March april 2017 preview

MARCH /APRIL 2017

Gardening in Sandy Soils

Anisodontea Classic Cerise

Natural Tones Screens for Small Gardens

IN THIS ISSUE Click on any page number to return to the Contents page

BOUNDARY SCREENS FOR SMALL GARDENS

DRESSING SLOPES IN SMALL GARDENS

PLECTRANTHUS ALICIAE

CRASSULA OBOVATA

There is still some confusion regarding this species

A delightful new addition to my garden

THE AUTUMN GARDEN Managing the season

CHEAP, FAST CALORIES Do our feeding habits make city birds fat and sick?

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MARCH / APRIL Click on any page number to return to the Contents page

WHAT’S IN FLOWER: Our popular series is re-packaged for mobile viewing - as beautiful as ever .... take a peek

BLACK GOLD As leaves fall, harvest them to make black gold

What's in a Name?

Why both scientific and common names are important

GARDENING IN SANDY SOILS

Butterflies & Weeds The story of a common weed and the Admiral

ANISODONTEA CLASSIC CERISE

NATURAL TONES

A stunning hybrid shrub

Adding natural touches to a city garden

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FROM THE EDITORS DESK… Dear Readers, A nip in the air herald’s a changing season and, although some days the temperatures may still peak at 30 0C, the cooler evenings bring relief and better sleeping conditions.

We’ve gone small in a big way this month, looking a boundary screens and slope plantings for small estate-sized gardens.

These ideas will also work just as well when designing small areas within large gardens.

If you battle sandy soils daily, struggling to establish an attractive, diverse garden, we look at ways to work with the soil and provide a comprehensive list of plants from which to choose. We provide a shortened list within the magazine, with a link to access the full list.

In our plant focus this month we discuss the confusion surround the variegated Plectranthus groundcover, Plectranthus madagascariensis, and a neat, fully green species, P. aliciae; on show too, is a most beautiful Anisodontea shrub, Classic Cerise,

and despite it being a hybrid, it attracts myriad insects. Lastly, a new succulent groundcover in my garden, a gift from a friend, is fast becoming a favourite – Crassula obovata.

3 section designs from Miles Steenhuisen’s garden have taken our fancy, plus, do you know the value of that weed you have just pulled out? We discover one that is a host plant for a gorgeous butterfly.

The autumn garden section provides gardeners with a few tasks. Whatever is on your to-do list this season, do it mindfully!

Happy reading

Anno

Cover Page: Crassula obovata Left: Anisodontea Classic Cerise

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Jenny Dean W ildflowers Indigenous Garden Design:

We create indigenous gardens that are peaceful, waterwise sanctuaries fillled with colour

Landscaping:

Let us transform your entire garden or just a corner into a beautiful garden humming with birds and butterflies

Consulting:

A budget friendly option where you plant at your leisure from a sketch we provide

‫ ׀‬Jenny Dean 082 4694686 ‫ ׀‬jenny@jennydeanwildflowers.co.za

MAGAZINE PRODUCTION: Editor: Anno Torr Publisher: The Indigenous Gardener Contributing writers: Anno Torr, Phoebe Barnard All photos by Anno Torr unless otherwise stated.

Other Photo credits: Andrea Abbott, K. Drummond, J, Tinkler, Brett Gardner. Some image via Wikicommons Graphic Design: Anno Torr

CONTACT US: Editor: anno@theindigenousgardener.co.za 072 602 5610 Advertising: Veronica: info@theindigenousgardener.co.za Accounts: Hermes: info@theindigenousgardener.co.za

Disclaimers and Copyrights: Opinions expressed in this magazine do not reflect those of The Indigenous Gardener or any project related to The Indigenous Gardener. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, The Indigenous Gardener cannot be held liable for inadvertent mistakes. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher.

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N FLOWER -MARCH/APRIL

Duvernoia aconitiflora - Lemon Pistol Bush 3 x 4; Shrubby and erect, this large shrub forms a dark green screen, with dense foliage from ground up. Flowers are orchid-like, pale creamy-yellow with a flush of pink in the throat. Flowers any time from Sept - April. Fruits resemble small green clubs that split open when dry and scatter seed. Fast growing, evergreen with glossy, lance-like leaves. Low maintenance. KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga

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N FLOWER - MARCH/APRIL

Heteropyxis natalensis - Lavender Tree 8 – 15 m; a semi-deciduous to evergreen tree with a spreading, roundish crown. Lovely smooth, grey to light-brown flaking bark; shiny long, tapering leaves, silver below, lavender smell when crushed. Large heads of small, white to pale yellow flowers, December to March.

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga.

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N FLOWER -MARCH/APRIL

Kleinia fulgens - Coral Senecio 50 cm; a beautiful succulent with grey leaves that can flush purple-red in a cold, dry winter.

Bright scarlet buttons cover the plant through winter. Evergreen and fast-growing. Prefers a bit of shade in hot, inland gardens. Needs well-drained soils and do not overwater or fertilise.

