WHO LIVES HERE? Twin sisters Renette and Ansi Buitendag, their cat Sophia and a couple of chickens
WHERE Monaghan Farm, Lanseria, Gauteng
SIZE OF PROPERTY 6 000m²
AGE OF GARDEN Five years
TYPE OF SOIL Loam
It was the desire to live a simpler, more grounded life in a country atmosphere that drew Renette and Ansi Buitendag to Monaghan Farm north of Johannesburg.
“Previously, we lived next door to each other in an estate in Midrand. But it became so built up, overcrowded and noisy.
“We started looking around for something more low-key and comfortable and when we came here, and saw the open fields and horses, we thought ‘Yes, this is it’,” recalls Renette who now keeps a horse at the estate’s stables.
Having seen architect Gillian Holl’s house in a magazine, the sisters decided that she was the right person to design theirs.
“When we met, we just clicked. Gillian, who owns Veld Architects, also lives in the estate and understands the ethos,” says Renette.
As the estate rules don’t allow for two kitchens on one property, they decided that instead of two houses, they would build one home with a shared living area, kitchen and entertaining area and two separate bedroom wings, each with its own pool.
Fortunately, Renette and Ansi share a love of modern style and art in all its forms.
Materials used in the construction include gabion walls filled with slate, concrete, steel beams, rusted Corten steel and plenty of glass to maximise the country views.
Integrated rills and water features throughout create a visual link with the Klein Jukskei River that runs along the bottom of the property.
Taking shape
When it came to the garden, the sisters turned to Neville and Minette Orsmond of Create a Landscape.
“They designed the gardens for our previous homes – they knew us and our style. In fact, we’ve become friends,” says Renette.
Their request was for a modern garden that would complement the architecture and blend with the surroundings.
Initially, Ansi wanted a structured garden with straight lines to reflect the style of the house, but Neville persuaded the twins that curves and circular shapes would provide an interesting contrast and show off the architecture.
“He was 100% correct; his design works perfectly and the curves provide softness,” says Renette who admits that she was previously an English garden fan.
“But you adapt,” she adds.
“As soon as we received the site plans, we started on the design,” recalls Neville who separated the lawned areas from the beds with a row of cobblestones.
This maintains the curves, prevents the lawn from invading the beds and makes it easier to mow.
“It was wonderful watching him lay out the design with the cobblestones and then fill in with plants. It looked like he was doing a puzzle,” says Renette.
Choosing the right plants
“The estate has a predominantly indigenous rule regarding plants and the planting plan had to be approved beforehand,” explains Neville.
The trees he chose are extremely hardy and include the common wild pear (Dombeya rotundifolia), the river bushwillow (Combretum erythrophyllum) and karee (Searsia lancea).
As Ansi and Renette wanted to grow their own fruit, he also included ‘Mission’ olive, lemon, lime, apple and pear trees.
Neville limited the number of different plants so that the effect is bold and strong.
For the beds, he chose mainly indigenous grasses which add softness and movement. He mass planted them for greater impact and to create a contemporary look.
For the lawn areas, he chose kikuyu, while beyond the ornamental grasses an approved indigenous grassland mix was sown to form a link between the manicured area and the veld grass.
Overcoming challenges
As the open landscape doesn’t provide protection, the climate in this area is one of extremes with very hot temperatures in summer dropping to below zero in winter.
“I’ve never seen plants die from the cold like this before,” says Neville.
“We had to plant things that would survive, but we also had to replace trees and some of the agapanthus.
“We initially used carpet daisy (Dymondia margaretae) as a groundcover in the courtyards but have since replaced it with white carpet (Falkia repens) which is much hardier.”
In winter, most of the trees and shrubs are covered with frost protection.Since the estate doesn’t allow boreholes, keeping the garden alive during hot, dry periods is another challenge.
Two 20 000L water storage tanks were built underground and are fed by rainwater harvested off the roof.
“While this might sound like a lot of water, with a property this size it probably only lasts for about two weeks in winter,” says Neville who installed an irrigation system with a controller linked by Wi-Fi.
“While the garden was being established, our water bills were huge,” recalls Renette.
So, they had to come up with another solution, which was to water what they could and leave the rest.
That way, they could see what survived and what didn’t and plant more of what did.
But five years later, the plants are becoming acclimatised, although the trees have not grown as quickly as anticipated.
Growing their own
One of the features of the property is the courtyard off the kitchen where the sisters grow their own vegetables and herbs.
It is accessed through the kitchen, and also features lemon and bay trees. In the foreground is the roof of the chicken coop.
To keep the chickens out of the herbs, Neville designed timber herb boxes which fit onto the metal pergola so that they are off the ground.
“The chickens eat the slugs and snails and provide us with eggs,” says Renette.
“Monkeys also love the vegetable garden, especially tomatoes and pumpkins, so we’ve had to cover some of the raised beds with wire mesh,” says Renette.
Neville’s choice of grasses
Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum ‘Rubrum’)
The foliage of this grass and its striking burgundy/purple plumes are ideal for adding colour, especially when mass planted. “It’s particularly effective here because we could use it to form a contrasting colour band between the more natural looking gongoni grass.
And as it grows tall, it gave us the height variation we were after,” explains Neville.
Common rush (Juncus effusus)*
Fast-growing and evergreen, this perennial grass grows 1m tall and features bronzy seedheads.
“As it grows upright, it creates a structural contrast to the fluffier grasses we used elsewhere. It’s typically found near rivers in bog conditions, so we planted it next to the water feature as a reference to that,” says Neville.
Birds love it as it provides nesting sites. It will grow in most soil types but needs watering during very dry periods. Plant it in sun or semi-shade.
Cape thatching reed (Elegia tectorum)*
“This restio has small bronzy flowers in autumn. Since it’s evergreen, we planted it to create drama and structure at the entrance when the other grasses are dormant,” says Neville. It grows to a height of 1–1.5m.
It’s not fussy about the type of soil as long as it’s well-drained.
Plant it in full sun and water regularly until it is established.
Bristle-leaved red-top grass (Melinis nerviglumis)*
Endemic to Gauteng, this perennial grass has attractive pink fluffy plumes and attracts both butterflies and birds which feed on its seeds.
“We chose it because it’s both drought- and frost-hardy.
Also, the seed provides a colour variation when interplanted with gongoni grass,” says Neville. Plant it in sun or semi-shade in well-drained soil.
Gongoni grass (Aristida junciformis)*
This tufted, evergreen grass does well in most gardens and even in waterlogged soil.
It grows to a height of 60cm and has beautiful seed heads from early summer to autumn.
“We used it here to add movement and a soft fluffy texture,” says Neville.
It makes an eye-catching feature, especially when planted en masse.
“It’s also a no-nonsense grass and handles the cold spells experienced in this area very well.”
* indigenous
CONTACTcreatealandscape.co.za
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