Nine STUNNING garden design ideas from South Africa.
I recently visited friends in Capetown and whilst there I observed many beautiful gardens. There is clearly an abundance of expert gardeners in this part of the world.
In this video I share nine of my favourite garden design ideas which I picked up along the way. I saw a good mix of formal gardens, vegetable gardens and winery gardens on my trip and in every one there was a new idea.
Here are just a few:
1. Create Garden Rooms, sectioned of from each other.
2. Use water features which over flow into a ril or irrigation system.
3. Give thought to backdrop behind your plants, this helps showcase the plants and makes them pop.
4. How about putting bird boxes on top of poles around your wildflower meadow. paint them different colours. make sure they are not in full sun.
5. Make a rustic pergola, if you have recently felled a tree consider making it from the off cuts. Grow a canopy of green over the pergola for shade and a haven for birds.
6. Use espaliers of fruit or grapevines to create productive borders between sections of you garden.
7. include gaps and holes in your boundaries to add mystery and give a sense of curiosity in the garden, use the borrowed landscape beyond.
8. Consider repeat planting your borders. fill a border with the same plant for a dramatic carpet effect.
9. how about using rocks, boulders and gravel in large areas, low maintenance and gives that arid desert feel.
hello and welcome back to Mark’s House and Garden UK in this video I’m going to share some beautiful garden design ideas from the Western Cape of South Africa I recently visited friends in South Africa and whilst I was there I observed many Gardens whenever I’m out and about I’m constantly observing on my visit I noted several Innovative garden design features which I will share with you here now there is nothing new Under the Sun and imitation is the greatest form of flattery so I will definitely be adopting all of these ideas I’ll be adopting these in some shape or form in my garden at home every one of them and that’s one of the wonderful things about Gardens and gardening you can see something and make it your own you can make it fit now clearly some aspects have to change for example I will have to adapt the plants that I choose our conditions back home are vastly different also the scale of things some schemes would be much too big for the space I’ve got but I can bring the idea and adapt it to get the same effect now if you follow my channel you will see each of these in my garden over the coming months and years so let’s get into it so the first idea is the idea of having a formal pool overflowing into a real now a real is simply a long narrow body of water and I’ll be doing this in my tiny Olive Grove project back home I’ve always found water enchanting the way it reflects light and the sound and the Mystery of wanding what’s under the surface moving water feels refreshing and it carries you along with it it creates a sense of movement and you can step over it and you can look into it it can add humidity and of course it’s great for all kinds of wildlife I’ll be having a real in my Olive Grove I haven’t decided yet whether it will be formal or organic the second design concept is the idea about giving thought to the backdrop here are some examples now it doesn’t have to be white although white works well here what it does is it highlights the plants to use that welln design phrase it makes them pop but also look at these Shadows aren’t they incredible now this is a cute idea I could easily knock up a few bird boxes what I like about this is the way they’ve colored them differently and perched them on top of poles now back home I would want to consider the direction they’re facing and also the amount of direct sunlight but under the right conditions these are a lovely idea I’ll think about this for my Wildflower Meadow I’ve got plenty of spare Timber so I quite easily make a few bird boxes many of these are occupied I can see feathers hanging out of the entrance holes here’s a fabulous rustic pole per easy to construct because it doesn’t need to be too precise and look at the effect here a huge green canopy shade and interest and a Haven for bird life you could use Wisteria Laburnum catus or Virginia creeper I’ll be building one at home to sit under on a sunny day now how about this as a multifunctional idea the spallas of fruit and grape Vines highly productive sustainable attractive and also acting as a barrier or a fence now I’ll use this around the perimeter of my Olive Grove it creates a barrier it makes a garden room but it also allows the eye to peer through you can achieve a similar effect on a smaller scale with step over fruit which brings me in a way to my next idea which is strategically placed gaps or holes or circles in fences these invite you to look through and create a sense of mystery they can be large or small defined or organic and you’re left with a sense of curiosity wonder what’s through there it maintains interest and it brings you along you can achieve the same effect with a trellis panel that you can see through you want to go beyond now I do like these homemade rustic fences here they are whitewashed others I saw were plain now I have a huge pile of old Conifer branches which are quite straight I can strip the bark off guess what I’ll be making soon a fence to surround the perimeter of my jassic jungle Garden project I like this way of planting I would call this repeat planting using the same plant for a whole border I love the shape and the structure of the plants and the gravel underneath works perfectly this can be low maintenance or you could plant alpines into the cracks and it gives that arid Dry garden Vibe this is one for my new arid bed now here’s a quick one look at how they’ve given thought to the stem color not the Leaf cover but the stem color of this succulent right next to this Rose it’s a perfect match now I’ve just planted Dogwood in my red border next to a Fatina I do hope to achieve half the drama of the effect they’ve achieved here now then the next idea may polarize opinion is this actually gardening but the more dry arid Gardens I visit the more addicted I’m becoming to the use of rocks Boulders and gravel as a theme in its own right look here large hard rocks of various shapes and sizes it has its own Beauty to me and it can be low maintenance and there is no doubt that all those little cracks and crevices will provide a unique environment for some Wildlife species now this is one for both my arid bed and my Olive Grove so a complete change of Direction here a green wall this gives a Cascade effect it covers unsightly brick work and it provides a wildlife Haven in a city and adds interest they’re quite easy to water because you can water at the top and it trickles down and I’ll create one of these as a backdrop to my fernery garden and finally now two ideas in one here are two examples of water spouts coming directly from a wall into a water feature again the sound and sight of water humidity and light simple but effective it can’t be that expensive to just buy some pipes and drill a hole through a wall certainly compared to the cost of a water statue just as effective though in my opinion and look at the way they’ve put the arum lies directly into the water isn’t Aram Lily an aquatic plant I wonder if that would work back home now I’m making a small formal fish pond next to my Piggery I’ll certainly be adopting this idea I hope you’ve enjoyed my expiration of garden design in the Western Cape and if you want to see how all these ideas play out in my own garden please do subscribe and hit the notifications Bell and I’ll see you soon back home for some more garden design Adventures bye for now [Music]
2 Comments
Great video as usual
Some great ideas 😊