Natalie Berning is a modern Evander landscape designer with a heart for water conservation.
“Landscape designing is more than work and another gardening project – it is therapeutic.”
EVANDER – Ms Natalie Berning (27) has finally emerged from her cocoon after a long battle with Lyme Disease and its after effects, and is now blooming as a landscape designer.
This young woman’s life was turned upside down when she contracted Lyme Disease five years ago. She was an outgoing psychology student at the time, but the disease took such a toll on her body and psyche that she had to work hard to regain her self-confidence.
Ms Berning was ill for almost a year.
Lyme Disease is contracted through a tick bite and when undetected and untreated, results in severe headaches and neck stiffness, Erythema Migrans rushes, arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling, particularly the knees and other large joints, facial palsy (loss of muscle tone or droop on one or both sides of the face), intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints and bones, heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis), episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath, inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, nerve pain, shooting pains, numbness or tingling in the hands or feet, and problems with short-term memory.
Ms Berning took years to completely recover and to be able to face the world again. Her mother and best friend, Ms Diane Berning, motivated her into taking up landscape designing.
“To me, landscape designing is more than work and another gardening project – it is therapeutic,” said Ms Berning.
She has done several projects at businesses and residential gardens with the emphasis on combining nature and culture to create a space that is aesthetic as well as sustainable.
She loves to read and is always reading up on different plants, gardening hacks and the latest landscaping trends, but also sticks to her ideals to create water-wise gardens.
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She does not have a specific plant that is her favourite, but she loves peonies and ornamental grasses such as chondropetalum tectorum (Cape thatch grass).
Ms Berning is taking on as many challenges as possible. She is now a committee member of the South African Council of Business Women’s Secunda branch and loves to cook.
“I especially enjoy French cuisine and the way the French would mingle and interact around the food table. I lived in a large commune with young people from various nationalities during my time as a student. Each person had a turn to cook for the others and so I picked up several cooking secrets.”
She combines her love for gardening with the aroma of cooking with fresh self-grown vegetables and herbs. She calls her services Cilantro Designs after the herb coriander.
“Coriander usually evokes strong feelings – you either love it or hate it. There is no in-between.”
Ms Berning’s handy hints
Most common asked question: How do I fix clay soil? – Gunky clay drains very slowly, but is nutrient rich. It has a tendency to be alkaline. Adding agricultural lime will immediately improve the soil structure.
Water wise gardening:
· Group plants with similar water needs.
· Mulch.
· Artificial lawn.
· Cut the grass at higher level than usual to encourage deep roots (drought tolerance).
· Self watering containers / hydro ponics / aqua ponics.
