Horticulturist’s Corner

Tobie Hannekom is the Horticulturist in residence at Bridgewater, Heritage, and Onrus Manors. He grew up on a grape farm next to the Orange River where his love for nature and plants blossomed. Having spent his formative years elbow deep in the soil of his very own vegetable garden, his thumbs are as green as they come. Some of his fondest memories are of time spent with his mother in her garden planting annuals, splitting and dividing. He especially loves propagating indoor plants in the Monstera and Ariod genera.

He’s managed to nurture his childhood passion and cultivate a fruitful career in horticulture and landscaping. Today, he shares his top 5 autumnal activities for the garden:

• Autumn is the perfect time to split/lift and divide plant material like agapanthus, irus, arums and cannas to allow for flowers in spring.

• Planting of all winter flowering bulbs and annuals like snapdragons, pansies, violas, alyssum, primulas, delphiniums, dianthus, foxgloves and petunias.

• Deadhead summer flowering annuals and remove plants that are completely done flowering.

• To ensure the well-being of one’s gardens, one must perform all pruning at the beginning of autumn.

• Check agapanthus, amaryllis, clivias, and fire lilies for lily borer caterpillars. If the surface of the leaves of these plants has turned brown or developed blisters, you’ll know these pests are in residence.