The rewards of planting indigenous gardens

ALTHOUGH South Africa’s indigenous plants have been grown round the world since the 1600s , many are barely known in their home country. When the first South African bulbs, such as the Blood Lily were first seen in Europe, they caused a sensation. Plant collectors wondered what else the Cape had to offer. Plenty it turned out.

With over 2 500 species, it was the richest collection of bulbs on Earth. Over time, collectors discovered that the rest of the country also contained a treasure trove of fascinating and unusual plants and trees.

In a new book, South African Indigenous Garden Plants: the gardeners guide, the authors encourage the use of local plants which no longer represent a niche market but an international industry. Nurseries continue to introduce new species and hybrids onto the market while designers are incorporating an ever -widening range of indigenous plants into gardens.

Apart from the obvious beauty of these plants, there are the environmental reasons for adopting this approach.

With a hotter, increasingly water- restricted world, indigenous plants are better able to thrive. And then there is the benefit to wildlife struggling to survive the continued impact of the loss of their natural habitat.

There are some encouraging signs. The SA National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has been proactive in promoting the use of appropriate indigenous species in public spaces including around shopping centres and state buildings. One good example is the landscaping around King Shaka Airport.

“Rehabilitation” of degraded areas, “rewilding” and “waterwise” have become buzzwords . Increasingly, it just makes good sense.

To help you take your first steps  - if you have not yet begun -to create your natural paradise, the authors have chosen over 2300 plant species which can be planted in different parts of the country.

Careful planning and preparation must be done, but the authors have laid out a guide for you. There are examples of all types of gardens from formal and townhouse to eco-pools, arid and fynbos gardens. They offer suggestions to attract birds, pollinators, butterflies and mammals as well as how to harvest storm water to create a wetland.

Too many gardeners persist in raking up every leaf around their plants, then using leaf blowers for maximum efficiency, thus depriving the soil of crucial ingredients which only mulching can provide.

Do you really need to “rake the soul out of the soil?” The authors offer much valuable advice, but the joy of the book is the plant catalogue - 530 pages of colour photographs and information on what can be grown. It is an Aladdin’s cave of treasures.

Each of the authors, Elsa Pooley, Geoff Nichols and Andrew Hankey, is an authority and all have devoted most of their lives to the wonders of our floral kingdom. The book has taken over a decade to produce, but is actually based on a lifetime of research. Their devotion and enthusiasm is infectious: their crusade is one you willingly join.

The book has relied on significant sponsorship before publication could be realised and with the usual high production standards the publisher, Struik Nature, bring to their books, this is a volume well - worth  acquiring. 

South African Indigenous Garden Plants: the gardeners guide is available at all good bookstores.