Having your own veggie garden is extremely rewarding.  Not only do you have fresh veggies on hand, but you will also find the entire process relaxing and rewarding. 

The first step to take when toying with the idea of starting your own veggie garden is to plan your garden.  Where will you lay it out?  How big do you want it to be?  Which veggies do you want to grow? You need to do your research!

You should draw up a design for your veggie garden layout; preferably to scale.  When deciding on where to situate your veggie garden you should consider an area that receives 5 to 8 hours of direct sunlight and which is protected from frost and wind.  The soil should be fertile and have proper draining.  Furthermore, your veggie garden should be close to your home, for easy access, and it should be close to a water source, such as a tap or even an irrigation system.

Your veggie garden beds should be accessible from all sides, so it is advisable to plant in beds measuring 2 meters in length and 1 meter in width.

Finally, you should carefully select the types of veggies you would like to plant.  For a beginner, these veggies should be hardy and resistant to pests and diseases.  Therefore, it would be wise initially not to plant veggies such as peppers (capsicums), eggfruit, potatoes and tomatoes.  A safer choice would be radishes, spinach, beans, peas and beetroot. 

Make sure you research each species properly, so that you will know when to sow or plant, when to harvest, and the like.

When planting your vegetable plants, you should water them thoroughly while they are still in their nursery trays to ensure that the roots are entirely wet.  You should also gently loosen the roots to ensure optimum growth potential.  Another helpful tip is to our a little bone meal into the holes, before planting your veggies. 

Veggie gardens are not just functional, but can be decorative too and form part of your over-all garden design and lay-out.  You can demarcate the various areas of your little veggie garden with stepping stones, cobble edging and strips of pebbles, gravel of quartzite rocks.  You can border the entire veggie garden with neatly trimmed hedges – such as a viburnum or buxus hedge – and you can construct a pergola over the area, which will still allow enough sunlight and rain water through.

Once you have planted your veggie seedlings or sown your seeds, you should water them properly during the first week or so.  After that time, you should only water them when the top layer of about 3cm’s of soil is dried out.

Applying a layer of mulch over your veggie beds, will retain moisture in the soil and protect your veggies against weeds, pests and the harsher elements.

If you want your veggie garden to produce optimally, you should mix organic fertilizer into the soil, once a month during summer.  During winter 2 or 3 times will suffice.

Pruning away dead leaves and flowers regularly will also ensure the most favourable growth for your veggies.

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.

Imagine popping out into your garden to pick a fresh sprig of rosemary, parsley or coriander, while preparing your family dinner…If you start growing a herb garden, this is possible.

By growing your own herb garden, you will ultimately save on your grocery bill and have a wide selection of your favourite fresh herbs on hand.

Firstly, you need to plan the lay-out of your herb garden.  Your herb garden should be close to your home – preferably close to your kitchen – and it should be small and manageable.  It should be laid out on fertile soil, with good drainage.  Should the soil not be fertile enough, you can always mix in compost and a little it of organic fertilizers.  You should also ensure that you remove all weeds – roots, seeds and all – and that you till the soil to loosen it up and aerate it properly.

Your herb garden should be laid out in a sheltered but sunny area and as far away from polluting factors such as road traffic, inorganic fertilizer sprays and pets.  Ideally, your herb garden should be exposed to direct sunlight for 6 hours.

When planting your herb plants, you should water them thoroughly while they are still in their nursery trays to ensure that the roots are entirely wet.  You should also gently loosen the roots to ensure optimum growth potential.  Another helpful tip is to our a little bone meal into the holes, before planting your herbs. 

Herb gardens are not just functional, but can be decorative too and form part of your over-all garden design and lay-out.  You can demarcate the various areas of your little herb garden with stepping stones, cobble edging and strips of pebbles, gravel of quartzite rocks.  You can border the entire herb garden with neatly trimmed hedges – such as a viburnum or buxus hedge – and you can construct a pergola over the area, which will still allow enough sunlight and rain water through.

