Giving life to 2021’s trends Trends Article

Posted on: March 10th, 2021 by Shahnee Stockigt No Comments

When life gives us manure, gardeners make compost! As such, Life is a Garden would like to invite all green fingers to welcome 2021 as The Great Reset – a time to reconnect with our home space, a chance to grow food and deepen our connection with nature, an opportunity to shape remote working environments, and the ideal excuse to expand outdoor entertainment areas. Here are the top trends for the year to inspire you and help support adjusted lifestyles at home. Let Mother Nature work her magic to lift those spirits and make every space a place for life to shine!

Trendy colours that celebrate life

The Pantone colour of the year is grey and yellow: grey representing fortitude and yellow symbolising happiness. Together, these colours send a message of positivity, supported by a solid foundation (grey) upon which to build joy (yellow). Cultivate resilience and hope by planting these beauties below:

Sun in your pocket

Yellow canna lily: full sun in beds or containers, bold and bright, frost-sensitive.
Alstromeria (Inca lily): full sun or semi-shade, good cut-flowers, needs winter munching.
Anigozanthos bush bonanza: full sun or semi-shade with bright, golden-yellow flowers.
Marigolds: full sun or semi-shade, drought-tolerant, attracts butterflies, repels pests.
Sundial yellow portulaca: full sun annual, fine-textured foliage, low ground-hugger.
Yellow capsicum: a full sun veggie, sprout seeds indoors in spring.
Cape honeysuckle: full sun or semi-shade, attractive ornamental shrub, good for hedges.
Snapdragons: full sun for beds or containers, gorgeous horizontally-growing blooms.

Grey for greatness

Senecio cineraria, or silver dust: create contrast with this fine, low-growing sub-shrub.
Senecio Angel Wings: robust in size with an angelic silver/grey sheen, an absolute stunner!
Dichondra silverfalls: drought, frost, and salt-hardy for full sun spots in beds and pots.
Lamium: grow best in partial/full shade to avoid scorching the leaves of these pretties.
Lavender varieties with grey foliage, Petunias with silver flowers, as well as succulents from the Echeveria family with interesting thick-leaved rosettes.
Salvia lanceolata: hardy and water-wise, this grey-green aromatic shrub is for full sun spots.

*Pantone planting tip: We’ve given gardeners some of the top yellow and grey plant picks for the year. Take our suggestions with you the next time you visit your GCA Garden Centre and inquire about seasonal planting and sowing. Your GCA expert will be able to recommend which beauties can be planted now and help you plan ahead for your Pantone paradise.

Uplifting utopias in small spaces

Balcony, patio, and container gardening allows everyone to become part of the eco-tribe, regardless of space limitations. You can always go vertical or experiment with hanging baskets too. Include these lovelies to your small-space haven for a gorgeous breath of fresh air and tranquil vibes:

Easy indoor elegance

Peperomia: a favourite ornamental foliage with intriguing, fleshy leaves, easy to care for.
Philodendron: available in vining and non-climbing varieties with large, glossy foliage.
Spider plant: produce a rosette of long, thin, arched foliage, good for baskets and texture.
Fiddle-leaf fig: has a tropical feel with eye-catching, large-veined, violin-shaped leaves.

Ideal outdoor delights

Zinnia marylandica: a drought-tolerant, full sun hybrid for beds, borders, or containers.
Impatiens: for shady areas, a brightly-bloomed annual available in many colour varieties.
Pansies & Violas: super cool-season contenders for colour in semi-shade or full sun areas.
Begonias: stunning foliage and lovely blooms for pots, baskets, and beds with gentle sun/semi-shade.

The collector’s dream

Senecio Angel Wings: salt and drought-tolerant with incredible silver/grey foliage.
Novelty Petunias: decorate with Circus Sky, Amore Heart, Hippy Chick, and more!
Carnivorous plants: Sundew, Venus flytrap, the American trumpet pitcher, and the Tropical pitcher plant are simply fascinating plants to collect and admire.

Plant-tertaining for precious pollinators

Welcoming nature’s handy helpers is simple and magnificently rewarding! Get your veggies pumping, your flowers flourishing, seeds spreading, and most importantly, help sustain the precious eco-system in your garden. Attract bees, butterflies, dragonflies, birds, and eco-barometers like frogs and lizards by planting these:

· Salvia

· Borage

· Lavender

· Sunflowers

· Pentas

· Echinacea

· Marigold

· Antirrhinum (Snapdragons)

*Pollinator tip: Remember to provide a fresh water source for your all your visitors with a way in and out to avoid any casualties. Consult your handy GCA Garden Centre advisor to see which plants can be sown and planted according to season.

Have your permaculture and eat it

Homegrown goodness is all the rage and with deliciously good reason too! South Africans are rediscovering the pleasure of growing food and harvesting the fruits (and veg, and herbs) of their labour. Any open space is an opportunity to unleash your inner permaculturist and start a #victorygarden, which benefits not only your own family but also the community around you. Sharing your harvest with a hungry tummy is awesome!

Cool-season crispy crops

Spinach and leafy greens, thyme, spring onions, garlic, peas, cauliflower, cabbage, and microgreens.

