superficial clean-up about half an hour before hand. Durban municipality it seems is no different - I always look forward to the big events (COP17 being the most recent) that get hosted here in Durban from time to time because things get cleaned and planted up properly. Its really just window dressing, but I'm torn between embracing the effort that gets put in because at least things are being done, and feeling frustrated that things are being done in such a slap-dash, hurried way.

What's left after the last major Durban landscaping effort. Photo via Dying in Paradise

During the 2010 Soccer World Cup, thousands of palm trees were planted throughout Durban in an effort to spruce up the tourist areas, and lend a tropical aesthetic to Durban's sup-tropical climate. They looked beautiful for a couple of months before a large portion of them began dying off, leaving their cut-off stumps exposed above ground. The reason for the wholesale 'biting of the dust', was that the trees were obviously not correctly prepared before being dug out, they were often transported huge distances and then re-planted days later. All in a superficial effort to get things done at the last minute.

COP17 has now entered its second week here in Durban, and it seems a similar mindset pervades. At this stage, the talks appear to be nothing more than empty rhetoric - talks about talks, backtracking, greed and lack of commitment. The US, China and India together make up more than half of the world's carbon emissions - essentially the 3 biggest polluters of our world.
You have to wonder, what is the point of flying half way across the globe and making such a half hearted attempt at addressing the concerns of us ordinary citizens. Why did delegates from these and some of the other stiff-necked self-serving countries even bother showing up?

At the same time, I have noticed an increase in the general awareness on the issues of climate change and the environment. Its effect may well be further reaching than the fat cat politicians with their bloated expense accounts, with school children and the general public becoming for the most part, better educated. Hopefully some of the momentum that has been created by the hype around COP17 will be sustained in the long term.

Or maybe it'll be too late by then, and our children will be digging up the dead root balls of the fragile ecosystems that hold our beautiful planet together?

Romead Business Park - an inspiring green approach

Romead Business Park is quite an exciting project that I've been working on over the last year.  A prominent developer was looking for a new home for their offices, and rather than finding a cookie-cutter building for their offices, they decided to create their own space, and hopefully attract others with their same ideals.

Common Areas Landscape Plan for Romead Business Park

Their approach to the entire project has been quite refreshing. They found a property that was nestled in the escarpment below Kloof which was ideal from so many perspectives - a beautiful piece of land right between the Umbilo river and a part of the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D'MOSS). Part of the trade-off of developing on a slightly degraded section of this site, was to give a large portion of the property to be used as Open Space.

Grassland above Romead - the landscaping should eventually return to this

Their ethos behind the development has been quite inspiring - they have been looking for any viable opportunities to approach the project from an environmental perspective, which in these tough economic times is quite a brave stance. But altogether necessary from a long-term point of view. It's been an ethos that has come at a cost - both emotional and financial!

The design code for the development has been quite comprehensive and pioneering, and - I believe - one of the best guides for development from an architectural and landscaping perspective in Durban.

Some of the ideas that have been looked at, and in some cases, written into the design codes are solutions like rainwater harvesting, wind-turbines, creating mulch and compost from the existing vegetation on site, the use of indigenous planting and an approach that places an emphasis on the balance between aesthetics and function.

As the Business Park begins to gain momentum, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.

Killing Your Dinner Guests, and Other Pest Control Solutions

Getting rid of pests in gardens is a tough subject. Its never easy watching bugs or other 'pests' eat their way through your beautiful garden. Especially when you've put in all that hard work, or spent all that money.

I left this little guy to eat what he wanted from my plants

But as with so many of the problems that we face in life, we resort to a knee-jerk reaction, or we respond emotionally. We don't stop to think things through properly. Sometimes it requires an unemotional look at, and a better understanding of the problem to decide what to do.
To put things in perspective, I look at pesticides (maybe we should more honestly call them naturecides because of the damage they do) in as serious a way as chemotherapy drugs. They should only be used in very serious situations, and when all other options have been examined and weighed.