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga

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N FLOWER - MARCH/APRIL

Dissotis princeps - Purple Wild Tibouchina 1.5 - 3 m; a soft herbaceous shrub with large, attractive purple or white flowers any time from Jan – Oct. Has a long flowering season. Leaves are large, velvety, dark green and conspicuous veins. Grows on the edge of ponds, marshy areas, wetlands, damp spots. Cut back in winter. KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo

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N FLOWER -MARCH/APRIL

Anastrabe integerrima - Pambati Tree 3 – 5 m, taller in the wild; a lovely large shrub to small tree; can be multi-stemmed and is easy to prune, so can be used as a hedge. Fast growing, easy to grow, and versatile.

Attractive leaves dark green with silver-white undersides. Fragrant yellow pouch-shaped flowers from Oct – May. Non-aggressive roots; makes a good screen or small tree for small gardens. Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal

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N FLOWER - MARCH/APRIL

Crassula alba - Red Crassula 50 cm; one of 3 subsp. Large rosettes of white to red flower heads grow at the top of elongated stems. Often so heavy they fall over. Leaves bright green in rosettes from the base, lance-shaped and succulent. Don’t over water as they are susceptible to fungal diseases.

Rocky places on gentle slopes in moist grasslands, sometimes in shallow soils on rock ledges.

Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West.

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The Autumn Garden SEASONAL CHANGE Autumn arrived overnight and we awoke to cool, misty 19 0C, a full 17 0C drop from the previous day. Wonderful! Though the day-time temperatures can still hit the high 20’s the early morning and evening nip in the air signals changes in the natural world.

The length of the growing seasons vary, but generally autumn is the end of the important growing season and there is a general

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slow- down. Many plants and animal species use the autumn season to prepare for the winter – finding a suitable place to hibernate, storing energy and nutrients in cell tissues or roots, building reserves that will enable them to begin the spring growing season as the weather warms up.

Right: Log piles and wild flowers are the perfect winter hideout.

By British landsccaper, Nigel Dunnett Left: Setaria sphacelata in rich autumn glory. In flower from Oct - May.

LET'S TALK ABOUT LEAVES

Read the article by Jane Troughton on page 20 to find out how to make it - Black Gold; As the weeks progress, leaf fall will quicken. Leaf mold as a natural fertiliser.

Now is the time to make soil! What you see as dead leaves still hold nutrients stranded Who lives in the leaves?

Centipedes, spiders, caterpillars, butterflies, in the cells as plants retracted their chlomites, worms, wasps, fireflies, frogs and rophyll, so are quality ingredients in leaf toads, invertebrates, ladybirds – and birds mold and compost. If left on the ground will forage for all of these, in their search for they provide refuge cover for the smallest animals – frogs, beetles, moth and butterfly winter food. larvae, millipedes, and more.

Sticks, twigs/branches: If you have as many trees as I do you will These old and dying plant components still never run out of leaf material. They work offer great value to the gardener as they better transformed into leaf mold, an inattract the vital decomposers that clean up sulation layer that forms naturally on the dead material, including animal carcases, floor of your woodland and shade garden helping to prevent diseases taking hold. if left there. Here, they help to insulate the Insects and reptiles live in holes dug into soils, keep the top layer warm and moist the softening wood, and birds and other inthrough winter, protect the roots of many sect hunters know full well where to search plants during winter, and provide food for for these tasty snakes. If you find them too fungi and micro-organisms within the soil. untidy build a twig and log pile - see above Not all leaves decompose well on the comimage - and lizards, snails, millipedes, beepost heap – large, leathery or thick leaves tles and other insects will soon move in to take ages to break down – so home-made make the most of the warm spaces. black gold is the answer.

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Dressing Banks in Small Gardens

O

als that can act as stepping stones.

• Water penetration is not uniform; the top of the bank is usually dry with run-off pooling at the bottom of the slope where it meets the lawn. Position plants accordingly.

• Rocks provide secure pockets and help CONSIDERATIONS: to stablise the soil making it easier for • Banks can make access for management plant roots to become established. In the tricky; choose easy-care plants for those steepest section choose plants with roots difficult to reach places, or include access that knit across the surface – spreading routes with secured rocks or other materigroundcovers, grasses, and clumping pern gently sloping ground house platforms cut along the gradient leave a short bank between properties that calls for a quick cover. If the bank is not too high and in need of a wall to secure it, a densely planted rockery is a quite beautiful option.

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ennials with fibrous roots, like Tulbaghia and Agapanthus.

• Position plants that need yearly trimming, like wild grasses and many perennials, in accessible spots – at no more than easy stretching distance from any secure access point. Halfway up the slope, surrounded by spiny plants will make your life difficult!

• Deep-rooted plants near the top of the bank will effectively hold the soil in place.

• Use evergreen plants with good leaf cover to diffuse the rains that will otherwise wash soil down the slope.

• Steer clear of vigorously spreading

groundcovers as they can rapidly smother their companions and require frequent trims.

• Where the soil abuts paving, use an edging material like log rolls, to secure it and prevent soil wash. For ease of mowing and curtail the spread of lawn grass into the planting area, you can choose to continue the edge along the length of the slope to include where the bank meets lawn.

• Use plants to spill over and soften the built-in edge.

A well-dressed bank provides a sweep of colour through the year.

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