Text and Photographs: Lynne Yates. Article from the August 2013 issue of Garden and Home Magazine.
Bursting with an array of herbs and vegetables, Christopher and Susan Greig’s kitchen garden meets more than 70 percent of this eco-conscious family’s culinary needs
Set alongside the sweeping driveway of Christopher and Susan Greig’s beautiful home, Beechwood, in Hyde Park Jo’burg, their impressive kitchen garden is one of the first things the visitor sees. And soon, this garden will not only be for the family’s sole use — plans are afoot for Susan to open a cookery school in the charmingly rustic buildings beside it; an outdoor restaurant on the raised platform overlooking the fantastic array of herbs and veggies is also envisioned.
Designed by Christopher with the help of full-time horticulturist Steven Gouveia, the vegetable garden has a formal design with raised raw brick planters surrounding a classical water 
feature. “As an artist and jewellery designer, this was a lovely project for me,” explains Christopher. “To begin with, I had to plan the space to fit between the tennis court and the envisaged kitchen and cookery school. 1 felt it was essential to add a water feature – something that should be included in every garden; the sound produces a wonderfully tranquil mood and it attracts all sorts of wildlife. I then created axes radiating out from the central fountain punctuated by planter boxes raised for aesthetic and practical reasons – accessibility, better pest control and warmth in winter — and the idea is for the bricks to turn green and mossy with time.”
Most plants in the garden are edible, including the waterblommetjies in the water feature. Planted in the brick planters is a mouth-watering array of vegetables. Christopher has grouped contrasting plants together – upright leeks, chives and onions are juxtaposed with leafy spinach, beetroot and turnips while lime and red lettuces are alternated for dramatic impact. Other stalwarts include beautiful globe artichokes, rhubarb, pak choi, aubergines, zucchini, tomatoes and cauliflowers.
Supplementing the raw brick planters are grey cement and terracotta containers filled with fragrant pelargoniums and herbs like sage, rosemary, dill, fennel, Italian parsley, basil, coriander and thyme. Along one edge of the garden, containers with clipped buxus complement the formal structure, while Lavandula dentata and lemon and lime trees planted along another side soften the effect. Bringing height to the design are obelisks planted with tomatoes, French beans and aubergines, a grapevine-clad pergola and large planters filled with different species of fig on the raised platform.
To break the formality, clusters of yellow and blue flowering edible plants spill over onto the mulch-covered walkways. These include wild garlic, catmint, lime origanum, heliotrope, borage and rocket, as well as some unusual varieties like the buttercup yellow nasturtiums raised from seed.
“There are also the white flowers of origanum and miniature white chrysanthemums. Over the years I’ve learned the value of using some white to lighten any colour scheme.
The resulting effect is a wild meadow look and the flowers attract bees and butterflies,” says Christopher.
Christopher’s top 3 vegetables
1. Globe Artichoke “Not only are they delicious, the flowers are beautiful too,” says Christopher. “This over-scaled plant contrasts well with smaller plants. They recover quickly if damaged by hail, and if you cut them back, they have perfect regrowth within three weeks.”
2. Lettuce “These grow easily from seed sown in situ and we have many different varieties including ‘iceberg’, butter, cos and red oak leaf lettuce for the taste and the ornamental value of their leaves,” he says.
3. Rocket “It’s hardy, matures quickly and with its peppery flavour, is fabulous in a salad. I also enjoy the fact that it flowers quickly, attracting bees, and become pleasantly invasive and wild.”
Get the look: Take inspiration from Christopher and Steven’s basic design to create your own formal kitchen garden. Then add other vegetables, edible flowers and herbs depending on your taste.
Plant List
1. Lavandula dentata ‘Grey’
2. Lemon ‘Eureka’
3. Lemon verbena
4. Chives
5. Tomato ‘Rosen’
6. Tomato ‘Matina’
7. Nasturtium ‘Buttercream’, Cicoria selvatica, Tulbaghia violacea, Centaurea cyanus ‘Blue Boy’ and pennyroyal.
8. Mentha spicata ‘English Lamb’
9. Rhubarb ‘Victoria’
10. Dill
11. Coriander
12. Cabbage
13. Beans
14. Globe artichoke
15. Spinach
16. Fennel
17. Sage
18. Lettuce
19. Beetroot
20. Rosemary
21. Rocket
23. Cauliflower
Hard Landscaping
A. Water feature
B. Raised planter box
C. Wooden obelisk
D. Steps
E. Existing building
Visit the Garden
Beechwood, at 25 Christopherson Road, Hyde Park Jo’burg will be open to the public from 31 October – 3 November. Open from 10h00 – 17h00, entrance is R40. All proceeds go to Jo’burg Child Welfare and Birdlife SA, There’ll be a tea garden, and on Saturday and Sunday, Susan Greig will serve a sumptuous buffet lunch at an additional cost. Call Steve on 082 746 8647 or visit gardensofthegoldencity.co.za
Sources: Beechwood Gardens beechwoodgardens.co.za Steven Gouveia 082 746 8647 Christopher Greig 083 290 1563 or cdg@charlesgreig.co.za
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