ROSE-FREE ZONE

by Robyn Joubert

Indigenous garden will provide a haven for all

ECOSERV staff members wanting to sit back and smell the roses during their lunch break are out of luck. While the company’s plans for an outdoor chill-out zone are well advanced, you won’t find anything remotely resembling a rose in its indigenous garden.

What you will find are fruit and nectar plants intended to entice bird and insect life to the garden. Jean Lindsay, a member of the Richmond Mariannhill Conservancy, drew up plans to landscape the area.

Lori-Beth Cox and Mia Antoni alien-busting at the grassland.

Jean’s garden is smart. It utilizes attractive indigenous plants which are low maintenance and drought-resistant. Thorny Amantungulu and Kei apples are staked along the perimeter to keep out crooks. Some shady characters are welcome though – a clump of Indigo trees and a Yellowwood planted next to the car park will canopy to provide summer shade.

The grassland at the top of the bank has been shorn and the indigenous grasses will be allowed to grow back and provide seed for birds. Jean’s plans include creating a wetland in a naturally-occurring hollow in the grassland to provide a haven for wading birds.

Operation Indigenous Garden began in September with the removal of invasive exotic plants and trees. “Most of the trees on the property were not indigenous – we removed a huge Syringa, two large Camphors and a host of smaller pines,” says Lori-Beth Cox, ECOSERV office manager and environmental administrator. “We left a few palms for the time being. They are non-invasive and can be removed when the indigenous plants are established if need be.”

Existing indigenous plants on the property have been incorporated into Jean’s design – plants like Kei apple, Aloe arborescens, Crassula multicava, wild iris, Senecio, Crinum macowanii, Acacia and the indigenous grasses.

“New plants were purchased from Kloof SPCA and the Botanical Gardens Indigenous Plant Fair earlier this year and slowly but surely we are filling the area with plants,” says Lori-Beth. “Patrick, the external housekeeper, and Lucky are working hard to help us rehabilitate the area.”

Jean estimates they are halfway through the process. The infertile subsoil, consisting mainly of sand and builders rubble, needs to be removed and groundcover will be planted at the top of the bank to grow in a cascade effect. But while planting a garden is easily done, it will take a long time for the transformation to be complete.

“With indigenous plants you have to look far ahead,” says Jean. “The plants will be flowering within a year but trees grow far slower, especially trees like Yellowwoods.”

Tables and chairs have been ordered for an outside seating area so members of staff can enjoy their lunch breaks in the company of the bird and insect life that the indigenous vegetation will attract.

This is how Mark Liptrot, chairman of the Richmond Mariannhill Conservancy, thinks gardens should be. “Personally I prefer to be in environment which forms of life other than humans can also appreciate,” he says.

Mark applauds ECOSERV’s commitment to alien removal and their work in the Conservancy. “Invasive aliens are spreading at an alarming rate,” he says. “There is a general tendency to allow aliens to take over, and in so doing eliminate natural bush. It is important for companies to take steps towards redressing the balance. Eliminating aliens and replacing them with indigenous plants will improve the biodiversity of the environment. ECOSERV is doing a sterling effort in their fight against aliens.”

The Richmond Mariannhill Conservancy currently has 14 members and is about to embark on a membership drive. The Conservancy has several items on its agenda: an audit of companies to rate their eco-friendliness, an Alien Busting day along the Umbilo River, and an annual seminar to disseminate information about conservation matters, including alien removal and pollution.

Quentin Hurt, ECOSERV MD, is secretary of the Conservancy and has been involved with the organization since its inception in 1996. “We use ECOSERV premises as our meeting place every month and they are a sponsor in the Adopt-a-Highway campaign. Without companies like ECOSERV taking part, the Conservancy would literally collapse,” says Mark.