Text and photographs: Loren Shirley-Carr. Article from the April 2012 issue of Garden and Home Magazine.
The country look goes local as natural garden experts Michelle Seddon and Roy Trendler reveal the secrets to creating English cottage-style and meadow gardens using indigenous plants.
Banish from your mind the notion that indigenous gardens are dry, colourless landscapes filled with thorny succulents. Indigenous plants can be used to great effect in both traditional English-cottage style or meadow gardens as these experts reveal.
Get the look
Cottage-style gardens should be softly curving with meandering pathways and pretty, flowering perennials. Groups of 2 plants can be smaller and more varied than in contemporary gardens, but try not to plant too many varieties as they will get lost in the mix. Herbs and veggies work beautifully in cottage gardens; rosemary is particularly water wise and the colours of ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard always attracts attention. Salad veggies such as lettuces and radishes are ideal; plant them near spreading perennials to fill in the gaps left after harvesting.
What to plant
Group plants so taller varieties are at the back of the border, low growers are at the front and medium-sized plants peep over the lower growth to add interest.
A grouping of Anisodontea scabrosa, Freylinia tropica and clerodendron at the back with Osteospermum jucundum and Scabiosa africana in the foreground is a lovely combination. Other medium-height options include agapanthus and dietes, while the larger Plectranthus spp. are lovely in the shade.
Other low growers for the front of borders include ground-covering plectranthus, lobelias, diascias, felicias and Namaqualand daisies. Avoid planting in straight rows; rather allow lines to flow naturally.
Finishing touches
Features made with natural materials, such as wooden or metal benches and arches, fences made from reeds or branches and terracotta containers blend easily with cottage-style surrounds. Unusual rocks, worn and weathered sleepers and characterful logs make interesting focal points while simultaneously providing homes for smaller wildlife.
Create a formal water feature among informal plantings or establish a natural pond surrounded by rocks with water lilies, Cyperus spp. and arums around the edge.
Hedging your bets
“Frame your informal English borders with formal hedging using dogwood (Rhamnus prinoides), Rhus nebulosa, Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis), false olive (Buddleja saligna) or Cape leadwort (Plumbago auriculata). “These indigenous shrubs work just as well as the box or lavender hedges used in traditional English gardens.” Roy Trendler, author and wildlife expert
Get started with grasses
“When designing your meadow, start with large sweeps of the grasses you are going to use as the base. Investigate which veld grasses appear naturally in your area and plant these species in your garden – you’ll be delighted at how many birds come visiting.
Good options are weeping anthericum (Anthericum saundersiae), a foolproof grassy perennial with tiny, white, starry flowers that sway in the breeze and Juncus effusus, a stiffer grass with a more erect appearance.” Michelle Seddon, Green Creations.
Get the look
Meadow gardens are very popular in Europe but are seldom implemented in South Africa. Our rich plant kingdom, together with the beautiful natural grasslands in many parts of the country, invites the gardener to think ‘out of the box’.
Avid eco-gardeners may choose local indigenous species to create a true endemic meadow that blends with the surrounding landscape, but this may limit your choice in some areas.
Natural veld gardens provide a surprisingly attractive landscape and you can create a more formal garden around your home and then bleed this into the ‘wild’ meadow, which can be planted in bands of different varieties or simply be a field of contrasting plants.
The joy of a meadow garden is that you can’t make a mistake with the design. The key is to choose a diversity of species to ensure an attractive landscape throughout the year.
What to plant
Ideally a meadow garden should surprise you with a variety of plants flowering at different times of the year. It should also be mixture of annuals and perennials as well as a few trees for birds to nest and rest in.
Decide on what you want: mainly indigenous grasses interspersed with flowering annuals and perennials or a meadow garden of annuals and perennials without a large amount of grasses.
Veld grasses are available in seed form from agricultural seed suppliers.
Ask for a mix that is suitable for your area. Indigenous seed mixtures containing annuals and perennials are also available from nurseries.
Include grasses such as Melinis spp., Eragrostis spp., Hypperenia spp., Themeda spp., Panicum spp., Aristida spp. and the grass-like weeping anthericum (Anthericum saundersiae) and hen-and-chickens (Chlorophytum comosum).
Among the grasses, dot tall perennials such as gladiolus, agapanthus, dieramas, bulbine, kniphofias, watsonias and crocosmias.
Consider also lower-growing gazanias, nemesias, vygies and bulbous plants like hypoxis and Crinum gramineus.
Finishing touches
Go natural. Riversand paths through a grassy field leading to a wooden bench under a tree are ideal. Bark chips can also be used for paths. Place a weed guard material under the river sand or bark to prevent weeds from becoming a problem.
Use attractive logs and rocks as features in your meadow and use reed screens to disguise a wall or fence. A mini forest will provide shade and privacy for a picnic area.
A water feature is an important part of any garden. Use a plastic pond liner to create a natural pond, shaping it to your liking.
A ‘river’ leading to the pond can also be created using a pond liner covered with river sand to make it look more natural.
Structural plants that stand out from the grasses will provide natural accents.
Aloes, either singly or in a group of three or five, draw the eye, as do Strelitzia reginae and other form plants, such as the Highveld cabbage tree (Cussonia paniculata) and tree aloe (Aloe barberae).
Sources
Green Creations 082 901 1530 Juanita Knox Designs 083 227 7522 Roy Trendler 012 808 5112
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