Gone are the days of having large English country or lush tropical gardens, or the services of full-time gardeners.
Our lifestyles and climate change are the two main reasons we have to address our gardening styles. We are ‘time poor’, experiencing increasing droughts and need to be able to care for our gardens ourselves – but what to do?
Mimi Rupp, garden designer and champion of water-wise gardens from SmartStone Port Elizabeth and Stone etc., says today’s gardens are sleek and stylish, yet sustainable and water-smart.
She says in the US, they’re calling it ‘New Age Minimalist’. NAM gardens show off pared-down plantings that emulate art or Chanel’s classic LBD.
Mimi has advice for gardeners thinking of changing to a NAM garden.
1. Each detail in the new style of gardening is designed to be savoured. Use vivid wall colours to act as backdrops for sculptural plants such as the trio of aloe ferox with its ‘candelabra’ form, with a pair of Echinocactus grusonii (golden barrel cactus) for textural contrast.
2. Imagine a pair of Pachypodium Lamerei (Madagascar Bottle Tree) which fan out in front of a mustard-coloured wall where they create the illusion of a giant abstract painting.
Later, when bright green leaves sprout along the stems and white flowers appear, the golden background will make those colours pop. Add up-lighting for a bit of drama at night.
3. Though succulents are static plants, through the use of clever planting you can create a mesmerising effect.
Imagine tiny rosettes of mixed Echeveria and lime-green Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’, widely spaced and surrounded by pebble mulch. They would look like anemones on the sea bed, and a reedy Chondropetalum tectorum, could play the role of kelp, moving in the breeze.
4. Use perch tillandsia (air plants) on a tree branch with rosettes firmly attached to tails of Spanish moss (another type of tillandsia) that are draped over the branch so they move in the breeze.
5. Mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria), which is normally a houseplant, can be grown outdoors where winters are mild. It can be used to beautifully fill narrow borders.
6. Picture the cool glamour of blue fescue and silver puya as they shimmer in a sunny border. Use companions like Phormium ‘Amazing Red’ and thread-leaf Nandina domestica filamentosa with a brushed stainless steel screen behind to add additional glamour.
