The Kingfisher Landscaping specialists created yet another striking indigenous garden, which flawlessly harmonizes with the pastoral theme of this contemporary farmstead.

 To enhance the eye-catching entrance to this charming home, we had our in-house steel décor factory, Badec Bros Deco, manufacture steel gabion columns, which we planted with syzigium trees.  Yellow abelias were planted around the columns to break the rigid aspect of the steel and the rock wall.  These plants will grow into a lush border.

The trough-like water feature makes one expect the resident cows on this exclusive estate to arrive for a drink of water at any moment.  Clean lines and layers were incorporated into the entire garden, to fuse with the style of the architecture.  Once again Kingfisher planted abelias in the bed against the boundary wall to fill out the bed with leafy splendour.  Syzigium multi-pops were used as feature plants.  Sizeable celtis africana and olea africana trees were planted to add height and a sense of establishment to the bottom of the garden, which overlooks a verdant maize field.

Badec Bros Deco produced curving steel arches for the area leading to the main garden.  Kingfisher built the brick columns into which the arches were fixed and planted jasmine creepers, which will transform these exposed bows into a blossoming passage fit for a fairy tale.  To add texture to this area, the Kingfisher Landscaping professionals planted a row of viburnums against the walls, with a row of abelias in front.  These two species of plants will grow into dense hedges and can be trimmed to one’s liking.  Stepping stones, interlinked with dwarf mondo grass, make for intricate ground cover.

Kingfisher Landscaping provides outstanding workmanship and expert implementation of landscaping design, irrigation, water feature design and wooden decking installation, as well as, garden illumination, trendy exterior steel dècor and striking mosaic and Koi ponds.

The landscaping experts at Kingfisher Landscaping design and implement exceptional and beautiful gardens in a professional manner and can provide the home owner with any exterior decorative feature.  We pride ourselves in providing our clients with excellent, efficient and comprehensive service.  We offer all the products and services associated with creating a peaceful, and aesthetically pleasing outdoor living space which will complement the style of your home and in which you can relax.

By planting herbs, shrubs, creepers and trees in your garden that exude heady aromas – by means of essential oils – you will enhance the dimensionality of your garden.  Perfumed plants emanate aroma via their flowers, leaves, wood, bark or fruit.

Shrubs, such as lavenders, abelias, buddleias, azaleas and gardenias are perfect fragrant plants to incorporate into your overall garden layout. 

Fragrant creepers include star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum) and most other jasmine species, Rosa species, such as rambling roses, Wisteria species, and Chilean jasmine (mandevilla laxa).

The indigenous white gardenia (gardenia thunbergia) and September bells (rothmannia globosa) are perfect fragranced garden plants to add to your garden.

Indigenous trees, which radiate heady scents, include the monkey thorn (acacia galpinii), camel thorn (acacia erioloba), fever tree (acacia xanthoploea) and the sweet thorn (acacia karroo).

Most scented plants prefer direct sun in hot and dry weather, with good drainage.

Just keep in mind that you should try your utmost to select indigenous plants, and that you need to consider the toxicity of plants, if you have children or pets.

The landscaping experts at Kingfisher Landscaping design and implement exceptional and beautiful gardens in a professional manner and can provide the home owner with any exterior decorative feature.  We pride ourselves in providing our clients with excellent, efficient and comprehensive service.  We offer all the products and services associated with creating a peaceful, and aesthetically pleasing outdoor living space which will complement the style of your home and in which you can relax.

You should carefully consider the selection of plants for your garden, in order to ensure that you do not plant invasive alien plants. These are plants that are not indigenous to South Africa. They tend to grow faster than our indigenous plants and can easily take over. They also take up precious water, nutrients and light which is more needed by our native plants.

Many of us have invasive exotic plants in our gardens, such as lantana, pipe grass, cat’s claw creepers, privets (ligustrum robustum privet), water hyacinths and wattle, jacaranda, pine and seringa trees. Rather opt for indigenous plants in your garden.

