CAL IS LEKKER

Tim’s Parkhurst garden is proof that size does not count. Its 20m2 is bursting with activity. There’s the worm bin where kitchen waste is being converted into organic fertilizer, a compost heap, a raspberry vine vying for light with a huge lemon verbena, lavender, wormwood, cherry tomatoes, a black bean and a whole host of other happy herbs … Even Pickles the dog finds space to romp around!

Tim Truluck is DA councillor for Ward 117. In between helping residents with billing problems and solving the parking problem in Parkhurst, he’s also chairperson of the local Slow Food Movement, an organization promoting sustainably grown and locally produced food.

Anne Louise loves huge swathes of bold colour.   Her top interior decorating tip: fill huge pots with colourbags of colourful annuals. Cover the tops of the bags over with moss, and you have a stunning centerpiece for your dining room table that will last much longer than a bunch of flowers. As soon as the annuals get leggy because of a lack of light, they can be planted in the garden where they will perform for the rest of the season. 

Anne Louise XXX is an Interior Designer and Landscaper

Mike Holgate doesn’t have a favourite plant. Whether indigenous and water wise aloes, blue forget-me-nots, a huge, showy Solanum, old-fashioned hollyhocks or fynbos, he loves them all. No wonder his own garden at home has more than 300 species of plants in it!
When planting, Mike always combines plants with spiky leaves and round-leaved ones for a striking contrast.   

Mike Holgate has been living in Craighall Park since 1994 and has been in charge of the grounds of Craighall Primary School for the past five years.

Lalleghé grew up in Hilton, the only place in South Africa where those in the know say you can have a true English garden. From helping her mother in the garden as a child, throughout her years of staying at home with her children when they were young, and ever since, she’s been gardening. Her taste, though, has evolved and nowadays she prefers indigenous plants. She loves colour: the destressing effect of green, the vibrancy of orange and red and the softness of pastels.

Lalleghé Dell can often be seen in the Craighall Primary School gardens with her Grade 4 learners, teaching them Natural Science where it ought to be taught: in nature! She lives in Northwold.

Cheryl makes the most out of a fairly small garden: indigenous trees provide nesting space for weavers, while ornamental grasses and shrubs add interest to the lower level of the garden. Her favourite plant, though, is undoubtedly her myrtle-leaved orange tree. Divine marmalade and cordial are produced out of its annual yield of about 18kg of golf ball-sized fruit.

Cheryl detests a view of high walls and electric fencing out of windows. That is why she plants up the borders of her property with climbers. Old security gates are given a new lease of life as supports for the climbing plants!

Cheryl Labuschagne is chairperson of the Residents and Business Owners Association of Parkhurst, where she has been living for the past 11 years.

Moving into their Randburg home 20 years ago, Laurette and her husband got a one-acre garden with beautiful established trees on it, as well as beds overgrown with the sword fern, a notorious invader! Through the years they’ve created a garden with different “rooms”, enticing the wanderer ever deeper and deeper into the garden.

 Laurette is a firm believer in taking care of soil; she has a compost heap and her garden is well-mulched . Even her soil scientist son had to admit that his mom’s garden soil is in prime condition!

Laurette van Zijl has been councillor since 1998. Before that, she’s been involved in journalism, lecturing, TV news and public relations. She serves on the Environmental Committee of the City Council and looks into matters ranging from acid mine water and recycling to climate change.

Calven (left) calls gardening his “Adam experience” which gives him a chance to feel close to God. He collects bearded irises and definitely has a favourite amongst his roses: the King David rose, a hybrid tea with huge copper orange blooms.

Themba (right) grew up in Magaliesburg and loves the Bushveld. Unfazed by scientific plant names and debates about organic or chemical, he simply enjoys greenery, indigenous trees and wide open spaces.  

Calven Celliers (left) is senior pastor at New Harvest Christian Fellowship Church, while Themba January (right) is worship co-ordinator.

Anne has had the orchid on the picture for three years and manages to get it to flower year after year. The secret? A little foliar feed and a northwest facing room. 

Her Cymbidium orchids are also thriving: they are in dappled shade on a little patio and are slightly pot-bound, which is the secret to keepingthem happy!

Physiotherapist Anne Wilkinson has been living in Weltevreden Park since 1979 and recalls a time when cattle were driven to graze where Randridge Mall is now!