Recently land art artist Jody Joyner from Tucson, AZ, USA created is giant nest out of hibiscus twigs and a few years ago our own staff created the earthwork Mama Africa (we expect Mama Africa fully covered with succulent groundcovers within 1 year from now.

Here some pictures:

It’s easy to copy things you see on the way. For us it’s a challenge not to be the sheep that follow but the one with followers.

Cuttings rooted on H2O. Took 2 months to develop roots of 2 to 5 cm. These are Eurphorbia resinifera but also other Euphorbia species root well in water. Ideal temperature is around 20 degrees Celcius (=68 F). Just started an experiment with 2 Lophocereus species. Keep you updated.

The reason for this experiment is that there is an overseas demand for this rooted plant material and as it’s a regulation that no soil particle is allowed to leave the country.. (etc. etc.). At this stage we are rooting a few hundred Euphorbia cuttings (diverse species) in water.

We are no scientists (just make use of them) but we like to experiment and prefer to choose for the most unlikable things. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes not but when you never try you will never know.

Via our Facebook page we keep the world informed about the latest developments in The Green Cathedral of South Africa

And for PRECISE road directions, times, etc. you may (must) visit this site.

Most beautiful in Winter because the impressive caudex is uncovered by leaves of this Southern African caudiciform with a diametre of up to 35 cm. Locally it is also named ‘Bobbejaansgif’ (Afrikaans for baboon’s poison) for its high content of toxic sap (cyanogenic compounds). The genius Adenia (21 species) belongs to the family of the Passifloraceae. The specie A. fruticosa was first described in 1926 by Joseph Burtt Davy. The Adenias fruticosa and glauca are the best known species and grown relatively easy provided the right environment. It’s also suitable for cultivation in a container and is drougth tolerant but likes some extra water in Summer when in leaf. Hardiness: Zone 10a to 11 with minimum temperatur of minus 1 degree Celcius (30F). Well drained gritty loamy soil. Do not fertilise!!! The plant in the picture is grown from seed (2004) and resisted this year 5 months of no rainfall here at The Green Cathedral of South Africa.

This question arrived yesterday on one of our Face Book pages.

The Erasmus family of Sumsaré Wines (nearby!!!)  keeps track of us (and vice versa) and lives in an area with many indigenous succulent plants such as mesembs, haworthias and aloes.

Our answer: “We hardly have ‘frost’. Just a bit of ripe a few times per year (gone before 8AM). Quite a few succulents can have -3 to 4 degrees Celcius during a few hours; we even know of a cactus (San Pedro) that survived minus 20 C and snow in Yorkshire UK. But if somebody tells you that cacti grow virtually everywhere in South Africa (as a nursery man once told in the TV-program Top Billing) we can assure you that this is nonsense for in a large part of this country ‘Black Frost’ occurs. Majority of succulent plants including cacti don’t survive ‘black frost’ but it is interesting to see which succulent plants survive in those areas.
“Black Frost” is when suddenly in a very short time the temperature goes down to several degrees Celcius below zero.

Thanks for this question. The answer also explains why we always ask our customers about their local environment including the occurance of ‘black frost’. This to avoid dissapointments.”

 And word spreads for more and more people from areas with ‘black frost’ are buying succulent plants at our nursery or contact us per email with the question where they can find a reliable succulent plant nursery within driving distance. There are not that many of these but to mention a few: Obesa in Graaff Reinet, Fynkwa in Oudshoorn, Cambroo in Pretoria and (not primary succulents) Simply Indigenous in Hartebeespoortdam.

Oh … and there is a difference between frost and frost: Ripe is the ‘white’ on your lawn caused by a tiny bit of frost, dissapearing early in the morning (sun). In Holland they call it ‘nachtvorst’ (nightfrost) that leaves ‘rijp’ (ryp = Afrikaans word for it). Frost is real frost that goes below -1 to 2 degrees Celcius for a longer period.