Indigenous gardens are not only less expensive, water wise, hardy and proudly South African, but also very versatile. You have thousands of indigenous plants to choose from, which means you can design your garden in a variety of styles, ranging from tropical to bushveld. Another advantage to indigenous gardens is that you will attract birds, insects and animals to your garden; creating your very own ecosystem in your backyard. You will also be contributing to the preservation of our indigenous plants.

Typical indigenous plants that we use include tree aloes, cape aloes, marlothii aloes, honey suckle, clivias, agapanthus, arum lilies, bulbines, wild garlic, acacia trees, olive trees, white stinkwood trees, and indigenous grasses, such as three awn grasses, thatching grass, buffalo grass, broad-leaved turpentine grass, bristle grass, Natal red top grass, red grass and fountain grass.

The landscaping experts at Kingfisher Landscaping design and implement exceptional and beautiful gardens in a professional manner and can provide the home owner with any exterior decorative feature. We pride ourselves in providing our clients with excellent, efficient and comprehensive service. We offer all the products and services associated with creating a peaceful, and aesthetically pleasing outdoor living space which will complement the style of your home and in which you can relax.

Pets and gardening do not always go hand-in-hand.  Some believe it impossible to harmonize your dogs or cats and your garden, and that you have to choose between having a pet and having a garden.  This is not necessarily true.  It is very possible to synchronize the two.

When you have your garden lay-out designed, keep your pets in mind.  For instance; ensure that you have high enough walls or fencing – with no large gaps – around your property to prevent your dog from pulling a Houdini on you.  Dogs love patrolling the perimeter of their territory – your garden – so make sure that you do not plant sensitive or valuable plants along the borders of your garden.  You can either lay down a strip of paving, gravel, pebbles or stepping stones or you can plant a topiary top-hedge to soften the wall, which will be out of reach of padding paws.  You can also plant creepers against your wall, which will give you more privacy and soften your borders.

A chief reason for dogs digging up a garden is boredom.  Make sure your dogs get plenty of stimulating exercise and that they have a wide selection of toys around the garden to keep them occupied.

When you lay out and plant your flower beds, you can either construct raised flower beds, or create borders around your beds, using decorative wooden fencing, which will dissuade your pets from having a romp among the roses…You can also lay down a layer of hard mulch, to discourage your pets from exploring the plant beds, depending on the type of plants you plant in your flower beds.  Hard mulch includes gravel and chunky quartzite rock, which is also decorative.

You can guarantee your pets’ health and happiness by planting non-toxic plants; using organic pest repellent and creating areas where they will have access to both sunny and shady spots.  Try to leave as much space as possible for them to run around in, without risking getting up to mischief.

 When you plant delicate seedlings, you need to be extra careful about getting them demolished by exploring dog paws.  You can either demarcate the area for a while, until the seedlings have had a running start, or you can apply a very effective home remedy…

This remedy consists of dry flour, mustard powder and cayenne pepper.  All you need to do is add equal parts of these three ingredients together and sifting the deterrent around your seedlings.  You will need to re-apply your concoction after you have had rain or very windy weather.

Finally, you should also keep in mind the type of lawn you have planted in your garden.  Some dogs are allergic to kikuyu lawn.  Evergreen lawn might yellow in spots where your female dog urinates.  In our opinion, LM lawn would be your best bet.

If you do not really want or need your dog in a specific part of your garden, you can create a partition, using a fence or even a decorative gabion wall to keep your moggies out.  Then you will be able to create a delicate garden, without having to worry about your canines causing havoc among the daisies…

The landscaping experts at Kingfisher Landscaping design and implement exceptional and beautiful gardens in a professional manner and can provide the home owner with any exterior decorative feature.  We pride ourselves in providing our clients with excellent, efficient and comprehensive service.  We offer all the products and services associated with creating a peaceful, and aesthetically pleasing outdoor living space which will complement the style of your home and in which you can relax.

