The Working for Water programme – introduced through the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry – is a staunch fighter against alien invasive plants in South Africa.  It is estimated that around 10% of our country is covered with approximately 9000 species of alien invasive plants, which steal water, nutrients and sunlight from our native flora.

The Working for Water programme was initiated in 1995 and has since then cleared out more than a million hectares of alien invasive plants.  It works in conjunction with the Departments of Agriculture, Trade and Industry, and Environmental Affairs and Tourism, as well as, local governments and communities.  Around 20 000 people are trained and provided with jobs every year, due to the Working for Water programme.

This programme uses four methods of clearing and controlling areas which have been invaded by alien plants, namely mechanical (felling, burning and removing), chemical (environmentally safe herbicides), biological (species-specific diseases and insects), and integrated methods, which combines all of the above.

You can do your share of working for water in your own garden, by planting only indigenous gardens and by employing environmentally friendly measures in dealing with pests and diseases on your plants. 

A water wise garden consists of plants that do not require a lot of watering.  These plants are normally indigenous plants, which can survive on rainfall and do not need additional watering.  Succulents are also very water wise plants and look beautiful when planted in masses. 

Hard landscaping features, such as sculptures, trellises, wooden decking, cobble lines, stepping stones, cement screed blocks, feature walls, garden benches and other exterior décor will decorate your garden and requires no water.  Different textures will add dimension to the garden lay-out.

By reducing your lawn area, you will also save on water.  Mulching – layering bark chips, hay, pebbles or grass cuttings – will keep the soil around your plants moist for longer periods and therefore require less watering.

When you have a drip-irrigation system installed, you will also save water.  You can set your irrigation system to water the garden at certain times of the day, such as early morning, when the sun will not just evaporate all the water.

Even weeding regularly will make your garden water wise, as all these unnecessary plants also use a lot of water. 

By using organic fertilizers in your garden, you will be applying responsible measures to ensure that your plants are healthy and grow to their best potential.  You will also be contributing to the fight against soil and water table contamination. 

Organic fertilizers, for instance raise the nutrient content in your garden soil, which feeds your plants and assists the roots of your plants in getting optimal nutrition from the soil.  The three most important nutrients needed by your plants are phosphor, potassium and nitrogen.

Another advantage of using organic fertilizers is that it enhances your soil composition and improves water retention, which in turn does its part in combating drought.

By using organic pesticides in your garden, you will be applying responsible measures to ensure that garden animals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians will not suffer poisoning. You will also not harm your pets and you will be contributing to the prevention of soil and water table contamination. 

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.

Rock Roses (echeveria elegans), also known as Mexican Roses are perfect feature plants to decorate our unique Cubedec pots, manufactured by our in-house décor company, Badec Bros Deco. 

These plump, grey succulents are usually planted as ground covers, but contrast beautifully with the mild steel pots.  They are perennial and flourish both outdoors and indoors.  The leaves are grey to green in colour and overlap one another.  Mexican Roses have pink, yellow and red flowers during spring and autumn.

Pot – or container – gardening is a very low-maintenance way of creating a garden and is also ideal for small areas.  Another advantage to pot gardening is that you can bring the outdoors indoors.

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.

A Japanese garden is probably the most therapeutic garden.  With its evergreen plants, tranquil water features and elegant, flowing lines, the Japanese garden quickly eases your mood and relaxes your mind, soul and body.

Plants typically used in Japanese gardens consist of perennial plants.  This means that your garden will be green all year round and that you will not need to remove any plants every year.  Should you want to add splashes of colour to your Japanese garden, you can allocate a small area to seasonal colour.

Japanese gardens are timeless and will always be an attractive attribute to complement your home.  Small gardens or courtyards are also suitable for Japanese gardens. 

Hard landscaping features, such as oriental sculptures, stone lanterns, water features with an eastern theme, trellises, wooden decking, cobble lines, paths created with stepping stones, water basins, cement screed blocks, feature walls, garden benches and other exterior décor will decorate your garden and requires no water.  Different textures will add dimension to the garden lay-out.

Our in-house décor company, Badec Bros Deco, can manufacture any type of trendy exterior décor that your heart desires.  Badec Bros Wooden Decking, our in-house wooden decking company, is a highly professional and qualified company, fit to install your wooden decking in a variety of wood types with a range of stylish finishes.

Another typical Japanese garden feature is the shishi odoshi – which looks like a bamboo shaduf.  Water runs into one end of a horizontal bamboo rod (which is attached to two vertical bamboo rods) and eventually causes the horizontal bamboo to drop to the opposite side.  Once it has run empty it pivots back to its original position onto a flat stone, which emits a striking sound.  The cycle repeats continuously.  Traditionally this device was used to scare of browsing and grazing animals, to protect the plants in the garden.  Nowadays it is used to create a soothing rhythm in your garden.

