Having designed the Towerwater garden 21 years ago I thought the garden would have a seasonal rhythm that will allow easy transition from one season to the next but it still comes up with surprises.
Winter has become a hive of activity on the property with pruning of fruit and rose trees, feeding roses and fruit trees with Kraal manure and compost. Putting seeds into the soil that will become the new summer garden is still exiting.
The surprise seeds for the vegetable garden are the mixed carrot seed (yellow, orange and purple) and the Easter egg radishes.
For the flower garden the Eskimo Marigolds and Peppermint Zinnias will be the curiosity factor.
I went wild with the flower gardens making bold strokes with lots of seeds, it’s now up to you Mother Nature please surprise me.
Replacing 12 roses in the 120 rose Rosarium was no easy feat. Replacing a rose in an existing garden is a major earth removal exercise that includes surgical precision sterilisation of holes before you introduce the new soil from a complete different place in the garden. Shawn removed six bags of soil from each rose hole. Choosing roses is so rewarding, the one that I am eager to see flowering is the Rhapsody in Blue. Blue roses have always fascinated me and this one looked amazing in the rose catalogue.
Working with Shawn in the garden is like having an extra sense to experience it with. He has a way of describing his experiences that is just so refreshing. We were freshening up the herb garden and the bees were really working on the rosemary bushes that are blue in flower. He said it’s like music and I agree when you work in the garden and the subtle sounds of nature in action fills the solitude of weeding, you can compare it to a symphony that is directed by an invisible conductor.
Working in the herb garden is a sensory feast of rose, mint and citronella geraniums, lavender, rosemary, ginger lily, lemon balm and lemon verbena just some of the smells that fills the air as we prune, divide and shape the bushes.
The potential that Spring brings fills me with excitement, the whole valley is bursting into white and pink blossoms. I had to stop and photograph an espaliered plum orchard and it was so surreal as I approached it the air was filled with the sweet smell and the whole orchard was vibrating with the activities of the bees.
This year I am introducing M3 fruitfly traps into the garden in an effort to have more healthy organic fruit (Thanks to the head gardener at Babylonstoren that gave me the name of their supplier).
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Hello Spring
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