The black wattle tree is a dangerous alien invader.  It is an evergreen tree and can grow up to 30 meters in height.

These intruders were introduced into South Africa between 1858 and 1864.  it is not sure whether the first black wattle trees were planted in the Cape Town Botanical Gardens (1858) as decorative trees or in the present-day KwaZulu-Natal near Camperdown (1864) as commercial trees. 

Due to its high tannin content (around 30%), the black wattle was planted commercially to be used in tanning leather.  The wood was also used for firewood, building materials and as wood chips.

Unfortunately these exotic trees – native to South-East Australia – have started growing profusely outside commercial plantations, along water courses and roads.  They tend to grow in dense copses, especially after a fire has passed through the area.  Because these trees were planted outside of their natural habitat, they do not have to contend with their natural enemies, which control their numbers.  These trees steal water, nutrients and light from our indigenous plants and trees, and therefore replace our native flora.  Especially our fynbos areas are threatened by the black wattle.

The black wattle has been declared an invader plant throughout South Africa, except in areas where they are commercially planted.    These commercially planted trees should be monitored, however, and be prevented from spreading out of the plantations.

Black wattles reproduce by their seeds, which can remain dormant, yet fertile, for a period of 50 to 80 years.  These seeds do not germinate immediately, and can gather quite thickly under the trees.  Should a wild fire spread through the trees, all of the seeds will germinate simultaneously, which causes an even bigger problem.

These trees also re-sprout rather heartily, adding to the level of difficulty in getting rid of them.  Should you fell a wattle tree, you must ensure that you treat the stump with a herbicide, to prevent it from re-sprouting.  As these trees normally flourish along water courses, you need to ensure that you use a registered herbicide and definitely steer clear of diesel-based products, as this will contaminate the water course.

If the trees are still young – seedlings and saplings – you can pull them out by hand, when the soil is wet.  However, if there are very many of them, it is best to use chemical control measures, as extreme soil disturbance will also promote the germination of seeds.

The bottom line is that you should never plant a black wattle in your garden and you should do your share in terminating these plants responsibly to enhance the growth of our indigenous flora.

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.

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.

Imagine having the opportunity to design your own exclusive outdoor and indoor décor… our sister company, Badec Bros Deco makes this possible for you. You dream it, we manufacture it!

Badec Bros Deco is a South African company that offers an exclusive and stylish range of outdoor and indoor steel décor products. The company manufactures a standard range of Cubedec pots, trellises, benches, pergolas, arches, and custom designed sculptures. We have also manufactured gabion and mild steel feature walls, gates, steel and wooden feature poles, mild steel and wooden screens, and laser-cut mild steel signage.  Most of our products are produced from mild steel and stainless steel.  We finish our products with mild steel finishing, rusted finishing, SABS approved powder coating in any colour imaginable, mosaic tiling, Plexiglas (acrylic glass) panelling and wooden cladding. 

Badec Bros Deco (Pty) Ltd was founded in 2008.  This company was started when we discovered a huge gap in the market for a professional company that can manufacture customized interior and exterior products, such as planters, benches, chairs, trellises, sculptures, et cetera.  We manufacture all of these trendy products at our factory. 

Edrich (F.J) Badenhorst, Liam van Schalkwyk, Mareleen van Zijl and our young, energetic team are responsible for the rapid growth of this business.  Throughout the last few months, the company has enjoyed phenomenal growth and success in the Gauteng area, which is why we are spreading our wings nationally.

Badec Bros Deco (Pty) Ltd has the exclusive distribution rights for Permaloc Edging in South Africa. This is a world-renowned aluminium edging used for landscaping.

One of the advantages offered by our company is the unique and stimulating service available to the customer to design any decorative pot, trellis, pergola, arch, sculpture, bench et cetera and having it manufactured by our factory! All our products are hand made and our quality and service speaks for itself.  Badec Bros Deco prides itself in always keeping in touch with international standards and always staying in front with its trend setting designs. We are continuously investing in new designs and manufacturing techniques for future products. The company is a service orientated company that always puts the client first.

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 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!

Should you wish to have your very own signature Badec Bros Deco steel décor 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!

We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products. 

People tend to have a picture of landscape architects in their mind that is far from accurate. They tend to picture a garden designer whose sole job is to design a garden around a modern house. But landscape architects are more than that. This is a profession that is far more outreaching than just garden design, though that can be part of it. This is because they see the need to plan for ecologically sustainable landscapes and for integrating man and nature’s needs for the benefit of the environment at large. Long words, but I’m trying to instil in your mind a picture that is not just the garden designer.

When you’re thinking of engaging landscape architects you have to think a little bigger. Although we’re not restricted to them, many of our assignments have been in the field of golf estates, retirement villages and housing estates. Whenever a new building goes up, someone is going to call in the landscape architects to design the surrounds. Kingfisher Landscaping is proud to profess a client base of over 3500 clients and we have successfully completed work all over South Africa. We aim to provide a professional service to all our existing and future clients, and will always strive for perfect service delivery using only the best of products. Our long-term aim is to set up a worldwide client base serviced through branches throughout the world. If you would like to know more about our services, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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 beautiful landscape starts with an innovative design. An innovative design is the vision of the customer brought to life by experienced landscape architects. At Kingfisher Landscaping, our team of landscape architects works side-by-side with customers to create memorable environments for people to enjoy day in and day out.

Our design team consists of the most talented and innovative landscapers in South Africa. Throughout the years our designs have broken new ground in the landscaping industry and will continue in the years to come…
Our Design Philosophy
There are five definitive elements that we take into consideration when designing a garden.

Element 1 – The architectural style of your home.
The design of a garden should emphasize the characteristics of the residence. A perfectly designed landscape should always compliment the architectural style of your home.

Element 2 – Sunlight.
Our second step would be to find out where the sunniest areas in the garden are. This is not only for the benefit of plants but also for people. There’s nothing more magnetic than a spot showered with morning light, and good garden design is all about arranging subtle magnets to draw us outside…Element 3 – Privacy
It doesn’t matter if your garden is small or large, every garden needs some element of privacy. We are always looking for new ideas and designs to make privacy a design feature in your garden…

Element 4 – Viewpoints
Viewpoints are one of the success factors for a perfectly

designed garden. It is very important to create garden viewpoints so that you can pull the garden into your home through a featured window. Viewpoints are wonderful compositions in themselves and yet blend in perfectly into the garden when viewed from outside.Element 5 – The practical side
Lastly, there is the practical and functional side. It is important to check soil type and quality;

to take drainage into consideration; provide for children and animals; consider access and utilities; and to establish entertainment areas.