The April fool is early, if its name is anything to go by; its red flower already poking out the ground. The veld supermarket is flourishing, with its duinespinasie (dune spinach), oukossies and broodbos (bread bush).
It’s a cool windy day at the Biodiversity Garden in the Green Point Urban Park, and this is my first visit to this gem.
It’s a delight to discover this garden in an area I haven’t visited for a while. From here Lion’s Head, Signal Hill and the Green Point lighthouse are old and familiar landmarks; the Cape Town Stadium is a new one.
There are plenty of beverage plants here – bergtee, Khoi-tee or Karoo boerboom (its seeds are roasted and ground to make a coffee-like drink). The medicinal garden is made proud by the wilde dagga; all that remains of the kankerbossie’s flowers are the translucent pods.
This is a wonderland of plants.
The Biodiversity Garden is one of the City of Cape Town’s Green Goal 2010 projects, and one of five Local Action for Biodiversity projects.
Botanist Marijke Honig was the plant consultant and helped design the garden, with much input from others. “Many people contributed their knowledge and skills to the garden and various specialised items, such as the shade dome, interpretive signage, Khoikhoi huts, the food garden, educational art, placement of rocks, special soil and unusual plants,” she says.
The aim of the garden is to educate visitors on the Cape’s biodiversity, and inspire people to use biodiversity principles in their own gardens.
The strongest message for me was that biodiversity is all about connections. Animals, insects, plants are all connected, as we as humans are connected to all of nature. I once saw a bumper sticker saying “Throw it away? There is no ‘away’.”
What you as a human being do affects nature.
Information boards in the garden draw your attention to special features, and I enjoyed the artful sculptures. The honey badger, which preys on snakes, which in turn eat mice and rats, which are also eaten by the owl: they all cluster in one section. Watch out for the animals and insects in the soft grasses of the Renosterveld; beaded and winged creatures abound.
And I love the giant ant: “Can an ant make a difference?” is the question posed.
This garden would be a great place to bring children on a journey of discovery.
There are more than 300 plant species in the garden, most of which come from greater Cape Town, and although this is a young garden of only a few months, there’s already a lot to enjoy.
The lakes which surround the garden are special; along one area are tables and chairs to sit at and enjoy your lunch; the wetland area has been planted with restios of many kinds.
Six types of veld are laid out, each with their distinctive soils and plant types, which is useful for those wanting to establish gardens – know your veld type, and you’ll plant the right kind of plants.
Four types of indigenous grasses, planted out in curved beds, are particularly eye-catching. I took my shoes off to feel each of them, from the fine “princess” (a Cynodon variety) to “seaspray” (a Paspalum variety) to buffalo “sapphire” (Stenotaphrum), and lastly the coarsest one, regular buffalo.
The grass was only planted in August. It’s a lovely touch next to the metal dome, a central feature of the park, which will soon be covered with creepers, offering some shade. Already the black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata) has the upper hand and the slower growing creepers have some catching up to do.
Under the dome is a wonderful mosaic, an interpretation of the cell, the basic building block of life.
It’s not the best time of year for colour in a garden, but there is some. The wilde dagga (Leonotis leonurus) is a glorious orange; the leucadendron “blush” is tipped with deep red; and the April fool (Haemanthus coccineus and also called the blood lily) obliges with a burst of red among the succulents and bare patches of ground.
However, it’s the hybrid section which offers the most colour. There’s a light shade variety of agapanthus, white and pink low-growing harebells and red geraniums, all pretty and growing well – which is probably why they’ve been bred. But they can be a threat to genetic diversity because of cross-pollination, an information board tells me. There are plenty of these boards and they’re informative, a good way to introduce people to the key concepts of biodiversity.
But little colour doesn’t mean a dull garden: our local plants are great for their different greys and greens and interesting textures, and if you’re looking for ideas for foliage shades, this is a place to visit.
Water features strongly in the garden: it comes from the Stadtsfontein spring at the top of Oranjezicht.
The strange thing is that for many years this water ran straight into the sea. Because this source of water was available for use, the designers of the park, OvP, could use water as major design feature. And the water makes the park special.
At the moment ceramic fish hover above one lake.
In time indigenous fish will be introduced.
Back to connections: all organisms need each other to survive; destroying one has a knock-on effect. Useful then is the natural pest control section, a more balanced way of dealing with your uninvited guests.
The wonder in the biodiversity garden is that in such a short time an area that was a golf course (low on biodiversity) and then a building site for two years (zero biodiversity) has been transformed.
Plant life is slowly attracting bird and insect life, and a small part of the city is coming alive.
It’s interesting to go to Honig’s blog (http://marijkes-biodiversityblog.blogspot.com) to see how the garden has progressed.
Whether it’s to wander in, or to wonder at our marvellous plant life, the Biodiversity Garden is a gift to the public. - Cape Argus