This delightful garden was created by the trendsetting experts of Kingfisher Landscaping. The client’s brief to the resourceful landscape designer was to revamp the old, existing garden and give it a modern twist. Kingfisher Landscaping did just that by incorporating clean, flowing lines into the hard and soft scaping elements, and adding stylish décor pieces to the overall garden design.

In the front garden, the Kingfisher Landscaping specialists constructed a monolithic water feature, which oozes relaxation. Textured layers of cobble edging, concrete screed slabs and charcoal coloured pebbles around the water feature contrast pleasantly with lush, decorative rushes (juncus fine) and sedges (carex testacea) which were planted to softly frame this part of the garden.  All of the cement features were finished in an aged concrete effect.

The in-house sculptor of Kingfisher Landscaping carved a group of abstract humanoid sculptures from Free State sandstone. These beautiful figures were displayed on a concrete plinth, behind the water feature, with a wooden screen – created from balau wood – serving as a perfect background to this aesthetically pleasing area. Young silver birch trees were also incorporated and will soon grow into veritable focal features and casters of shade.  Existing heavenly bamboo (nandina domestica) were transplanted against the boundary walls, to grow into a natural border.

Just to the right of the front door, the Kingfisher Landscaping experts erected three Cubedec steel screens, with a rusted finish and planted a tree aloe (aloe bainesii) in front of each screen. These stunning décor pieces were manufactured in their in-house décor factory. A lush bed of sweet flag grasses (acorus graminues “Golden Pheasant) swathes these features, with luxuriant rushes (juncus fine) bordering the raised planter.

The back garden was transformed into an inviting and contemporary entertainment area by the Kingfisher Landscaping connoisseurs. Their internal wooden decking team installed a curvaceous balau wooden deck around the swimming pool, and sealed the wood with a mahogany coloured finish. Furthermore, they constructed a large and welcoming braai pit, with raised, circular concrete seating around it. Young yellowwood trees (podocarpus latifolius) were planted strategically, ensuring ample shade for this lovely area in the future.

The renovated garden perfectly complements the attractive home, which it so effortlessly envelops.

Whether it is landscaping, installations of Koi ponds, water features, wooden decking, garden illumination, swimming pools, irrigation or the inclusion of mosaics in the garden – Kingfisher Landscaping will always define your exterior lifestyle in a stylish fashion. For more information, visit the company’s detailed website. 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.

The ingenious specialists of Kingfisher Landscaping created this slick garden, reminiscent of a London apartment garden.  This stylish home is enclosed by the ethereal garden, which harmonizes perfectly with the fashionable architectural style. 

Kingfisher Landscaping utilized the beautiful established oak tree as a prominent feature, around which the rest of the garden was arranged.  Our experienced team of landscapers constructed an unpretentious square concrete water feature, which enhances the overall tranquil mood of this exterior refuge and surrounded it with variegated abelias (abelia grandiflora).  Neat concrete screed slabs, which were cast on site, function as both neat pathways, as well as clean, linear rows, which comprise the hardscaping features in this garden design.  All of the cement features were finished in an aged concrete look. 

Lush beds of sweet-smelling lavender were planted to soften the yellow walls.  Dwarf eugenias (syzygium paniculatum) were planted in gabion plant cages to act as points of focal interest on the perimeter of the garden.  The professional landscaping team also planted dwarf buxus into square pots and common orange jasmines (murraya exotica), which bear white, perfumed flowers, in linear plant beds.  Topiaried Indian laurel fig trees (ficus nitida) were planted against the boundary wall to grow into a dense top-hedge. 

 A neat balau wooden deck, with an aged appearance, was constructed around the swimming pool by the Kingfisher Landscaping connoisseurs.  Finally, we planted all seasons evergreen instant lawn, which will flourish in the ample shade cast by the giant old oak tree.

The end result is a serene landscape in which the homeowners can escape the hustle and bustle of everyday city living.

Whether it is landscaping, installations of Koi ponds, water features, wooden decking, garden illumination, swimming pools, irrigation or the inclusion of mosaics in the garden – Kingfisher Landscaping will always define your exterior lifestyle in a stylish fashion. 

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.

The round-leaved teak is the second rare tree that was appointed by the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs.

The round-leaved teak is another gorgeous indigenous tree.  It can grow up to 10 meters in height and is deciduous, which means it looses it leaves during winter.  During spring and summer, the tree carries small, vivid yellow flowers, which are shaped like peas.  These perfumed blooms attract wasps and bees and the leaves are used by birds for constructing nests. 

These trees often grow together – forming arbour colonies – and occur in all the warmer climates of South Africa.  They naturally grow on rocky hills and in open bushveld.  The wood is used as firewood in some areas of the Limpopo province and it is used in bee farming, because the flowers are so rich in pollen and nectar.