The Independent (UK): “Best Garden in the Western Cape” http://ow.ly/11jQP

Warm greetings from the Hot Spot in Klaas Voogds,

Herman & Yvonne

See for yourself:

general plan dry garden

Six years ago the idea for a Dry Garden was launched for a piece of bare land with a surface of approx. 1500 square metres. It was the most brackish part of our 10 hectare (25 acres) property and soil analysis in The Netherlands showed a pH of 8.3 and an organic content of 3 percent next to numerous deficits of nitrogen, phosphorous and diverse trace elements. We choose for the organic and slow way in improving the soil by deminishing the brack and bringing the pH down to 6.8 by adding coarse river sand and plenty of compost in the top 50 cm of the existing (too clayish) soil. After that we soaked everything a few times to get the brack level down (<40ppm; was 200 ppm). And than again mixing compost and gritsand through the top 30 cm of the soil. Considering that it takes approx. 3 years before the new soil (micro-organisms, etc.) is established we waited that long before we made the first trials with some cacti, other succulents and some acacia species including acacia hybrids.

preparation works

This year we made the final decision and two students (Pauline Gillet and Sybille de Cussy) from the landscape university in Blois, France (ENSNP) have been fully engaged in designing the garden and implementing their design in practice.

De Cussy and Gillet knew literally nothing about succulent plants and lack of knowledge often results in an unusual surprising approach.

artist impression of aloe bush

They created a dry garden with 7 spheres (totalling 78 different species, subspecies, etc.); creeping plants, shrubs/trees, rocks, cactus and euphorbia bushes, aloe bush, mixed border, agaves.

rock art in the dry garden

Students of the McGregor Waldorf School were engaged in rock art  drawings throughout the garden as part of Land Art Project in South Africa that is initiated by Soekershof.

detail of aloe bush

A PDF-file with plan and plantlist is -free of charge- available for interested landscapers and other interested parties with simular soil ‘problems’. Request e-mail to info -at- soekershof.co.za

In the past we have mentioned a few times ‘soil’ and ‘soil preparation’. See here, there and there.

Every nursery has its own recipes and one may assume that these all work.

In addition to the info provided via the links above:

Succulent plants thrive in a wide range of soils each with their own characteristics. An Aloe plicatillus originate from acid soil (pH <6) near Franschoek in South Africa and and the Gunniopsis glabra originate from a saline flood plain (pH >7.5) in Western Australia.

These differences don’t necessarily mean that these plants don’t grown in different environments.

A good (general) pH of the soil is just below neutral (=pH 7); pH  6.8 is recommended. Soil analysis in the Western Cape is done by Bemlab in Somerset West Do It Yourself pH-meters are not always accurate.

An interesting article about pH is this one. With thanks to Ralph Martin of the south Wales branche of the British Cacti ad succulent Society.

The most important characteristic of the soil is drainage. Especially the top soil must drain freely an excess of water to avoid ‘neck rot’ and also (high temperatures after rainfall) mealy bugs. Ideal is a free draining top layer (10-20cm) of coarse sand or gravel rich soil and a sublayer (10-20 cm) which can accumulate a little bit of water. The characteristics of the sub soil (>30 cm) should be more or less simular to that of the sublayer of the topsoil and is important for deep rooting plants like collumnar cacti. Soil (top- and subsoil alike) may never be waterlogged.

Preferable poor soil (low organic content) but some compost (preferable of horse manure or composted mushroom medium) in sublayer and subsoil is recommended. In some part of South Africa (for example those with brackish/saline soil) an small dose of bonemeal can improve the soil.  Fertilisers (even dried chicken manure or ‘bounce back’)  improve plant growth but also make the plants extra vunerable for pests and diseases.

No-till

In large scale agricultural operations there is an increasing amount of farmers that implements ‘no-till’ in the cultivation of their crops thus as less as possible disturbing the soil.

Quote from Wikipedia:  In no-till farming the soil is left intact and crop residue is left on the field. Therefore, soil layers, and in turn soil biota, are conserved in their natural state. No-tilled fields often have more beneficial insects and annelids^[12], a higher microbial content, and a greater amount of soil organic material. Since there is no plowing there is less airborne dust.

No-till increases the amount and variety of wildlife.  This is the result of the improved cover because of surface residue and because the field is disturbed less often than conventional fields.

If you know that your soil is suitable don’t dig. Preparation limits itself than only to weeding, cleaning and planting unless you planned to make (small) rockery heeps, etc.  (see picture).