Tag Archives: Sustainable

Leonotus leonurus – Wild dagga. Featured plant at Towerkop Nursery.

Leonotus

Leonotus, also known as wild dagga, a reference to the mild psychoactive properties of the plant. This popular garden shrub is widepread in South Africa and in addition to it’s many medicinal properties attracts sunbirds to it’s bright orange inflorescences.

Calpurnia aurea – Yellow keurboom. featured tree at Towerkop Nursery.

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Calpurnia aurea being attended to by a pollinator. This small evergreen tree is indigenous to the eastern cape, natal and gauteng provinces of South Africa. It grows to 4m. It is fast growing and produces yellow pea-like flowers from 2yrs, making it the ideal ‘instant’ tree. It can be pruned into a compact shape and is frost tolerant.

Tecoma flowering now at Towerkop Nursery.

Tecoma

This popular garden shrub attracts birds and butterflies to it’s tubular flowers, especially sunbirds!

It makes an effective hedge when trimmed but bushes out if left natural. Farmer’s encourage it’s growth along fences where it is kept in check by grazing animals.

Also called Cape honeysuckle, it is widely cultivated and very easy to propagate from cuttings or root suckers or runners.

It likes semi-shade to full sun, is drought tolerant and should be pruned back in late winter to encourage new growth.

The species occurs naturally in South Africa, Swaziland and southern Mozambique.

This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s award of garden merit.

Plant with Plumbago.

 

Today Towerkop Nursery is recycling.

wine

The carrier handle on this wine box makes a good plant tag !

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Today John the Farmer is processing mustard seed

Mustard

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Garden Scenes at TowerkopNursery this Summer.

This gallery contains 10 photos.

 

Today John the Farmer visited Nelson Mandela Bay.

Grass Roof

Grass Roof

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Succulent Garden

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Succulent Garden

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Succulent collection

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Succulent Nursery

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Hanging Hessian planter at Towerkop Nursery

Hanging Hessian planter at Towerkop Nursery

Hanging Hessian planter at Towerkop Nursery

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Today John the Farmer planted Coriander/ Dhanya plants in recycled biodegradable pots.

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John the Farmer made a wall garden!

Wall Garden

I made this wall garden for a client as a feature to distract from an imposing wall. I recycled some left over and damaged guttering (the square type).

How to construct the wall garden:

I cut the guttering into equal lengths and fitted each length with end pieces so each length becomes a container

Be sure to drill drainage holes before affixing them to the wall

Wall01

Drill holes for drainage

The gutters are the spaced equally on the wall, marked off and attached by their own brackets.

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Fix the gutters to the wall equidistant

The wall was north facing in a hot climate, so I built a screen to shade the wall garden in summer but allow the winter sun to reach the plants. To do this I positioned the gutters vertically but this is not necessary. They could also be arranged in a stepped pattern, for instance.

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Screen made from fencing poles

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Screen attached to wall

I then cut chicken wire to fit the bottom of each gutter over the drainage holes to hold the soil and prevent the drainage holes from becoming blocked.

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Each gutter is filled with soil

I then filled the gutters with first gravel, then finer river sand, then composted ground to assure good drainage.

Water the soil in well and begin planting.

Planting

Planting

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Water in well

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Group plants in each container

 

 

Recommended plants:

 

I  recommended smaller hardier plants at the top and plants with more foliage at the bottom to avoid a top-heavy look

Gutters 1-2

Glottiphyllum longum

Echevaria (Desert Rose)

Stapelia sp.

Hawarthia sp.

Sedum sp.

Aptenia cordifolia

Crassula sp.

 

Gutters 3-5

 

Senecio sp.

Geranium

Epiphytes (Air plants)

Bulbinella

Nustertium

Gazanias

Strawberries

Lobelia