The Gardener Magazine

Congratulations! If you’re reading this then you and your garden have made it through 2022. Both of you may not be in tip-top shape but you made it. Floods, drought, unseasonal downpours of epic magnitudes and of course financial pressures and strain

Nurture your garden with Talborne Organics Nourish 5:1:4(10) Multi-Plant. It is a 100% plant-based balanced amino acid nitrogen and potassium liquid fertiliser rich in sugars, providing energy to stimulate new plant growth. Apply Nourish Multi-Plant

Valued at R2900 Subscribe or renew from 19 December 2022 to 22 January 2023 and you will be entered into the competition to win the prize. The winner will be contacted by telephone or email after the draw on 23 January 2023. Only available to subscri

Botanical name: Ficus carica When eating a fresh fig just plucked off the tree you are eating a ‘false’ fruit as it is really a hollow-ended stem containing a mass of small flowers. The fig tree with its gnarled grey stems and deeply lobed, hairy lea

What can you do with your concrete balcony? Soften it with your favourite plants, create a theme and use natural materials or even water features to create a small haven of tranquil beauty. Apartment living, especially in South Africa’s urban centres

Planting in glass has become more popular in the last few years and it shows in the number of glass designs now available for planting. There is however a caution before even beginning to embrace this trend and that is because there are no drainage h

The saying that dynamite comes in small packages is so true when we look at dwarf varieties of old garden favourites: • Their growth forms are neat, compact and dense;• their foliage is intensely colourful or lushly textured;• their flowers are abund

Gardeners are so often hunched over and focused on the ground that they forget to see the potential of looking up. As gardening spaces get smaller, many are looking for ways to maximize their planting area without making their existing garden look cr

There are so many quintessentially South African things that unite people from every province – the smell of a braai on a Saturday afternoon, slang that no other country will understand, and a hatred of load shedding. Beginning in 2007, the introduct

The first thing to attend to before even thinking of planting anything is the soil. Improving the soil with well-decomposed organic material such as compost will improve its water-holding capacity drastically. Pick species with a good drought-toleran

It’s all about planting with purpose, using space creatively and choosing the most productive, space intensive veggies and herbs. It’s also about putting together a community of plants that support each other’s growth, or provide shade, attract polli

Bougainvilleas are thorny, ornamental vines or rambling shrubs native to eastern South America. Many hybrids exist and the natural robustness of the parent species have been tamed a bit without them lacking their traditional vibrant colour. The wonde

The first documented record of these green predators, dates back to 1658. There are over 160 known species and several are still being discovered. Sir David Attenborough is a keen enthusiast of this genus and has one named after himself – Nepenthes a

The answer is simple. This series bred in the hothouses of the Hendriks family in the Netherlands, has a compact and bushy growth habit, starts blooming two weeks earlier than other fuchsias and the abundant and delicate flowers are not hidden away i

Always use a good potting soil when planting in a container. For these plants that all require well-draining soil, you can add a few handfuls of drainage material like vermiculite or perlite to the mix. Add a handful of slow-release organic fertilise

They have godly names honoring Greek mythology and are compact and bushy plants (mostly 2m x 1,5m) with lush and healthy foliage with a seemingly unending flowering season. One vividly-coloured bloom mostly with a contrasting, darker eye zone or thro

Before we introduce the new ‘diamonds’, let’s recap the features of Euphorbia hypericifolia ‘Diamond Frost’. Firstly, it’s a very low maintenance plant that features pretty pure white bracts all year round. Then it adds an ethereal texture to a flowe

What’s to like: green beans are tasty but never overpower a dish, which means they fit into any dish, from salads to soups and slow cooked dishes. They are incredibly versatile as a veggie side dish, tossed in delicious sauces or simply drizzled with

It is sometimes difficult to identify what pests are causing damage to your plants and more often it’s the damage that is more identifiable than the actual insect. There is a way to monitor pests like the sucking insect types (thrips, aphids, leaf mi

This wagon looks tricky, but is anything but – it’s a simple box on wheels, with a handle and front wheels that turn. Don’t be intimidated – give it a whirl, and then seal it in two colour tones with Woodoc 30. Pine cutting list: 1 x 455mm x 600mm x

This leafy, zesty flavoured herb (also known as cilantro or dhania) is particularly easy to grow from seed. It does best in cooler weather which means that sowing in January will yield harvestable leaves from March onwards. Towards the end of autumn,