Flex your green fingers with garden club
The garden club has encouraged residents at the Association for the Aged (Tafta) Park to transform the communal areas.
HOPING to bloom positive relationships and a deep-rooted love for nature are members of The Garden and Houseplant Club.
ALSO READ: Water boards to be reviewed to enhance service delivery
The organisation was founded several years ago and was called the Pot Plant Club. At the time, it was a branch of the Durban and Coastal Horticultural Society.
“We would often have talks on trees, indigenous plants, flowers, bees, bats, moles and monkeys. I would tackle aspects such as compost, recycling, moths and moss. However, over the years, the number of members went down as the old faithful members moved into retirement,” said the club’s president, Naomi Stapersma.
The club moved to Cliffview Nursery and then to The Association for the Aged (Tafta) Park, where residents have transformed the communal areas.
“Gardening is so relaxing and it has stopped me from growing old. You age whether you like it or not but, despite my aches and pains, gardening keeps me young. The satisfaction you get from gardening is wonderful. David Tye is an artist who creates incredible gardens and he inspired me to take up the hobby.
“When I moved to Tafta, I took up planting little gardens. It was an adjustment from having lavish gardens to smaller ones, but I took up creating penjing gardens and potting roses. It is rewarding to see the flowers bloom,” said the 73-year-old, Philip Swart.
Swart recently demonstrated ways in which to create miniature gardens with a clay pot, moss, small trees and rocks. The penjing gardens can be grown indoors as well as outdoors.
