The tight-knit Umdloti community rolled up its sleeves for Arbor Day on Saturday, September 12, planting more than 1 000 indigenous plants to beautify the entrance to the village.

The landscaping initiative, driven by the Umdloti Smart Village and the Umdloti Conservancy, follows the construction of a substantial stormwater culvert by eThekwini municipality after the catastrophic April and May 2022 floods.

A special project of this scale takes hard work, time and money. The community delivered, with donations of soil, compost and the use of a Bobcat, while two professional landscapers donated their expertise.

With the soil prepared and plants pre-placed according to the landscapers’ design, residents took advantage of the cool, drizzly weather, spades in hand and camaraderie in abundance, to make Arbor Day magic.

Umdloti Conservancy chairperson Terry-Ann Rens explained that the taller strelitzias, aloes and indigenous hibiscus will screen unsightly buildings from view.

The next step is to sow grass and create a brand-new lawn between the plants and the roadside kerb. Officially, Arbor Week in South Africa was observed from September 1 to 7, with the whole month recognised as Arbor Month.