Durban - Keith Kirsten is the grand master of South African gardens. I have to admit that I am a fan. I met Kirsten many years ago and walked with him through Makaranga in Kloof. Here was a plant man – a passionate gardener – with extraordinary vision, knowledge and skills in horticulture.
So when he launched his book Gardens To Inspire, published by Struik, I had to get my hands on a copy.
The gardens featured between these covers have largely been planned and nurtured over many years, some for decades and others even centuries. They offer gardeners an opportunity to look over the garden wall into classical, traditional, quirky and eclectic fantasias.
As gardener and opera producer Maryln Abbott puts it in her forward, these are diverse settings, “some are crafted by designers, landscapers and horticulturalists, others are the result of years of dedication and vision by just one or two people”.
The gardens are across all climates and vegetative zones; from the arid West Coast to the subtropical eastern shores, and from the evergreen fynbos of the south Western Cape to the grasslands of the Highveld and the Bushveld of the north.
Kirsten says: “Not all gardens can have the history of Kirstenbosch and the Durban Botanical Gardens, the plant diversity of Brenthurst and Benvie, but for everyone who takes the time to nurture a garden, no matter what size, there is the satisfaction of creating your own landscape; your own place in time.” - The Mercury