Spring At Maasstrom Farm

A vista of 400 rose varieties with the Kaga Mountains as a backdrop welcomes visitors to the MaasstrmFarm Garden.

- Ina Opperman

It’s a magnificent spring in Maasström Farm garden after a very cold winter and good rains. The word ‘green’ gets a new meaning in this lush garden, which teems with birds.

Current owners Pete and Doreen Freese bought the farm almost five years ago from George and Charlotte van der Watt, who established the main part of the garden during their 25 years on the farm. “We have slowly extended and changed parts of the garden, keeping the formal garden but extending it with more relaxed, informal planting around the edges,” says Doreen.

A magnificent cedar tree, which is thought to be over 150 years old, welcomes visitors to the garden. Pathways connect the various rooms of the garden, with benches placed along them for quiet contemplation. The first garden room is the entrance, under the cedar tree and planted with masses of clivias.

The entrance opens up to a lawn featuring a welcoming fountain, and then leads from the formal rose bushes to a cool shady area planted with fuchsias. A transitional pathway of ivy and clivia takes the visitor further to a large expanse of lawn with informal plantings of roses, buddlejas, watsonias, day lilies and valerian.

From here the Rose Walk, planted with