Cape Estate Garden Blends Formal Design with Natural Beauty
A sweeping estate garden in the Cape balances formality and order with naturalistic planting and resident wildlife. Heady borders of fragranced jasmine and giant clipped domes bring allure to drifts of wild grasses and a central reflecting pool.
High on the foothills of the Helderberg Mountain, tucked into the last remaining buffer between human habitation and the Helderberg Nature Reserve one will find a home and garden in Land-en-Zeezicht, a leafy neighbourhood in the greater Cape Winelands district.
The area was once part of Vergelegen farm, the historic property from where the disgraced governor of the Cape, William Adriaan Van der Stel, was stripped of his position and exiled from the Cape in the early 1700s. Directly translated, Land-en-Zeezicht means, ‘Land-and-SeaView’, aptly named, as the outlook from this garden is panoramic, spanning across False Bay and the towering Helderberg. It was these views and majestic stands of English oaks, stone pines and pin oaks trees that sealed the deal for the new owners before winning the three-acre estate on auction in the late 90s.
Fast forward to the present day, the original footprint and gentle lines of the low-slung 1960s home remain - a home that was built in homage to its environment resting gently on its site. The need was to now bring a befitting elegance to the garden that prompted a wedding anniversary gift of consultation with landscape designer Franchesca Watson. ‘When designing a garden, my first thoughts are the ones that form the backbone to the design,’ says Franchesca, ‘it’s an instinctual response to the landscape, in combination with how the garden needs to function for the homeowners.’
In this case, there was generous space to garden on all sides of the house, which allowed for expansive borders and open views to be intimately balanced with pathways that wind through soft grasses and beneath boughs of mature trees.
‘As much as the garden had going for it, there were challenges too,’ says Franchesca. A solution was needed for the long, steep embankment that extended from the front of the house to the bottom boundary of the property - and one that was impactful enough to be a strong focal point. The drop was steeper on one side too, creating an awkward slant across the embankment and prompting the appointment of Heimo Schulzer Gardens, specialist landscaper in the installation of bespoke garden solutions. Retaining walls were clad in local stone, and the ground between them were immaculately levelled into wide, lawned steps leading down to a circular water feature.
The greened avenue brings much joy to the homeowner, who has a passion for manicured lawn, the crisp formality heightened by a loose, surrounding mix of purple broom (Polygala virgata), leggy, grey-stemmed otter bush (Gomphostigma virgatum), blue sceptre (Aristea capitata), white-flowering spires of giant chlorophytum (Chlorophytum bowkeri), chunky broad-leaved bristle grass (Setaria megaphylla) and fringed with lacy, white African bluebells (Wahlenbergia rivularis).
The grassy area off the bottom of the garden leads through a prairie-style scheme where fluffy plumes of pink local Ngongoni grass (Aristida junciformis) and tufts of red-top grasses (Melinis nerviglumis and M. repens) converge for shimmering painterly effect in late summer.
The homeowners love the formality of the distinct paths in contrast to the drifts of grasses that sway and shift in the breeze around them. ‘What Franchesca came up with exceeded our expectations and has opened our eyes to plants and features we wouldn't have considered,’ they enthused. Most of all, through the process, the homeowners have found a renewed appreciation for gardening. ‘We couldn’t do it without the keen eye and care of our talented gardener, Oliver Patel.’ Through the shadier grassy areas, layers of cobra lilies (Chasmanthe floribunda) provide food for pollinating insects.
With their seed heads left to die back, there’s plenty of nourishment for resident olive woodpeckers, African hoopoe and paradise fly catchers, as well as shelter and habitat for resident Cape grey mongoose, ‘and even the odd treat for an opportunistic porcupine,’ says the homeowner. ‘Being on the border of a nature reserve, we welcome the resident wildlife; they add to the feeling that this is a garden to lose oneself in.’
Text by Heidi Bertish