Plants and trees in a Japanese garden are characteristically trimmed into neat shapes.  Beautifully manipulated bonsai can form stunning focal points in your Japanese gardens.

Ultimately, the garden design of a Japanese 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.

A water wise garden consists of plants that do not require a lot of watering.  These plants are normally indigenous plants, which can survive on rainfall and do not need additional watering.  Succulents are also very water wise plants and look beautiful when planted in masses. 

Hard landscaping features, such as sculptures, trellises, wooden decking, cobble lines, stepping stones, cement screed blocks, feature walls, garden benches and other exterior décor will decorate your garden and requires no water.  Different textures will add dimension to the garden lay-out.

By reducing your lawn area, you will also save on water.  Mulching – layering bark chips, hay, pebbles or grass cuttings – will keep the soil around your plants moist for longer periods and therefore require less watering.

When you have a drip-irrigation system installed, you will also save water.  You can set your irrigation system to water the garden at certain times of the day, such as early morning, when the sun will not just evaporate all the water.

Even weeding regularly will make your garden water wise, as all these unnecessary plants also use a lot of water. 

Our in-house décor company, Badec Bros Deco, can manufacture any type of trendy exterior décor that your heart desires.  Badec Bros Wooden Decking, our in-house wooden decking company, is a highly professional and qualified company, fit to install your wooden decking in a variety of wood types with a range of stylish finishes.

Ultimately, the garden design of a water wise 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.

Balinese garden design stems from the styles of the gardens of Bali, with a modern and Western twist.  Balinese gardens typically have a plethora of tropical plants, such as bamboo, palms, cycads, frangipani, hibiscus and other lush and flowering plants.

You can enhance the Balinese theme in your garden by incorporating Eastern décor pieces, such as Balinese lanterns, statues, decorative pots, trellises, thatched pergolas and relaxing water features.

Exterior lighting can be used to highlight focal points in the garden at night and to encourage nocturnal entertaining.

You can have a pergola constructed in your garden and thatch it in a shaggy style, to blend it in with the Balinese theme.  A pergola such as this, will not only look beautiful and inviting, but will also provide you with additional entertainment or relaxation space.

Umbul umbuls (lengthy, tapered banners) can also be brought into the overall garden design.  Vibrant coloured umbul umbuls will bring a splash of colour to your exterior living space and can be used as focal points.

By adding a water feature, such as a pond or a fountain, to your garden, you will augment the Balinese theme and have a relaxation factory in your garden.  Water is a very soothing and life giving medium, which makes it a great de-stresser. 

Bamboo trellises or screens can also be added to your garden to act as focal points and to disguise any unsightly aspects around the house, such as air conditioning units and garbage disposal areas.

The landscaping experts at Kingfisher Landscaping is fully able to design and implement exceptional and beautiful Balinese gardens in a professional manner.    

Our sister companies, Badec Bros Deco, Badec Bros Wooden Decking and Badec Bros Mosaic make it possible for the Badec Bros brand to offer a comprehensive service to our clients. We can install a wooden deck for you, to enlarge your entertainment areas.  We can provide your garden with trend-setting décor and can create evocative mosaics to decorate your home and garden.

You can have your entire exterior area created by the Badec Bros team, because 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.

Another range of innovative décor products, manufactured by the creative experts of our sister company, Badec Bros Deco are striking wooden feature poles for your garden.  We can manufacture your very own chic wooden feature poles in varying heights and widths, and varnish them in a wide variety of colours.  To decorate these poles, we can clad them with steel sheets on strategic spots. These exclusive décor pieces are ideal to add interest to any area in your garden.    

Should you wish to have your very own signature Badec Bros Deco wooden feature poles, steel laser-cut signage, bar code trellis, Cubedec pots, Cubedec water feature, pergola, arch, landscaping sculptures, gabion walls, or trellis, please feel free to contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas!  You dream it, we manufacture it!

Another range of innovative steel landscaping décor products, manufactured by the creative experts of our sister company, Badec Bros Deco are eye-catching steel feature poles.  We can manufacture your very own chic steel feature poles from mild steel and finish it in a mild-steel finish, a rusted effect or with a powder coating finish in various bright colours.  We normally manufacture square-shaped poles and can produce them in varying heights.  To decorate these poles, we can clad the poles with bright, glossy mosaic tiles in strategic spots.  These exclusive décor pieces are ideal to brighten up any area in your garden.    

Should you wish to have your very own signature Badec Bros Deco steel feature poles, steel laser-cut signage, bar code trellis, Cubedec pots, Cubedec water feature, pergola, arch, sculpture, gabion walls, or trellis, please feel free to contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas!  You dream it, we manufacture it!

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 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.