Scrumptious summer harvest

Tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, watermelon, cucumber, peppers, berries, squash, basil, and sage.

*Grower’s reminder: Make sure to plant and sow according to your province and season. Your GCA Garden Centre is loaded with seed packets, seedling trays, fruit trees, herbs, compost, and more!

Tiny plants for desk delights

Tiny plants are the sweetest little solutions to green-up your workspace and help soothe the working mind. They are fast-growing and will still look lovely as they get bigger. Baby greens are also a great choice for beginner gardeners who are still learning the tricks of the green trade. Keep your babies in small pots to limit their growth or replant them outdoors later.
The polka dot plant(Hypoestes phyllostachya): brightly spotted leaves in shades of pink, purple, white, red, and other hybrid colours.
Calandiva, or flowering kalanchoe: profuse long-flowering blooms available in many colours.
Fittonia: perfect for indoor décor with striking contrasting veins running through the leaves.
Succulents from the Sempervivum family are fab no-fuss plants, and they produce offsets.
Microgreens: super cute seedlings of edible plants and you can snack on them too!
Mini tomatoes and pot peppers are must-haves to add to your tiny edible collection.

Why your veggies need friends Companion Plants

Posted on: February 16th, 2021 by Shahnee Stockigt No Comments

Companion planting means growing certain plants close together for their mutually beneficial effects, such as pest protection or growth enhancement. Bedding besties allow you to have your cake AND eat it – your desired harvest flourishing gogo-free and eco-friendly with little other effort required from you. Mother Nature is clever like that – she knows what’s up. Here’s what to plant and reasons why your veggie needs a bestie. Life is a Garden, let’s optimise yours!

Reinventing the veggie patch

We often think of a veggie garden as produce sown in neat rows, exposed soil, and clear of any other plants not on the menu. Well, it might just be the time to revise this idea. There is so much to benefit from including other herbs and flowers to the veggie garden, which take care of pest control, weeds, water evaporation, poor soil conditions, composting, barren spaces and of course, pollination. Consider the idea of a starting a “mixed masala patch”, if you will, and let’s venture beyond the concept of a “vegetables-only” party.

Friends with benefits

Although we’re going for a “mixed masala patch”, it should be mentioned that not all plants like each other, and some can be pretty picky about who they bunk with. Your GCA Garden Centre guy will be able to advise you on the best buddy for your baby, but for now, here are some general friends of the veg with no-strings-attached benefits:

Natural pest controllers: Plants such as lavender (for fleas), basil (for flies), citronella grass and rosemary (for mozzies), as well as chrysanthemum (for spider mites), repel a variety of insects owing to their essential oil compounds and deterring scent. You can sporadically plant these in and around the veggie garden as long as they are in close range of the greens.
Essential pollinators: Your harvest needs the bees and they need us. Create a flower border around your veggie garden and bring in the friendly flyers to pollinate and spread seeds. Try marigolds, alyssum and cool-season vygies, as well as allowing all herbs to come to flower. Remember to include a freshwater source for our helpers with a way to get in and out too.

Soil structure activists: Champion companion plants also help improve poor soil conditions by adding lacking nutrients. Comfrey (Symphytum) roots break up heavy clay and create channels for aeration and better water absorption, while also releasing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium into the soil. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a valuable compost heap activator, while also stimulating the soil’s nutrient value as leaves fall off and decompose in the veggie patch (it also has pretty white flowers, yay!).

Beauty filters: Veggies on-the-grow are already such a lovely sight, as is each one of the above-mentioned budding besties. For super-charged gorgeousness + pollination benefits + insect repellent power, try cosmos, nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), sunflowers, and sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus). Make space for these beauties in preparation for spring/summer planting.

Autumn flings

As mentioned earlier, some plants are incompatible while others are the perfect match. We’re helping gardeners avoid any regrettable flings this autumn by equipping you with a swipe-right (good), swipe-left (bad) companion planting guide. Here is a list of greens to sow now to get you started on your bedding romances. Cool-season vegetable seedlings are also available at your GCA Garden Centre.

Carrots

Swipe right: Basil, chives, lettuce, onions, and peas.

Swipe left: Broccoli, cabbage, dill, fennel, and potatoes.

Swiss chard

Swipe right: Beetroot, beans, cabbage, celery, and green peppers.

Swipe left: Grapes, potatoes, and sage.

Beans

Swipe right: Beetroot, carrot, cauliflower, cucumber, and maize.

Swipe left: Dill, fennel, and all members of the onion family.

Celery

Swipe right: Beans, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, and tomatoes.

Swipe left: Nothing, this one’s easy.

Cabbage

Swipe right: Beetroot, celery, chives, dill, and onions.

Swipe left: Mustard plants, strawberries, tomatoes, and grapes.

With Mother Nature in your corner, a couple of flowers in your hair, and fragrant herbs by your side, companion planting is made simple and super effective. Avoid harsh chemicals and keep your garden’s eco-system flourishing and beneficial to the entire food chain. Reinventing the veggie patch is easy when you choose the best friends for your farming-fam goals. Remember, dear green fingers, Life is a Garden, so create yours with consideration.

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