Indigenous Gardening. Inheemse Tuinmaak

A dispute has existed for a while now between me/my family and our one set of neighbours. Okay, maybe the word "dispute" is a bit of an exaggeration... they/their guests have irritated us with inconsiderate parking for a few years running. I might also add that it hasn't been one family, but almost the full range of families occupying the said house over the period of irritation.

Our swamp cypress is squarely to blame for the escalation of un-neighbourly feelings. You see, even though virtually our whole neighbourhood moans about the leaves the tree so abundantly throws in autumn/winter, almost all of the very same neighbours love the shade it casts. Our next-door neighbours, and their guests, have taken it upon themselves to park in the tree's shade... on our grass... or even into our garden! You could just imagine the mother's horrified expression when she saw this trend unfolding.

That is the background to this blog post. Over the years we've had various ideas to dissuade our kindly neighbours from abusing our shady grass (including partially submerged spikes), but I finally settled on one idea this past month. I decided to create an indigenous(-ish) bed stretching all the way from the num num bed, under the cypress, to the curb. Not only would this send a very clear message to the perpetrators, but also be a sight more pleasing to the eye than sad-looking kikuyu struggling in too much shade.

The poor momster took it upon herself to remove the grass and dig in the compost. It was needed though, because the soil in that part of our yard hasn't really been composted in years. I had a vision of multiple levels, rocks, grasses and some flowery indigenous shrubs.

Let me show you the process:

The before picture/Die "voor" foto

Here are the after pictures... it didn't turn out too shabby, if I say so myself:

It turns out that the gaura I decided to plant in my indigenous bed is indigenous... just not in South Africa, but rather in North America. Oh well, what is a few thousand miles between friends?

Baby Sun Rose creeper (Aptenia cordifolia) and Guara/Rankende Rooi Brakvygie en Gaura

The Christ plant is a nice focal point in my new bed with it's thorny branches and striking blood-red flowers. It is also more indigenous than the gaura, although still off by a mile or two. It's native habitat is apparently Madagascar...

Christ Plant (Euphorbia milii)/Christusdoring

At least three elements in my "indigenous" garden are Very indigenous, that being the stones sourced from Oudtshoorn, num nums which were already thriving adjacent to the new extension and the two baby sun rose creepers I planted in the foreground. My bed might not be as indigenous as I planned it originally, but at least it is water-wise. Going the water-wise route is always a good idea in our mostly dry country, even in a relatively rainy area like the Garden Route. Here is what the bed looks like from the other direction:

Three creeping num nums (Carissa family)/Drie rankende noem-noeme

Which indigenous plants have you planted recently? #ProudlySouthAfrican (ish)