Hermanus Landscaping Design 101: Introduction

The aim of Hermanus Landscaping Design 101 is to serve as a guide for Hermanus gardeners by providing practical advice and tips on creating a beautiful garden in Hermanus.

We will deal briefly with the basic often abstract principles of garden design and landscaping but will be focusing mainly on the practical aspects of implementing these garden design and landscaping principles, which in practice may often leave gardeners feeling uncertain as to where to begin.

Landscape Design begins with a plan and passion

                      

Landscaping and gardening design is a passion that flows from the heart and ends in a result that expresses who you are and brings one closer to beauty and the world around us.

An Hermanus landscaping project underway at Negester Development, Onrus North

There are general guidelines but no steadfast rules as landscaping and garden design are meant to be an outlet for creativity and passion ensuring countless hours of passion fueled fun and discovery.

Warren                                                             
Modern Natural landscaping, planting and garden maintenance

Hermanus Plant of the Week: Trailing Cape Daisy

A firm favourite for many Hermanus gardeners and landscapers alike, the trailing cape daisy or Osteospernum species provides a stunning cascade of landscaping colour during the cold often gloomy Cape winter months.

Landscaping with Oestospermum in Hermanus

                                   
The two most popular species for local Hermanus garden and landscaping conditions is the White Flowering Osteospernum ecklonis and its cousin, the beautiful, purple flowering Osteospernum jucundum often seeing sporting an abundance of vividly coloured blooms around Hermanus gardens and landscapes from March – September.

Osteospernum ecklonis

Both species handle our local Hermanus landscaping and garden planting conditions very well being both water wise and coastal tolerant. However, to truly perform at their best they prefer a light well drained garden soil rich in compost with a moderate watering once to twice a week once established.
Hermanus Plants
Osteospernum makes a lovely groundcover when mass planted on there own, as an under planting to taller growing shrubs and perennials or plant them in your Hermanus landscaping as an eye catching edging or as a trailing alternative for planters or planter boxes.

Make sure to dead head these prolific flowers often and once the flowering season is over they will benefit greatly from a light overall trimming and organic feeding.

Keep an eye out for White Fly infestations which are a stubborn nuisance for these beautiful indigenous groundcovers in Hermanus gardens.

Warren Tunley
Modern Natural Landscaping, Planting and Garden maintenance.

Hermanus landscaping 101: A successful garden begins from the ground up!

The foundation to any successful landscaping project or healthy garden in Hermanus is soil preparation, without doubt the landscaping and gardening efforts put into ensuring a healthy soil teaming with beneficial garden organisms and rich in nutrients will determine the success of your landscaping, planting and gardening activities.

The soil conditions found in Hermanus are generally quite challenging often being of a sandy porous nature characterized by a hydrophobic tendency which often results in the very frustrating and infamous local gardening exercise of watering for hours only to discover that the water barely penetrates the garden surface! The solution to this Hermanus landscaping and garden maintenance dilemma - compost and copious quantities 
thereof.

Compost is key to Landscaping and gardening in Hermanus

Proper and adequate landscape composting is essential to a successful garden in Hermanus as it:

•  Improves the structure and texture of  the soil.
•  Improves the water holding capacity and drainage characteristics of our garden soil.
•  Provides vital nutrients and beneficial bacteria needed for healthy pest and disease resistant plants.

Hermanus gardeners should aim for a generous compost covering of at least three fingers deep throughout all newly landscaped areas and worked thoroughly up to a spade deep into the newly prepared garden beds and landscaping. 

Before planting leave the enriched soil for at least two weeks allowing it time to mature and develop in anticipation for its newly planned landscaping, trust us, your plants will flourish in gratitude.

A flourishing Hermanus landscape planting begin with Compost

 Don’t forget to wet the soil regularly using your irrigation or garden sprinkler system.

Once established your Hermanus garden and landscaping will greatly benefit from an ongoing regular annual composting programme ensuring that your soil remains friable and healthy able to support your gardening efforts and ensure a thriving Hermanus garden and landscape.

Look out for my next post on fertilization best practices.

Warren 

Modern Natural Landscaping 

Hermanus landscaping 101 : an introduction

Gardening, landscaping and planting in Hermanus and its surrounding suburbs is not for the faint hearted, let’s face it, for despite the breathtakingly beautiful surroundings the local climatic, environmental and geographical conditions do make establishing and maintaining a thriving, beautiful garden a tough and sometimes very frustrating undertaking fueled often by nothing more than a passion that only true gardeners understand.

The start of a new challenging Hermanus landscaping project

To ensure that your landscaping, planting and garden maintenance efforts pay dividends we have created this gardening guide specific to Hermanus so as to provide an overview of the basic landscaping and gardening principles and practices that we as a local landscaping and design company have successfully used, starting from garden soil preparation through to plant selection as well as simple garden maintenance and lawn care tips to ensure that your garden grows as you intend it to.

The beauty of Hermanus Flora

The first post in this Hermanus landscaping and garden guide will deal with the most important aspect of establishing and maintaining any successful garden, Soil Preparation, the foundation to all successful gardens!

Warren

Modern Natural landscaping, planting and garden maintenance.

Welcome to Landscaping, planting and gardening in Hermanus!

Welcome all Hermanus gardeners to Gardening in Hermanus, a local guide to Landscaping, planting and garden maintenance specifically for Hermanus. As a locally based landscaping designer and co owner of Modern Natural landscaping and garden maintenance I have been actively involved in the Hermanus gardening industry for more than 12 years now and have been lucky enough to have worked on a wide array of landscaping, planting and garden maintenance projects ranging from tiny courtyard garden installations to huge estate garden landscape developments.

I have been fortunate to have been able to learn and develop my landscaping design and practical gardening knowledge during this time having worked with a few very talented and knowledgeable individuals within our local gardening and landscaping industry and now look forward to sharing my passion, knowledge and experience in landscape design, planting and garden maintenance with the gardening public of our lovely Hermanus and surrounds.

Warren
Modern Natural landscaping, planting and garden maintenance