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The Gardener
Preserving apples
The end of the apple season means that apples need to be preserved for the next six months until the next harvest is ready.
3 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Golden Oregano
Origanum vulgare ‘Aureum’, as its name suggests, is golden yellow in full sun and cool weather. These bright herbs are highly fragrant, with a classic oregano taste and aroma, and are often used in the kitchen for pasta and pizza. In summer, the yellow leaves will be covered with small pink and purple flowers.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Potting up a conifer
Conifers generally are well-behaved plants with interesting, evergreen foliage and mostly formal and neat growth habits. This makes them stately candidates for roomy containers.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Enduring and venerable trees
There cannot ever be a good reason not to plant a tree, and somewhere there is just the right tree for you...
3 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Daylilies make a comeback
Daylilies are making a comeback in 2025 with even more shapes, twists, ruffles, pleats, picotees, curves, and stunning colours and colour combinations. There are singles and doubles, big and small flowers, each unique, and yes, they only last a day! They do, however, have another flower bud just behind that one, ready to show off the next day.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
How to make a fat ball
Some birds love a fat ball in winter to boost their energy levels. These are easy to make and a fun project to do with the kids.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
The Princess and Obsession
It only takes two wonderful modern hybrids of old garden favourites to prepare a garden and containers for an unforgettable spring performance.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Pink and pretty
Pink colour shifters with hot appeal...
2 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
GROW the WALL
If you want lots of flowers in plantable concrete retaining wall blocks or lush stems and foliage cascading over dry stone walls, we have good plant suggestions for you!
5 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Winter indoor plant care
Winter can be a tough time for your houseplants; a drop in natural light, drier air, and cold drafts can all influence their lush appeal. As plant lovers, spending more time indoors in winter creates opportunities to keep a close eye on your leafy companions and make some changes to avoid these common winter blues.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
How to feed birds in winter
Birds require high-energy food constantly to maintain their body temperature. Food can sometimes be scarce in winter in the garden, so supplementing their feeding is helpful. However, there is also a right and a wrong way to do it.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Prepare for brilliance
For a stunning spring garden, these annuals need to be in the ground and growing this season.
3 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Planter boxes – a stylish solution for every garden
Many gardeners opt to eliminate garden beds and plant everything in pots, believing it requires less maintenance. But is this true?
4 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Blooming beautiful!
There is nothing brash about delicate-looking hellebores.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Pruning roses
Roses need pruning every year to perform well and produce abundant flowers. Most pruning is done when the plants slow down for winter. Let's recap what needs to be done now.
2 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
5 Principles for saving water
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater! Being water-conscious does not mean turning your whole garden into a succulent oasis or letting your garden go into neglect.
1 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
3 Winter legends
Here are the best ever reasons to plant them!
2 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
XEROGEMS
Water-smart gardeners would group their plants together based on their watering needs. So, let's do that with indoor plants with these 'xerogems' - xero for dry and gems for their value as decoration and endurance.
2 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
A Garden in HARMONY
Nestled beneath the slopes of Muizenberg and nourished by the spring-fed Peck's Stream, Coniston is no ordinary garden. It is a layered, living expression of decades of travel, memory, and botanical passion, transformed through vision, collaboration, and a deep connection to place.
5 min |
July/August 2025
The Gardener
Fixing things in 2025!
One should start a new year by sitting firmly on one's throne, not breaking it and falling off!
4 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
Silver staghorn ferns at platinum prices
When we think of a staghorn fern, Platycerium bifurcatum, which can be found in many South African gardens, usually comes to mind.
1 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
Tic Tac Toe
Keep children (and adults) busy for hours with this stylish game for the patio.
1 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
Let's change the way we think about food
Healthy food is all about preparing fresh ingredients in the simplest (yet tasty) way. Today's balanced diet includes lots of fiber, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and proteins in the form of meat, like lean pork. Keep it interesting, and you can't go wrong.
2 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
Grow Wayne's favourite things
Midsummer is when your garden is at its lushest. It's always playtime in the garden, and whether it's lying under a tree or finding more stuff to grow, gardens are our safe space for self-expression and joy.
3 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
THE BEST OF SUMMER
Summer annuals offer more than just colour, texture, and variety in a garden.
2 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
PLANT A COLOUR explosion!
Angelic angel wings and a dwarf morning glory can keep colour all around you from spring to autumn, and will be back to do it all over again next year...
2 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
SAVING TIME in the garden
Just like Jamie Oliver can teach us to cook a meal in 15 minutes, there are ways to garden in 15 minutes or less. Here are some of our top time-saving tips to make gardening easier, quicker and more fun.
5 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
FUN PROJECTS for the New Year!
If you want a wow factor for your next party, try revamping a piece of driftwood into something amazing with these few steps.
7 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
Evolving for LONGEVITY
A continuously transforming garden has longevity, which is certainly true for the garden at Brahman Hills in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal.
3 min |
January/February 2025
The Gardener
FIRE AND Feathers!
On a dreary winter's day, a screen of fiery and feathery leaves puts up a fight against dullness!
2 min |