SOME of South Africa’s best landscapers and architects have been planning and planting show gardens which will be unveiled at next month’s inaugural Cape Town Flower Show.
The four-day show, which takes place at the Castle of Good Hope in late October and of which Weekend Argus is a media partner, seeks to celebrate the region’s unique floral heritage.
As befits a flower show in Cape Town, the focus of many of the gardens will be on local flowers, plants and even vegetables.
Show director Karey Evett said the gardens would allow landscapers to show off their talents and flair for garden design.
“These gardens have been specially designed for visitors to enjoy, for just the four days of the show,” she said.
Paul Odendaal, show gardens project manager, likened his job to “a conductor leading an orchestra”.
“I would like to infuse other people with the gardening bug,” he said. “I trust that, with the various gardens and the various walks of life of the visitors, (we’ll find) common ground.”
Garden designer Leon Kluge, who recently won a gold medal at the Singapore Flower Show and has been part of the South African team at the Chelsea Flower Show three times, said the event would be very special.
“I just had to be part of it,” he said. “With such an abundance of flora to choose from in the Cape, it ought to be a spectacle.
“Flower shows are an important thing for gardeners to seek inspiration, and enjoy all the different design styles in one location.”
Kluge will create an origami-themed garden, sponsored by the South African Mint, which will incorporate coins and a water setting.
“With some special and fairly new plants on the market, it should be quite unique to the eye,” he promised.
Landscape technology student Mohamed Amin, 22, won the Weekend Argus Landscape Competition to create a show garden for the Weekend Argus.
He will be in charge of conceptualising the garden, which will focus on perennials and include a lifestyle area.
Amin, from Tshwane University of Technology, said he enjoyed teaching people how to plant their own food.
“I am in charge of planting crops in community service projects where vegetable gardens are prepared for the less fortunate,” he said.
Landscaper Jan Blok will create an “agri-landscaping” garden for Boschendal wine estate, replacing ornamental plants with edible ones.
“Boschendal has a farm-to-plate ethos,” said Blok. “The aim of our show garden is to educate the public on these principles.”
The City of Cape Town’s garden will be constructed around a steel pergola to symbolise the “circle of life”.
Councillor Anda Ntsodo, mayoral committee member for community services, said the garden was being designed by City Parks horticulturalists.