DOING LIFE

A UNIQUE INDIGENOUS GARDEN DESIGN : THE BIG REVEAL Tuesday, 1 April 2008

UPDATE no.10: This is no April's Fool Joke {“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson}

We had to add rocks to the gravel section due to bambinos enjoying the feeling of a bicycle ride on gravel.

The words of Emerson above are very apt for this mammoth detailed garden design. Leanne Cumberlege and yours truly definitely had to adapt to the pace of nature with Leanne sporting loads more patience than me ... always thought that I was the patient type, but was rudely surprised by this garden shaping which pushed the boundaries of patience way beyond its limit. Those who have been monitoring the progress of this design on Doing Life, will know what I am about. We must congratulate Leanne and her team (Leanne Cumberlege Landscapes cc) on truly accomplishing the brief she received from us for this garden design. The end result is exactly and even more than what we envisaged for our little piece of heaven around our new home. Leanne must also be commended for the calm, professional and friendly manner in which she went about managing and accomplishing this enormous project from ground zero right to a magnificent end result.

It is amazing how the pathway takes one on a meander of discovering various hidden corners in this relatively small bushveld garden. There are three major spots where one could sit down, take a few deep breaths, clear one’s thoughts and appreciate nature around you.

These three spots being the Orange Free State Sandstone table and benches from where one have a view over 70% of the garden. This is an ideal spot for that early morning cup of coffee to get the body warmed up for the day ahead. Then there is ‘the Rock’ (no reference to the movie) which is a mid-morning pick-me-up area on which an apple could be savoured to keep the blood sugar at a constant level or just for meditating.

Lastly, the gazebo with the swing bench which are snugly tucked away at the back of the house and have become the official sundowner venue.

Section at Dining Room Window

The hidden section at the side of the house beneath the dining room window has also turned out very interesting. It has become a succulent/cactus garden of sorts. One of the succulents has already sported beautiful flowers (see pic below). The nine pots incorporated in this section’s design aided in giving a more three dimensional feel to a rather uninteresting rectangle piece of ground.

The garden already survived its first onslaught of nature’s fury. A sudden hail storm struck the garden this past Saturday afternoon. The hail came down at an angle. Fortunately all the plants seemed hail resistant apart from the pink rock roses of which only a few was slightly damaged. So at least the garden does not have to fear hail storms … however, we will have to wait and see what the Gauteng winter frost has installed for it.

We just love our gardenscape and so does the birds. Yours truly cannot keep up the wild bird seed supply in the three bird feeders. It really feels like one is wandering in the bushveld and that a little buck of sorts could make an unexpected appearance … just imagine … wishful thinking hey … the closest thing to a buck sited so far, is the neighbours ever watchful cat on the prowl for a bird who has let its guard down. Mmm that ‘slingshot’ is slowly, but surely becoming a reality …

Also note, the swimming pool has miraculously survived the whole ordeal … miracles do happen. Me and Leanne’s patience was actually only really put to the test (my test failed dismally) by the Pole & Timber Centre sub-contractor who has given us shocking service. We just hope that this is not an example of the type of service that South Africans might have to become use too in the future. Watch this space for a possible report on this sub-contractor’s service. To this date, their installation has not been finalized … which says it all. I would like to thank all of you who have been tuning into Doing Life to read each update as it was published as well as all the emails I received complimenting us on the garden and begging for the next update … it all made this project worthwhile. Hope some of you could visit us in the near future to experience our bushveld garden in real life. - Bushveld inhabitant signing off with the following quote: “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ~Lao Tzu