Food Forest Design
This food forest design project began in 2018.
I suggested to the client that we formalize her fruit tree planting and turn the site into a food forest with rows of fruit trees and nitrogen fixing support species, including mixed planting of flowering, medicinal, annual and perrenial edibles.
The main concern for the site was the lack of soil fertility. The existing fruit trees had been planted a while ago, with slow growth rate.
We created 4 rows of beds, clearing the grass in the beds, and planting additional fruit trees, then ammending the top of the soil with compost and kraal manure then covering with a thick layer of woodchips from cleared alien vegetation.
The removed grass from the beds was left in the pathways to dry and then added on top of the woodchip layer.
Indigenous Waterwise Pathway
This brief came about as a challenge to formalise the existing front garden entrance.
The client gave me the freedom to come up with a design that would best utilize the space, considering the need to plant during extensive water shortage.
We started by demarcating a basic curved pathway following the existing plant layout. Originally the pathway was meant to be narrow and I saw an opportunity to create a wider more subtle design with an edge planting of succulents and indigenous plants.
We sourced rocks from a local dump site and laid light crushed stone on the path to complement the white walls of the house and interior.
The final design ended up being a waterwise, rock and succulent garden, adding a whimsical entrance to the property.
Kidbrook Estate Lawn
This project was a collaboration with a local landscaping company. I was hired as a project manager, overseeing the implementation of the planting of lawn.
We started by grading the site, arduously moving cubic meters of sand allowing for a gentle gradient down hill.
We added a generous amount of compost to the sand before laying over the grass and using a heavy roller to make sure the grass roots had good contact with the soil layer.
We had to make sure the grass was watered regularly during the next few days to make sure it survived transplanting allowing the roots to grow into the topsoil.