Shahnee Stockigt, Author at Life is a Garden

Periwinkles (Vinca ‘Pacifica Mix’)

Periwinkles are an easy-to-grow and low maintenance plant, making it a garden favourite! The pacifica variety produces an abundance of large durable flowers. These blooms come on earlier than most other varieties.

This compact and bushy shrub grows 30cm – 40cm in height. This very floriferous and well-branched plant shows off bright flowers with an overlapping, fully rounded form that won’t show gaps in hot temperatures. Vinca do not need deadheading or pinching to maintain their bloom and form.

Outstanding in hot, dry and sunny conditions but will also tolerate cool, wet growing conditions. As a drought tolerant, heat-loving plant, it is always the right choice for any garden bed or landscape planting.

Show off these magnificent bursts of colour in a full sun location in garden beds, containers, landscapes or rock gardens.

Limpopo Stockists:

Mpumalanga Stockists:

Garden Pavilion – White River

North West Stockists:

Western Cape Stockists:

Cape Garden – Joostenbergvlakte
Cape Garden – Somerset West
Cape Garden – Stellenbosch
Starke Ayres Garden Centre – Rosebank
Starke Ayres Garden Centre – West Coast Village
Stodels – Bellville
Stodels – Constantia
Stodels – Kenilworth
Builders Express – Knysna
Stodels – Milnerton
Stodels – Somerset West
Builders Express – Kenilworth
Builders Express – Stellenbosch
Builders Express – Willowbridge
Builders Warehouse – Cape Gate
Builders Warehouse – City
Builders Warehouse – Constantiaberg
Builders Warehouse – George
Builders Warehouse – Helderberg
Builders Warehouse – Table View
Builders Warehouse – Tygerberg

**Please note that not all stockists will have every plant featured**

January in the Garden

The new year has arrived with a bang! There are 365 days ahead to grow something, which makes every day a gardening day!

Flex your gardening muscles

Giving yourself a good workout in the privacy of your own backyard is much nicer than going to a gym and you don’t have to force your ‘love handles’ into unbecoming lycra!

While you are getting fitter and trimmer with pruning, weeding, composting, raking, digging, planting and mowing, your garden will reward your time and spent perspiration with lush growth and great harvests of flowers and edibles. Another advantage is that garden gym, which means spending time outside in the sunshine and fresh air, has a positive influence on your psychological health as well – it relieves stress and helps with depression. Regular hours spent in the garden will work out the muscles in your legs, back, stomach and will also give you a healthy cardiovascular buzz while the calories slowly melt away.

Before starting your garden gym session, warm up those cold muscles by stretching a bit – it gives you time to decide what you are going to tackle first. Vary your garden workout with different actions like pruning, raking, mowing, digging and weeding, and spend about 15 minutes on each activity to work out different muscles. Do some stretching and releasing exercises before moving on to the next action. If you stick to this regime regularly, everything which needs to be done in the garden will be done, and you will become trim and fit!

Plant smart… “Verdure” smart!

Be on trend with one of the Pantone colour group for 2018 called “verdure”. Complementing shades in this group include “celery green”, “berry-infused purple” and “egg shell blue”. It is said that these colours are “symbolic of health”.

Another gardening trend is to plant veggies in between flowers in garden beds and containers, flying the old fashioned idea of traditional vegetable gardens hidden away in an unseen corner of the garden.

What to do about lawn caterpillar in your garden

Symptoms

Our “gogga” of the month for January is the lawn caterpillar which often leaves patches of brown or dead lawn

What does this mean for me/my plants?

These caterpillars work mainly at night, and eat the roots of the grass, eventually resulting in large patches of dead lawn

Suggested Action

To check for lawn catepillar: Place a wet towel on lawn overnight and check in the morning – they will stick to the unsderside of the towel. Spray when infestation is noted. Use a general insecticide registered for lawn caterpillar. Visit your local GCA garden centre for advice on the best solution for you!

A1 Balcony Gardening Poster: Basil

A1 poster for the balcony gardening plant for January 2018

Preview

A1 Water Wise Poster (Klipvygies – Delosperma) – With Rand Water System

A1 Water Wise Poster on Klipvygies (Delosperma), with the Rand Water/drop-system

Please note: The lines shown in the image below will not appear in printing

Preview

A1 Water Wise Poster (Klipvygies – Delosperma) – Without Rand Water System

A1 Water Wise Poster on Klipvygies (Delosperma), without the Rand Water/drop-system

Please note: The lines shown in the image below will not appear in printing

Preview

A1 Water Wise Poster (Klipvygies – Delosperma), with the Cape Water/drop-system

A1 Water Wise Poster on Klipvygies (Delosperma), with the Cape Water/drop-system

Please note: The lines shown in the image below will not appear in printing

Preview

Holiday activity: Make a beautiful upcycled chair planter!

