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Landscaping Your Garden in Stages – Part 1
It is not usually possible to incorporate all the plants, features or facilities into landscaping your garden when you first build a house.
These are items which will normally be completed over a period of years as extra funds become available.
It is, however, important to have a basic landscaping plan of action from the very beginning. This sample landscaping garden design, illustrated in two phases (See also Landscaping Part 2) puts forward one possibility for an average-sized suburban plot, and was devised by Stellenbosch landscaper, Wendy Attwell.
Phase One
Please note the letters in brackets in the text refer to the letters shown in the sketch. Please also note that we have used common names for plants and have put their botanical names in brackets. The pictures of plants are displayed below the text in the order that they are used in the article.
The basic landscaping framework is established as soon as possible, although many of the more expensive features will have to be excluded at this stage. The front garden (A) is planted with Periwinkle (Vinca major variegata), a vigorous ground cover that will be easy to remove later on, and (B) a Jacaranda tree (J. mimosifolia) introduced for shade. Three evergreen bushes, butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii) are grouped to screen the driveway (C) from view, and two vigorous blue skyflower (Thunbergia grandiflora) climbers are strategically placed on either side of the gravel path (D) at the entrance to the covered verandah (E). Access from the street is down the path or along the gravel driveway, which leads to the garage. Ordinary English ivy (Hedera helix) is planted to quickly cover the boundary fence or pre-cast wall on one side, while two beautiful Liquidamber (L. styraciflua) trees (F) soften the fence, which has been constructed to prevent free access to the back garden and entertainment area. Two Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) add to the wooded effect. Conifers and junipers add to the screen effect within this fenced area (G) leading from the main bedroom. Your landscaping idea might include a spa, so various ferns and a low spreading ground cover, Australian tufted violet (Viola hederacea), are also planted here.
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On the far side of the house, a low fence is is incorporated into the landscaping design and constructed so that unattractive rubbish bins (H) are screened from view, and, once again, ivy is planted to quickly cover the boundary fence or pre-cast wall.
A simple path of pre-cast slabs or cobblestones leads to the washing line (I), and from here, to the large back garden. Here the landscaping design includes a variety of ferns that are planted on either side of the path to create a lush effect. The back of the house has been planned as an entertainment area, but there is sufficient space to establish a vegetable (J) and herb garden (K) leading from the kitchen. Planting here is not detailed, but a wide variety of species is suitable. In keeping with the formal herb garden design, a rose garden (L) has also been incorporated, adding colour and fragrance. There is a pergola-covered patio (M) at the back of the house, adjacent to the kitchen (N), living-room (0) and main bedroom (P). Here more blue skyflower (Thunbergia grandiflora)
and white bougainvillea are planted to create a shady arbour. A gravel path (Q) leads from the patio towards the back boundary of the property, which is planted with Cape Chestnut (Calodendrum capense) and weeping fig trees (Ficus benjamina). Alongside the path, Fiddlewoods (Citharexylum caudatum) are planted to form an informal hedge-like screen. Numerous shrubs are introduced into the landscaping design under the trees, glossy abelia
(Abelia grandiflora), an evergreen that flowers throughout summer; hydrangeas (H. macrophylla); the attractive evergreen Japanese lantern (Abutilon pictum); winter-flowering tea bushes (Leptospermum scoparium); the sweet-smelling Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora);
the fragrant, white-flowering Cape May (Spirea cantoniensis); leafy panda plant (Philodendron selloum); and dwarf umbrella trees (Schefflera arboricola). Again, ivy is planted along the boundary. On the opposite side of the pathway there is a reasonably wide expanse of ground that will eventually incorporate a swimming pool into the landscaping design. For now, this area is grassed (A) and a simple braai/barbecue (S) is constructed. Wild date palms (Phoenix reclinata), Chinese fan palms (Livistona chinensis), umbrella trees, philodendrons and indigenous reeds,horsetail restio (Eiegia capensis) are planted along this boundary for privacy.
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