Here's some questions to ask yourself before resorting to poisoning your garden with pesticides:

1. How serious is the problem?
Will the 'pest' kill the plant that it is eating, or will it just perform a natural function of cutting back, which gives space for new growth? Get some advice if you're not sure.
In most cases, its just a natural cycle, and the garden/plant will recover on its own without needing our intervention.

2. Is there a bigger problem behind this infestation?
Sometimes there are other reasons for a sudden increase in insect activity, but we end up treating the symptoms and not the cause. These reasons can be anything from a change in the plants ideal environment (too much sun, or shade), or even the over-use of chemicals in the past which has removed the pests natural predators or weakened the plant. Usually 'pests' increase when plants are weak and can't defend themselves.

3. Have I planted the right plant?
If we choose the right plant for the right place, it usually needs less attention. The right plant is usually less prone to attack from insects. Choose indigenous plants over exotics. Indigenous plants are normally more resistant to attacks.

4. Have I planted too much of the same plant?
Mono-cultures (a single type of plant spread over a wide area) are like an eat-all-you-want buffet. They're basically an invitation for insects and animals to come in take a load off, and eat to their hearts content. Most lawns are mono-cultures, and are usually the source of most problems.

5. Is this normal?
There is often a natural and harmonious balance between plant and insect that shouldn't be interfered with. Some plants actually need insects to eat them, to stay healthy. By spraying pesticides and herbicides, we're getting in the way, and could end up killing a lot more plants and animals than we intended.

6. Are you killing your dinner-guests?
This is really a follow up to the previous question. Most plants put "Open For Business" signs up in the way of fruit and flowers and juicy leaves. These attract insects for a reason, but these insects may sample other plants on their way in and out. If you plant a Butterfly Bush, it follows that you're going to see more caterpillars coming into the garden. Either get used to your visitors, or take the plant out.

7. Can I deal with them in other ways?
If at all possible, rather kill them by hand (or foot). If you're squeamish, there are plenty natural solutions out there; from beer, and grapefruit to chilli and flour. A little research usually yields a better solution (literally).

If none of these questions give you reason to resist the chemical route, then ask yourself one final question:

8. Is a little bit of chaos and mess not a good thing to have?
The need to have everything perfectly neat and tidy is sometimes a reflection of other issues that we are not dealing with, or other areas in our lives that are not under control. I believe that sometimes the challenges we face are there for us to confront the things we would rather not face.

If you still decide to go down the naturecide route, do it carefully and in a restrained way. But come back to these questions every now and then, and re-evaluate your garden as things change.

The Search for an Alternative to Lawn...

While walking through a garden this morning, I stumbled on a very strange plant growing as a 'weed' in a very sad lawn. Its the middle of winter here, so most lawns look like they are just hanging on to life by their bare stolons. The only things that seem to be thriving are the weeds.

I noticed the plant, because of its pretty pink flowers - and although there was something quite familiar about it, I didn't think I had seen it before. That is until I looked closer.

The flowers looked very much like the flowers of a ribbon bush - Hypoestes aristata. For those of you that don't know it, its a great indigenous shrub, that gets covered in pink or purple flowers that look like little bits of ribbon spread all over the place. It normally gets to about 1.5 - 2m in height if its left to its own devices. But here its growing quite contentedly - and its being kept regularly cut at about an inch in height! Given time, it will probably happily replace the lawn.

Hypoestes aristata

Hypoestes is a great garden shrub. It likes to be well watered and fed, and if you pay it some nominal attention, it will look good throughout the year. It grows in full sun and shade, but will flower better with more sun.
Its also a favourite snack for most buck along the coastal forest of eastern South Africa - as I found out too late, after planting a garden with it!

Here though, its a great example of the ability of most plants to adapt and thrive in almost any conditions. Without any looking after, its looking green and even flowering. It probably would not have entered my mind, and isn't the ideal, if you're looking for an alternative to lawn. But here it is doing quite well when the grass around it is looking dry and brown.