An informal garden can be defined as “organized chaos”.  These gardens are inclined to be much more natural and don’t follow rigid design lines.  Plant lines and borders are more natural and fluid.  Nature is pretty much left to take its course.

Plants typically used in an informal garden include a variety of trees, shrubs, creepers, perennial plants, ground covers, decorative grasses, et cetera.  These are planted en masse. 

Hard landscaping features suitable for an informal garden include understated water features, ponds, pathways, garden benches, sculptures, pots, pergolas and trellises.

Our in-house exterior décor company, Badec Bros Deco can design and manufacture a wide selection of trendy décor pieces for your garden; ranging from stylish pots, water features, sculptures, customized garden gates, trellises, pergolas, sculptures and the like.

Ultimately, the garden design of an informal garden should harmonize with the architectural style of the home and with the tastes of the home owner.

The landscaping experts at Kingfisher Landscaping design and implement exceptional and beautiful gardens in a professional manner.  We pride ourselves in providing our clients with excellent, efficient and comprehensive service.  We offer all the products and services associated with creating a peaceful, and aesthetically pleasing outdoor living space which will complement the style of your home and in which you can relax.

Should you want plants, which will infuse your garden with sweet scents, Kingfisher Landscaping can incorporate flowering creepers into your landscaping design.  Fragrant creepers are ideal to plant in your garden, where you would like to decorate arches or trellises, cover a drab wall, screen an unpleasant view, or grow natural shade over a pergola.

Fragrant creepers include star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum) and most other jasmine species, Rosa species, such as rambling roses, Wisteria species, and Chilean jasmine (mandevilla laxa).

Should you want plants in your garden, which are green throughout the year, Kingfisher Landscaping can incorporate evergreen plants into your landscaping design.  Evergreen creepers are ideal to plant in your garden, where you would like to cover a drab wall, screen an unpleasant view, grow natural shade over a pergola, or decorate arches.

Evergreen creepers include paper flower bougainvillea (bougainvillea glabra), star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum) and most other jasmine species, Cape honeysuckle (tecomaria capensis), Cape leadwort (plumbago capensis), plumbago (plumbago europaea), ivy (hedera) species and the tickey creeper (ficus pumila).

Should you want an instant garden, without paying an arm and a leg, Kingfisher Landscaping can incorporate fast growing plants into your landscaping design.  Fast-growing creepers are ideal to plant in your garden, where you would like to cover a drab wall, grow shade over a pergola, or decorate arches.

Fast-growing creepers include paper flower bougainvillea (bougainvillea glabra), star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum), passion flower (passiflora incarnate), and Rosa species, such as rambling roses.

The inclusion of creeping plants in a landscaping design has many advantages.  Creepers can be used to soften walls; to cover ugly spots; to break the dullness of a long wall; to screen unpleasant views and; to decorate your garden.  They can provide shade, if you plant them to creep over pergolas or arches.  Some creepers, such as star jasmine (jasminum multiflorum) and Cape honeysuckle (tecoma capensis) infuse your garden with the lovely scents distributed by their pretty flowers.  They also attract birds and insects.

Creepers do not need a lot of space to grow in.  You can even plant them in pots!  This makes them ideal for small gardens.  These plants need occasional pruning and adequate water.  Most climbers need to be cut back after they have bloomed.

There are different types of growth habits for different types of creepers.  Ivy (hedera) species and the tickey creeper (ficus pumila) have air roots and climb by means of auxiliary tendrils and roots, as well as suckers. 

Wisterias and honeysuckle, on the other hand, need to be trained to curl themselves around supporting structures, such as trellises or pergolas.  They are strong growers and need to be pruned often in order to avoid neighbouring plants from being smothered.

Natural climbers, such as plumbago (plumbago europaea) and rambling roses, naturally form thickets and can, therefore be trained to climb.  Other creepers, such as the passion flower (passiflora incarnate) have their own tendrils, but will need the right support to climb successfully.