Reviving Paradise: Something special about spekboom
If you would like a copy of The Green Net's spekboom poster for schools, groups etc., send an email to joangallagher18.jg@gmail.com
Good news! My personal favourite plant as most people know is spekboom because apart from its many, many uses and benefits, it’s so easy to grow! For many, many years it’s the one plant I’ve been cultivating and sharing, and now it’s international news – how amazing is that?
The Thicket Restoration Movement in South Africa which unites 60 initiatives across the Eastern Cape, connecting the public and private sectors, aiming at a transformational rehabilitation of 800 000 ha by 2030 has been recognised by the United Nations Environmental Programme as one of three World Restoration Flagships – a great acknowledgment indeed.
In the wet, cool months, spekboom photosynthesises like other plants, opening its stomata during the day to absorb carbon dioxide. During drier times, the plant has the ability to open its stomata at night in order to prevent water loss during the heat of the day.
Whether you are looking for a plant that can be turned into a hedge or a bonsai, or used as groundcover or a large bush, spekboom can do it all. It responds well to pruning and grows densely, making it an excellent, hardy screen or hedge. Some varieties grow low to the ground and others reach as high as two metres.
Spekboom doesn’t burn easily, and makes for brilliant, inexpensive and pretty firebreak hedges.
Now that makes spekboom a topic relevant to our low and no-income communities, as the houses are built so close to each other and with wooden shacks or ‘hokke’ squeezed in on most plots- fire is a regular problem, and with dwellings so close to each other, it is usually not only one home that burns down, but many.
Spekboom is easily propagated, which is great news for budget gardeners. Simply cut or break off a piece of a spekboom, let it dry out for one or two days and then stick it in the ground. Give it a little water every few days and you’ll soon have a new spekboom plant of your own. Make sure you don’t give it too much water or it will rot.
If you would like a copy of The Green Net’s spekboom poster for schools, groups etc, send me an email to joangallagher18.jg@gmail.com and I’ll happily share it with you.
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