Once you have planted your herb seedlings, you should water them properly during the first week or so.  After that time, you should only water them when the top layer of about 3cm’s of soil is dried out.

Applying a layer of mulch over your herb beds, will retain moisture in the soil and protect your herbs against weeds, pests and the harsher elements.

If you want your herb garden to produce optimal herbs, you should mix organic fertilizer into the soil, once a month during summer.  During winter 2 or 3 times will suffice.

Pruning away dead leaves and flowers regularly will also ensure the most favourable growth for your herbs.

Finally, you should harvest your herbs, using a sharp knife or a sharp pair of scissors.  Do not tear, bend or break the sprigs off, as this will damage the plant and prevent optimal growth.  You should harvest little amounts each time and always harvest from the strongest and healthiest plants only.

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.

We are all constantly waging war against weeds in our gardens…in our garden beds, in our paving, in our lawn…

This war increases in intensity during spring and summer.

Weeds are in direct competition with your plants for water, sunlight and soil nutrients. 

As with most things in life, prevention is better than cure.  In order to discourage the growth of weeds in your flower beds or between you paving, stepping stones and gravel strips, you should lay down sheets of weed guard (biddum cloth) before planting and before laying out your pavers or gravel.  This helpful product is available at most garden centres.

When you lay down weed guard in your garden beds, you can cut out holes for where you would like to plant your seedlings or other plants.  Then you can cover the area with mulch or decorative stone.

Preparing your soil properly before planting will also reduce the risk of weed infestations.  Till the soil properly and pick out all weeds, root systems and seeds that you can see.  Mix in a healthy blend of fertilizer and compost; making sure that it is a reputable product and will not introduce more weeds to your soil. 

To get rid of weeds, you will need to loosen the soil and pull the weeds out roots and all.  Ideally you should do so before the weeds have had the chance to produce seeds.  This process can be somewhat time-consuming and arduous, but if you look at it in a positive light, it will be great to be working outdoors with your hands.  You can even work on you suntan – provided you are wearing a hat and sunscreen. 

Finally, applying layers of mulch is also a good anti-weeding measure.  As we have informed you before, mulching has many benefits for your garden, such as retaining water and protecting the roots of your plants.

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.

There are two main methods which you can use to plant your plants into our exclusive range of Cubedec steel décor pots, manufactured by our sister company, Badec Bros Deco.  You can either plant indirectly in plastic liners or stackers, or you can plant directly.

Firstly, we can customize your Cubedec pot according to three different sized plastic liners.  The sizes available are 25cm, 32cm and 55cm in diameter.   We can construct circular rims in your steel pot to ease the adding and removing of the plastic liners.  Therefore, you can change the plants in your pots at any time without any hassle.  Alternatively, we can customize your steel décor pot to suit a square stacker, measuring 28cm in diameter.

For direct planting, we fabricate a 3cm lip at the bottom of the pot and lay a steel plate over that.  Then we drill holes in the steel plate to enable ventilation.  This steel plate also forms the base for your plants.  Firstly, you need to lay down a layer of gravel to facilitate drainage.  Then you can fill your pot with potting soil and plant your selected plant into the pot. 

In the past we have constructed a 1m³ gabion basket, which we planted with trees.  We lined the sides of the basket with weed guard cloth to prevent weeds from sprouting and growing.

This proves once again that Badec Bros Deco manufactures truly versatile products.

The landscaping experts at Kingfisher Landscaping design and implement exceptional and beautiful gardens in a professional manner and 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.

The imaginative experts at Badec Bros Deco manufacture a wide selection of Cubedec décor products, such as Cubedec gabion bollards, gabion water features, gabion planters, gabion feature walls, gabion terraces, gabion dustbins, sculptured living walls, sculptured flagpoles, unique pots and drip trays, customized sculptures, Cubedec benches, trendy steel décor with your company logo emblazoned on it, mild steel inspirational slogans, steel laser-cut signage, mild steel moulds, Cubedec pots, hanging sculptures, wooden or steel feature poles, bar code trellises, Cubedec water features, pergolas, arches, sculptures, dustbins or trellises, and much more.

