The Grahamstown Flower Festival organisers have announced the winners and runners-up of the Gardens of Grahamstown competition, co-ordinated by Pam Golding Properties and the Umthathi Training Project.
The Grahamstown Flower Festival organisers have announced the winners and runners-up of the Gardens of Grahamstown competition, co-ordinated by Pam Golding Properties and the Umthathi Training Project.
The competition attracted 18 entries in four categories. The winners are Jeanie Main and Mike Bandey of Holly Lane Cottage at 50A Somerset Street (small gardens), Dean and Julie Kent of 18 Park Road (medium gardens), Geraldine and Jamie Sholto-Douglas of 17 Park Road (large gardens) and Gadra Advice vegetable garden, Cobden Street (township gardens).
The runners-up are: Audrey Weyer, 5 Kings View Estate (small gardens), Raymond and Janine Harris, 10 Donkin Street (medium gardens), Vernon Marais, 15 Belmont Valley Road (large gardens) and Zamile Giba, 4623 Extension 7 (township gardens).
These gardens will be open during the Flower Festival at a charge of R20 per garden and the proceeds will go to charities of the owners’ choice. Meanwhile, the editor of The Gardener magazine, Tanya Visser, who was due to speak at the Flower Festival this weekend, has withdrawn due to serious illness involving a close family member.
But, festival organisers have stepped in smartly and, within hours of Visser’s withdrawal, announced a replacement. He is David Viljoen, who has his own landscape design studio in Pretoria where he and his staff draw up garden designs and architecture for gardeners and landscapers.
Viljoen has been a popular presenter on the Tuine & Tossels programme on kykNET for the past nine years, presents gardening and landscaping courses, and also judges gardens throughout the country. In his spare time he is writing a book.
Viljoen will present two talks, of an hour each and at a cost of R50 per talk, in the Eden Grove Blue lecture theatre on Saturday 23 October. At 9.30am he will talk on “Secrets to successful gardening” where he will shed light on how to use the entire brain – both academic and creative – to put the fun back into gardening.
“He’ll explore quick and easy solutions to the most common gardening mistakes, and give insights into working with nature, which will include organic approaches to gardening and the use of worms,” said festival convenor Sharon Richner.
At 1.30pm Viljoen will present “Garden layout made easy” where he will assist gardeners in ascertaining where to start and what to do when designing their gardens. “He will share design secrets, with specific focus on the use of colour in the garden, and give advice on how to make a DIY low-cost water feature and how to create outdoor rooms and link the interior of the house with the garden,” added Richner.
For more flower festival information visit website www.grahamstownflowerfestival.co.za