The round-leaved teak provides lovely shade.  Combined with its beautiful appearance and its attractive qualities to birds and insects, the round-leaved teak is an ideal garden tree.

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.

The monkey thorn (acacia galpinii) has been appointed as one of the trees of the year for 2009, by the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs.

This fast growing tree – with its lush, light green foliage – can grow up to 36 meters in height and has a wide, spreading crown.  It is a deciduous tree, which means that it loses its leaves during winter.  During spring, this lovely tree carries light yellow flowers and maroon-coloured seed pods during late summer and autumn.  The monkey thorn is ideal for large gardens and can be planted in your lawn – or along the edges of your lawn – as it provides mottled shade, which will allow enough sunlight through to the grass blades.

This indigenous tree is quite hardy and can survive in hot and dry weather conditions, as well as, frost to some degree.  Saplings should be properly protected from frost, however.  It also attracts insects, such as bees and wasps, and will also provide shelter for birds in your garden.

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.

Wooden decking allows you to maximize your outdoor living space by giving you a peaceful setting for entertaining and leisure time. The design of your wooden decking is going to be influenced by a couple of things, what you want to do with it and how you want it to complement the remainder of the property. Building a deck on the south side could reduce your exposure to direct sunlight, so sunbathing on the deck would be out of the question. Similarly a deck built on the north side may expose you to extreme summer heat. This can be overcome by a little clever landscaping – trees and shrubs can be so placed to provide welcome shade in summer and at the same time act as wind breaks in winter.

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.

The landscaping professionals at Kingfisher Landscaping can incorporate ornamental grasses into your garden design, should you be looking for plants that are decorative, perennial, hardy and low maintenance.

Ornamental grasses add movement and texture to your garden, and are both heat and cold tolerant.  They can grow in full sun or in the shade and can adapt to just about any type of soil.  They will complement any type of garden design and create a natural eco system in your garden.  Ornamental grasses are available in an extensive array of heights, colours and textures.

Examples of Ornamental Grasses are as follow:

Ophiopogon grasses, such as mondo grass (ophiopogon japonicus), dwarf mondo grass (ophiopogon japonicus kyoto), jaburan grass (ophiopogon jaburan vittatus), and black mondo grass (ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens).   

Sedge grasses, such as orange New Zealand sedge (carex testacies), New Zealand hair sedge (carex comas ‘frosted curls’), New Zealand leather leaf sedge (Carex bacchanalia ‘red rooster’) blue sedge grass (carex flaccid Glauca), evergold sedge (carex hachijoensis), gold band sedge (carex morrowii), and little midge palm sedge (carex muskingumensis).

Fescue grasses such as, large tufted fescue (festuca amethystine), spring blue fescue (festuca cinerea ‘fruehlingsblau’), bearskin fescue (festuca gautieri), giant fescue (festuca gigantea), blue fescue (festuca glauca ‘Select’), Elijah blue fescue (festuca glauca ‘Elijah blue’), boulder blue fescue (festuca glauca ‘Boulder blue’), Idaho blue fescue (festuca idahoensis), atlas fescue (festuca mairei), green fescue (festuca ovina), and hedgehog fescue (festuca punctoria).        

Rushes, such as corkscrew rush (juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’) and hard rush (juncus inflexus ‘Lovesick Blues’).

Acorus grasses, such as golden Japanese rush (acorus gold), broad leafed variegated acorus (acorus calamus variegates), variegated Japanese rush (acorus gramminus variegata) and mini golden Japanese rush (acorus mini gold).

Three-awn grasses, such as the annual three-awn (aristida adscensionis), spreading three-awn (aristida congesta barbicollis), tassel three-awn (aristida congesta congesta), and the gongoni three-awn (aristida junciformis).

Restios, such as Cape thatching reed (chondropetalum tectorum).

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.

You can create an immediate established feel to your garden by planting instant trees.  Should that be a requirement for a client, Kingfisher Landscaping can work in a few instant trees into the landscaping design.  We often use wild olive (olea europaea africana) and white stinkwood (celtis africana) trees.

Other advantages to planting instant trees in your garden include:

*Attracts birds and insects

*Provides shade

*Serves as a strong focal point in your garden

Grass fades away in shade, turning yellow and patchy from lack of light and moisture. The tree suffers, too, as its roots fight for the upper hand with the water- and nitrogen-robbing roots of the grass. The result isn’t pretty: Bumpy clumps, dry soil, and even exposed tree roots make for a surface that’s tough to mow and even tougher to dig. There are a couple of solutions that you can try. Have a go at ringing the tree with mulch (good for the tree, but visually bland) or letting grass and tree fight it out. An alternative is to make the tree a centre of focus. Place a wooden bench beneath it. Talk to your nurseryman about alternative ground cover that will flourish under a shade tree. You’ll soon find that the tree becomes a favourite spot in the garden.