IF you have considered the many benefits of indigenous, wildlife-friendly gardening and have decided that it is the way to go, you might be wondering where to start.
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Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of a multitude of wonderful books pertaining to this subject. Over the years I have accumulated a good selection of books on indigenous plants and gardening, many of them written by KwaZulu-Natal and even KZN South Coast authors.
Through my work as a South Coast Herald journalist and my involvement with various local environmental projects, I have been privileged to meet many of these knowledgeable writers and have benefited greatly from the generosity they show in sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm. I have been so inspired and informed by them and by their valuable publications.
Here are some recommendations for the indigenous gardener’s bookshelves:
I was hugely inspired when I attended a talk by indigenous gardening pioneers Charles and Julia Botha. Later their wonderful book, the Eastern and Northern edition of ‘Bring Nature Back to Your Garden’, was constantly at hand as I slowly transformed my exotic-filled garden into an indigenous mini-nature reserve. They have also produced an edition for the western region of South Africa, and their book is available in Zulu.
Later I acquired a second book by them, ‘Bring Butterflies Back to your Garden’. For me, the idea of planting to attract butterflies has added another dimension to the concept of wildlife-friendly gardening.
The Bothas’ books are published by the Flora and Fauna Publications Trust, established about 25 years ago to raise sponsorship for popular, authoritive, affordable books on KwaZulu-Natal’s indigenous flora and fauna.
Soon after I started indigenous gardening, I acquired three of the trust’s publications by botanist Elsa Pooley. They were her ‘Wildlflowers of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region’, her ‘Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei’ and her ‘Forest Plants in the Forest and in the Garden’.
All have proved invaluable, not just from a gardening point of view but by expanding my interest and understanding of our native plants in the wild.
Another prized Flora and Fauna Publications Trust book is ‘Pooley’s Trees of Eastern South Africa,’ an updating of Elsa’s tree book, researched and compiled by Richard Boon. This comprehensive guide should be on every tree lover’s bookshelf.
Other valuable tree hugger’s publications are the Sappi Tree Spotting series (Jacana). There are different guides for every area of South Africa, making tree identification easy wherever you wander in this wonderful country of ours.
It is not only butterflies that you will want to attract to your garden. ‘Attracting Birds to Your Garden in Southern Africa’ by Roy Trendler and Lex Hes, (Struik) is an informative and beautifully illustrated book.
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Horticulturist and indigenous gardening guru, Geoff Nichols, an inspiring speaker, is also an author. One of his books will even help you to attract bushbuck to your garden. His ‘Guide to Gentle Gardening,’ written specifically for Zimbali Coastal Resort, lists ‘112 plants for you and your bushbuck’. Simply written for the layman, this is an incredibly useful book for anyone wishing to embark on the adventure of making their garden wildlife friendly – even if you don’t have any bushbuck in your neighbourhood.
Four other books have been most helpful regarding choosing indigenous plants for my garden. They are ‘Creative Gardening with Indigenous Plants’, by Pitta Joffe (Briza); Gardening with Indigenous Shrubs’ by David and Sally Johnson and Geoff Nichols’(Struik); ‘Gardening with Indigenous Plants’ by Kristo Pienaar (Struik); and ‘Making the Most of Indigenous Trees’, by Fanie and Julye-Ann Venter (Briza).
The Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa) has a number of guides and handbooks available for gardeners and nature lovers. Every KwaZulu-Natal gardener should keep a copy of Wessa’s ‘Invasive Alien Plants in KwaZulu-Natal management and Control’. It is as important to know what not to plant when you embark on a wildlife friendly gardening programme.
Finally, one of my most beautiful books is intriguingly entitled ‘The Southern African Plectrathus and the Art of Turning Shade into Glade’. Written by Ernst van Jaarsveld it is magnificently illustrated by Vicki Thomas.
These books represent a good selection to start you off on your indigenous gardening journey, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many lovely South African books available on various aspects of South Africa’s fauna and flora. And be warned – collecting them can be addictive. My bookshelves are overloaded with treasured and cherished natural history books and I am grateful to their authors for all I have learnt from them.
In a nutshell, here is good starter shopping list:
- Charles and Julia Botha: Bring Nature Back to Your Garden; Bring Butterflies Back to your Garden.
- Elsa Pooley: Wildflowers of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region; Forest Plants in the Forest and in the Garden.
- Richard Boon: Pooley’s Trees of Eastern South Africa,
- Geoff Nichols: Guide to Gentle Gardening and, with Sally and David Johnson, Gardening with Indigenous Shrubs.
- Pitta Joffe: Creative Gardening with Indigenous Plants.
- Kristo Pienaar: Gardening with Indigenous Plants.
- Fanie and Julye-Ann Venter: Making the Most of Indigenous Trees.
- Wessa: Invasive Alien Plants in KwaZulu-Natal Management and Control.
- Ernst van Jaarsveld: The Southern African Plectrathus and the Art of Turning Shade into Glade.
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