Blog Posts under "Garden practice"

I received a query from a farmer in Namaqualand, an arid to semi-arid region of South Africa situated along the western coast, regarding the suitability of Acacia xanthophloea as a shade, stock feed and ornamental tree. This species has gained enormous popularity in the past few years and is now grown successfully in a number of varying habitats across South Africa. Despite the Fever Tree's adaptability to different climatic conditions, however, it is good practice to consider both the...

It was coincidental that, a short while after I had taken photos of how I transplanted my Scadoxus, I received a query from Rosemary asking how to plant Scadoxus. 

Scadoxus should be transplanted in late autumn or early winter, after all the leaves have died down. Unfortunately my planning seldom coincides with reality. Half way through September I impulsively decided to move some of my Scadoxus into a new bed that I was building. I wanted them to have a really good start, considering...

After receiving a number of enquiries with reference to removing, transplanting and sub-dividing Strelitzias, I felt I needed more information. As I had a young plant that needed removing, I grabbed my faithful gardener, Vincent, and studied the process. Despite the apparent size of the base a Stelitzia developes, it actually consists of lots of separate plants, so the process is not quite as complicated as it may seem.

Coming from a 50 year old garden where weeds had been all but eradicated, it was something of a shock to take over a garden where 'weeding' meant that you waited until you had an invasion then lightly applied a hoe to chip off the weeds at the base, leaving roots and seeds to lie in wait for the next rainfall, before sprouting and re-sprouting with ever-growing fervour. The adage 'One year's seeding, seven year's weeding' soon came to haunt me as year after year I toiled with no end in sight...

Gardeners love sharing advice, and much of it is good and sound, but beware.  Some snippets of erroneous advice are so confidently delivered and so universally believed that they have the ring of solid authenticity, and so have entered into the world of the Garden Myth. Many of these myths have further been fueled by, amongst others, advertising, garden literature, gardening programs and videos, nurserymen, landscapers and hardware stores.

You have probably read the instruction on nursery tags and in many a garden book:  ”Prune hard after flowering”  But how hard is hard?