It took only two years for Denise to create a laidback, low-maintenance garden in her favourite colours: pink, purple and white.
Denise’s favourite room is her stoep, which has a stunning view of her garden with the Kleinrivier Mountains as a breathtaking backdrop. This is where she and Amber, her Scottish terrier, greet the dawn as they listen to the world awakening. It’s also where she entertains family and friends to delicious meals at the outdoor table. And when it’s set for Christmas or any other special occasion, she always decorates the table with plenty of fresh flowers from her gorgeous garden.
Denise loves colour, and says all her previous gardens were veritable rainbows – much brighter than this one. The combination of pink, purple and white is much more muted, but a welcome change. And she happily picks flowers to add a fresh element to her interior décor, too. The plants in her garden are hardy and ideally suited to their environment. Her choice was made much easier by a number of visits to Stanford before moving there, when she observed what worked well in friends’ gardens. And in the end the colour scheme determined her final choices.
Looking at the garden now, it’s hard to believe that it’s only two years old. The plants flourish in the Cape climate with its warm, dry, windy summers and wet winters. The site of Denise’s house is a former riverbed, which provides excellent drainage. But it took her quite a few truckloads of compost to achieve the desired level of soil fertility.
Denise’s gardening tips
1Keep a daily eye on the garden, deadheading and weeding as necessary.
2Early morning watering is healthier than late evening or at night.
3Have a compost heap or wormery, which makes food for your garden.
4Keep a calendar for pruning, feeding and other garden tasks
5Try not use chemicals.
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