Noordhoek Open Gardens will take place this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday October 22 and 23, with 14 gardens being opened to the public.
The categories include large and medium gardens, indigenous gardens and – a new addition this year – food gardens.
Some of the gardens on show will include Donovan Kirkwood’s garden at 13 Seascape Road, which integrates his passion as an ecologist and botanist and a 25-year interest in sustainability and organic food gardening.
This is a garden in progress, where water-wise, sustainability, ecological and permaculture principles are being implemented.
The kitchen food garden is managed organically using ecological principles. A selection of local plants, seed and organic fertilisers will be on sale.
Shady Oaks is one of Noordhoek’s oldest properties, and can be found in Noordhoek Main Road opposite the common. This well-established garden rambles over five acres of oak tree-flanked meadows bordered by two streams, plenty of shaded garden planted with clivias, ferns and plectranthus, amongt others, and a working vegetable garden. This much-loved family property is the location for numerous film and photo shoots, bearing testament to the gorgeous grounds and gardens.
If you want to see what can be done with your own suburban garden, you can gather some inspiration at 2 Keurboom Way. Anca Wright’s corner stand of medium size with typical sunny north side and shady east side faces the usual challenges, which she has embraced.
There is a fair amount of indigenous plants in the garden, with paths that lead you around to different nooks.
A small vegetable patch supplies them with most of their basic veggies and herbs. Stunning views of Chapman’s Peak can be enjoyed from the deck – a perfect unwinding spot after the day.
Alternatively, see the garden of working parents, Amy and Gavin Goldblatt, at 26 Beach Road. This is a place for relaxing after a day’s work, for children to play, dogs to explore, and raptors to heal.
The garden consists of a series of terraces, built around their cottage home on the slope of Chapman’s Peak. A picket-fenced veggie garden is on one level and a braai area with beautiful stone masonry on another. Some areas have been allowed to go wild and others are carefully tended. Use the entrance in Millstone Close.
Entry costs R35 a garden or R100 a day while children under 18 enter free and all proceeds will go to On the Verge, a local community greening initiative that has been looking after Noordhoek’s verges and parks for the last seven years, with community support.
They will also be picking a specific community project to benefit with some of the proceeds. Gardens are open from 10am to 4pm and will be clearly signposted.
Maps and information brochures can be found at local nurseries or at www.noordhoektourism.co.za. Call 021 789 0679 for more information.
