The coastal garden that Alan Dawson Gardens started landscaping on December 11 is nearly complete. All that remains to be done is the planting up of some pots once the sandstone paving has been sealed.

The last area that was planted up was the bottom wild garden. We planted big groupings of Metalasia muricata (blombos), Chrysanthemoides monilifera (bietou), Rhus crenata (dune crowberry), Felicia amelloides (blue river daisy), Cineraria saxifraga, Salvia africana lutea (beach salvia), Agapanthus afri-cana, Plectranthus neochilus (lobster claw), Tecomaria capensis (Cape honeysuckle) and various pelargoniums and gazanias.

We had to construct a boardwalk pathway to the water pumps at the bottom of the property. This was done using gum poles and reeds.

The final mulching has been done and the garden is looking fantastic. It has been a wonderful landscaping project and a nice challenge. There have been difficulties but, with a bit of lateral thinking, obstacles have been overcome. We have completed the garden on time.

It has been great working on a project where the other contractors have all been professional and respectful of each other’s work. The site has been run very professionally.

The client has been fantastic and has given us leeway in terms of plant selection and placement and the landscaping of the wild garden. We trust that we have met all the requirements.

In all we have installed 49 dry- packed rock stairs, 70 sleeper steps and 415m2 of dry-packed rock walls; 420m of gum poles have been used for retaining; we have planted 60 trees, 4 100 shrubs, groundcovers and climb-ers; used 65m3 of topsoil and compost mix; 55m3 of compost; 300kg of fertiliser; and 5m3 of bark mulch. We have been on site for 61 days, using 513 man days.

We have signed a maintenance contract for the garden, so will be looking after it on a fortnightly basis for the first year.

It has been fantastic seeing the progress and transformation.

In due course, we will keep you updated as to how the garden is progressing.

source :www.capetimes.co.za