CLUB chairman, Caroline van Hilten welcomed us to Lynette Robb’s very unique garden before sharing tips for the month.
These included: re-pot pot plants and prune roses; lift and split ground cover; cut out dead and diseased roots and leaves and replace in soil mixed with compost and fertilizer and water well if possible; prepare flower beds for spring adding 232 and water and cut back ornamental grasses.
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It is good to check garden structures to make sure they are strong enough to withstand winds as they also help make a wind break to protect other plants. It cuts down on evaporation as well.
Be careful how you get rid of old chemicals – information on how to store these correctly and how to dispose of them safely should be on the container.
Recycle old wood and garden rubble. Any sticks on the ground can be put at the bottom of the compost heap to attract insects which make food for foraging birds.
Insects play a very important role in our gardens. Wasps are pest predators and feed on caterpillars, aphids and mealy bugs and hover flies lay their eggs where their babies will feed on aphids.
Parsley is a must for the kitchen and it can look good as an edging plant.
Keep a bunch in water in the kitchen and crush the leaves now and then to help to keep flies away.
It is a cure for a lot of ailments, from stomach aches to headaches and can be dried in the microwave for a few seconds to keep its bright colour.
It also looks good as a food decoration.
Lemongrass is great in Thai food and stir fries and is good for all sorts of ailments.
Lynette told us how she acquired her house, which was apparently an old fisherman’s hut before becoming home to an artist.
The house was empty when Lynette first saw it in 1994 and she was determined to own it before she even saw the inside.
The garden, now lovely and full all sorts of hidden things and surprises like a bath with a shower and a lovely etched window among the plants, was barren when she moved in.
Now there are shady seating areas where one can sit and admire the bird life, and she has a secure container where she propagates plants and grows herbs.
Everywhere there are plants thriving in unusual containers.
Of course, her the dog helps keep the monkeys at bay!
Lynette had some lovely oriental-looking pouffes on the patio, which we thoroughly enjoyed lazing on.
Thank you, Lynette for having us visit you in your lovely and unique garden.
The competition winners are: Indigenous stem flowering aloe – 1st Liz Thompson, 2nd Elmerie Brown, 3rd Des Cuff, Dion Pienaar and Chris Makepeace. Rose Bowl, pot plant of any kind – 2nd Dion Pienaar. Three perennial flowers, same kind and colour – 1st Rina Mason, 2nd Liz Thompson and 3rd Elmerie Brown. Best fruit – 1st Elmerie Brown. Best vegetable – 1st Don Pienaar, Des Cuff, and Audrey Pollock, 2nd Elmerie Brown and Steph Howell. Best herb – 1st Elmerie Brown and Dion Pienaar, 2nd Des Cuff and Steph Howell.
The competitions for August are three flowers of bulb, tuber or rhizome or three pentas of one kind and colour, one stem climber or scrambler of indigenous foliage.
Rosemary or lavender are the herbs.
The next meeting is at 11 Piet Retief Street in Pennington on Thursday, August 15 at 9 for 9.30am.
Hope to see you all there, raring to go with your competition entries.