Should you wish to have your very own signature Badec Bros Deco product, 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!

Badec Bros Deco will create a 3 dimensional render and calculate a quotation FREE OF CHARGE for you! We can deliver your unique Badec Bros Deco product(s) within 10 to 15 working days, upon acceptance of the design and quotation and the required 50% deposit.  These services come standard and will not cost you a cent extra!

We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products. 

Mulching is very important during winter.  It is a process by which you place a protective cover over the soil in your plant beds.  By mulching the plant beds in your garden, you protect the roots of your plants from soil frost.  Mulching has many advantages.  It moderates the soil temperature; stores moisture; enhances the nutrient count in your soil; prevents soil erosion; improves soil texture and prevents the growth of weeds.  Generally, mulching will improve the health and growth of your plants.

There are many types of both organic and inorganic mulch materials to use in your garden. 

Organic mulching materials include leaves, hay, bark chips, lawn trimmings, saw dust, shells, nut shells and tattered newspaper.  Should you use hay or straw as mulch, you need to make sure that does not contain any weed seeds, as this will cause rapid weed growth in your plant beds.

Inorganic mulching materials include, plastic mulch (such as plastic sheeting used in agriculture), gravel, stone chips, pebbles, rubber mulch (manufactured from recycled tires) and weed guard sheeting covered with a decorative layer of pebbles, gravel or stone chips.

You can also plant ground cover plants, such as dymondia margaretae (Silver Carpet), mazus reptans “white” and phyla nodiflora (daisy lawn) to act as living mulch in your plant beds or around trees. 

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.

Kingfisher Landscaping often uses pebbles, gravel and sandstone chunks (arabella rock) to fill plant beds around succulents or bamboo.  Raised planters especially appear rounded off neatly with white or charcoal coloured pebbles.  Arabella rock brilliantly enhances a dry bed, planted with succulents such as rock roses and cacti. 

Gravel can be used as a filler in between stepping stones, and of course for a neat and low-maintenance parking area.

Hardscaping materials such as these can really round off your entire landscape beautifully.

Stepping stones are available in an assortment of colours, shapes and sizes and can be used freely to enhance the hardscaping element in your garden design.

Kingfisher Landscaping mostly uses stepping stones to lay out paths in a garden.  We also use them to lay out an area for your garden furniture in a quiet corner of the garden.

To enhance your stepping stone area, you can fill the gaps in between with gravel, pebbles or ground covering plants, such as dymondias, mazus, or dwarf mondo grass.

2.4  PermaStrip™ Range

This range, sold exclusively by Kingfisher Landscaping and Badec Bros Deco in Southern Africa, is employed to shape absolutely straight lines or slightly curved lines in your garden design. 

PermaStrip is a range of strong, yet flexible L-shaped strips designed with maintenance in mind and is mostly used to accentuate perimeters around buildings, and lawn areas, which need maintenance.  The L-shape ensures trouble-free installation, because any collection of material, such as gravel, can be installed over the top of the horizontal bottom part.  This ensures that the strips are twice as secure as they would be, were one only using the patented sliding connection system, which effortlessly aligns and joins the strips during installation.

This patented product is manufactured of engineered commercial aluminium alloy and is available in a Mill Finish (light grey), as well as, a Black Duraflex finish and in the following dimensions:

 *0.32cm (Wall Thickness) x 8.89cm (Wall Height) x 2.54cm (Base)

 *0.48cm (Wall Thickness) x 8.89cm (Wall Height) x 2.54cm (Base)

Another advantage to the rigid L-shape design of PermaStrip, is that the wall of the adjoined strips will not become unstable and untidy with time.

No stakes are required for installation of this product, as the gravel, or other material, will keep it anchored to the ground.  PermaStrip brings effortless design and flexibility into the hardscaping aspect of your landscaping design.