The Thyme Garden by Dan Pearson

The search for lawn alternatives hasn't truly begun here in South Africa - the ideal for any SA garden is still a perfect monoculture of grasses that require copious amounts of water and fertiliser, and weekly mowing. But the tide will turn. Eventually. We will begin to realise the real cost of this unsustainable ideal of having most of, and every garden covered in lawn.

The difficulty comes in that, in most peoples minds there is no alternative to a beautiful green lawn - even I sometimes find it hard to imagine anything better. And lets face it very little beats that look of a perfectly mown carpet of grass. But I think its the responsibility of every gardener to help swing the tide by putting alternatives out there. How about a wildflower meadow? Or even planting some indigenous/native grasses to let them grow tall, and cutting pathways through? People want what they see, so we as designers, need to put examples out there to try to coax them out of their comfort zones.

Amy Stewart's Backyard Garden


Fynbos meadow at Farm 215 in the Overberg

Worth A Read Or Two

I buy a fair amount of gardening books, and I read a whole lot more. But my frustration is that they are often not easily translated to a South African context. I see tons of books that are almost useless to South Africans because they have information that is very specific to a northern hemisphere temperate climate. I feel sorry for the people who unwittingly buy these gardening books and will never be able to use them apart from coffee table books or as drool material.

Fortunately some good quality books are starting to come from places with a similar climate to ours - mainly Australia. Added to this is the fact that South African gardening books are also improving. They're starting to look less like the gardening books that I inherited from my grandmother that contained information that is now either irrelevant or outdated.

An excellent book that I found recently is - The Self-Sustaining Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Matrix Planting
Simply put, the idea behind matrix planting is a completely natural one. It is based on choosing the right plant for the right space. This minimises the amount of pruning, fertilising, weeding and all round extra work that is necessary to enable plants just to survive let alone thrive. It is a principle that is extremely important for people with minimal time and energy, as well as in places with minimal water and other resources.

I noticed a quote on the back of the book that was something to the effect of - 'The thing that separates this book from the host of gardening books out there is that it actually has something to say'.

This post will be the first of many in which I'd like to bring attention to books that I feel have something to say, especially in a South African context.

10 Simple Ways To (not) Make An Impact On The Environment

I have been looking at my business lately, trying to figure out how we can reduce our impact on the environment. Being in the green industry, we should really be setting an example to our clients and other businesses.

There are some simple things that I believe we can do, and are doing, but at first glance it seems as if this shift in mindset doesn't come without some cost - whether time, energy or money.

Some of the solutions should have long term benefits, but what are the short term costs?

These are the questions I'm asking us as a business, and should probably be asking my suppliers as well:

1. Are we using sustainable resources?
2. Are we being efficient with our resources?
3. Is there any way of recycling materials (waste or other)?
4. Are our staff being paid a fair wage that can sustain them and their family?

Sustainability is a word that is being over-used in so many contexts, that it's in danger of losing its meaning in the near future. There is also a lot of debate over how to define sustainability anyway.
Broadly speaking, sustainability is defined as :

"Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."

But I think we are all guilty at some point of looking for the shortcut, or the lower price, without asking some difficult questions.
For example, do I know whether my suppliers are paying a decent wage to their staff?
When I am buying materials, what guarantees do I have that they've been sourced from a sustainable supply?

Simply put, are people or the environment getting ripped off for my benefit?

Some simple things everyone can do to lessen their impact:

1. Visit Ecofoot.org and do the quiz. Also check out Breathing Earth
   
2. Recycle glass, paper etc. as much as possible. Glass is one of the few things that can be re-re-recycled.
   
3. Replace normal light bulbs with Fluorescent - the use a fraction of the electricity, and last much longer.
4. Support local businesses, farmers, trades-people and products
5. Buy organic foods
   
6. Walk, or cycle where possible
7. Buy re-cycled products
8. Turn off lights and appliances when you're not using them
9. Try to avoid products with excessive packaging
10. My favourite - Plant a tree (Preferably indigenous!)