African Design Magazine November 2016 | Page 27

Landscaping SALI Awards

changes over the years . Some of the trees , such as three of the Quercus robur ( Common or English Oak ), for which the garden is celebrated , are said to be 120 years old .
The landscape contractor has been on site since 1 March 2015 and Mackenzie said that the club required the garden to be given , as she worded it , a “ contemporary spin ” along with replacing some of the older plantings and heighting the quality of others , while keeping the ambience of the old garden with its fountains , gazebos and arches intact . She added that the drought had emphasised the need for more water wise , indigenous plants .
Oscar Lockwood of Life Landscapes said that they were required to remain true to the original signature of the garden ... to the parkland / English cottage garden style ... but to give it a more up-to-date indigenous twist in the present and future planning . “ It is almost a public garden because of the number of events that are held there . We are aiming to keep it as a ‘ gardener ’ s garden ’ and a garden for all seasons . It needs to look beautiful every time a member / visitor returns .”
The focal rose garden with its old fountain has been subject to changes by various designers over the years and , in discussion the club , Mackenzie said the decision was to make it more structured and to remove old roses that were struggling . New arches and trellises for climbing roses were installed . The newly acquired roses – mainly Hybrid Teas , with some highly scented roses such as ‘ Mr Lincoln ’ – were replanted in formalised quadrants . The roses that were too old and had stopped flowering well were removed . The colours of the replacement roses moved from white to various shades of pink and through to dark pink , and shades of red to deep red . Most of the roses are new specimens and roses of medium height were chosen to keep the formality and

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