With the holidays stretching out before us, it is definitely time to get those little hands busy, and what better way to keep busy, than to make something out of nothing, that everyone will enjoy. A chair planter is a creative and easy-to-make decoration that can liven up any patio or quiet corner. It doesn’t require much in terms of tools, and the task is straightforward.

Why renew, reuse, recycle?

By upcycling an old chair, we are adding value to the garden, creating a beautiful gift, or simply keeping busy. At the same time, it prevents an old chair going to waste. Keeping our landfill sites as empty as possible is extremely important for our natural environment and for the wildlife in those areas. We can minimise the amount of rubbish that goes to a landfill site by renewing, reusing and recycling as much as possible at home. That is why we are going to take an old chair and create something fresh, new, and beautiful.

You will need

An old, unused chair. The best chair to use would be a wooden one, but the most important chair to use is one that is not being used already. If your chair is slightly weathered and damaged, it’s absolutely perfect!
A hanging basket with the hooks and chains removed. You can use a wire basket from your local GCA, or find an old one at home. For this project, rustic items will work perfectly.
Flowering plants. It is a good idea to plan ahead and decide whether your chair planter will be placed outside, inside, in sun or shade. That will help you to choose flowers that will happily live in those conditions. Begonia boliviensis is a great plant to put into your hanging baskets, so is the classic and cute Petunia plant, or New Guinea Impatiens which we used.

Basil on the Balcony

Basil is one of the most versatile herbs, with different varieties that each offer unique properties and uses. Not only is Basil a useful herb, but it is beautiful too. Some varieties have broad leaves, while others have petite leaves. Add this incredible herb to your balcony garden for a fresh, lush look, or grow it as a handy, ready-to-reach-for, addition to your cooking. Here are a few species that are easy to grow and offer an incredible range of different textures and scents.

Aristotle Basil

This species of basil offers a great number of uses, first and foremost in the kitchen. It gives a delightful flavour to fresh salads, Greek and Italian cooking, while the small leaves make it an attractive and aromatic plant for the balcony. It is a dense, compact bush that grows to around 25cm in height. You can grow it in its own planter, or add it to mixed planters.

You can harvest leaves fairly regularly provided you do it in a balanced method. Try to pick leaves in such a way that it is not noticeable. Give them lots of light, shelter from the wind, and they will reward you with a nutritious addition to recipes, being jam-packed with vitamin K, vitamin A, copper, iron, and manganese.

This beautiful purple variety of basil is a great ornamental plant. Their leaves are larger, around 2-3cm at full size, with variegated green elements. These aromatic leaves are also fantastic in pasta, stews, and vegetable dishes. Companion them with cherry tomatoes on your balcony for a power team, because they naturally repel tomato hornworms, aphids, and mites.

They enjoy a sterile soil that is kept moist, especially for the first 2 or 3 weeks if you are growing them from seed, to facilitate their germination process. They like small pots in sunny places with rich, well-drained soil.

Water Wise Watch: December

This month at Water Wise

"Do you know where your water comes from?"
Lately, Water Wise has been working through the ideas and perceptions that people have regarding water. Do people understand how water is treated and processed before being transported to their homes? Do people know how much water they use, and how much water costs? Do people want to save water? Recent reports from Cape Town indicate that local users are not reducing their consumption enough and have failed to stick to the consumption targets set out by the municipality. Why is this? The region's dams are quickly running out of water and there will come a day when the reservoirs are completely dry. 'Day Zero' as this day has been dubbed, has only been avoided in the Cape as a result of the recent rains experienced throughout the country. Now is the time to think about water. What does it mean to you? Are you Water Wise?

Water Wise Tip of the Month:
Townhouses and cluster homes are springing up everywhere and have become an affordable and safe way of life. And with small homes come small gardens. However, just because you have a small yard doesn't mean you can no longer enjoy home-grown food. The edible garden is the deal concept for small spaces. Instead of planting lawn or flower beds, use the space in your yard to grow vegetables and herbs. Many vegetables and herbs are attractive and grow in a variety of shapes and colours. Try the decorative varieties of chives, kale, lettuce, spinach, and cauliflower to spruce up your townhouse garden! Plant your veggies in pots and containers, and don't forget to zone your plants to ensure that you save water and your plants receive the ideal amount of water to grow healthy and strong.

How to Garden With Your Kids Watch Here!

Watch Here!

Top Plants for January

A list of the top plants per region, for January, to order for your garden centre

Preview

Download here!

What to do about snails in your garden

Symptoms

Our “gogga” of the month for December is the snail, which usually bores holes in leaves of vegetables and roses

What does this mean for me/my plants?

Herbaceous, succulent and some vegetable seedlings may be totally damaged if left unchecked, due to snails laying eggs and/or eating the plants

Suggested Action

Apply a snail bait (liquid or granular) for snails and slugs – liquid snail bait is safer and more effective. Visit your local GCA garden centre for advice on the best solution for you!