Our New Indigenous Garden

11 March 2014

Kirstenhof has been fortunate to have been offered a wonderful gift. Cape Contours, a local Landscaping company, made a generous offer to redo our school's front garden. 

Since the building was redone and our smart foyer built, it was really time for an upgrade. The garden was already home to a number of indigenous plants, including many aloes and an endangered Cycad. With this in mind, we decided to keep the garden indigenous, as well as "waterwise" and only local plants endemic to the Cape region were chosen for the garden.

Of course the learners were eager to get their hands dirty. We had a very exciting afternoon helping with the planting. We got a crash course in soil preparation and planting techniques. The children really enjoyed getting busy in the soil.

The garden will take a few months to start growing. We eagerly await signs of life peeping up from the soil. While we wait, we will be getting started on our plant signs. We also hope to put together an informational booklet about all the new plants on our school grounds.  Watch this space!

Miss Brain prepares the troops for planting

A talk from the experts about local climate and soil conditions.

The kids jumping in

Jasmine getting her hands dirty.

Ranveer getting involved.

Emily and Shannon showing us how it's done.

Kayla and Emily taking the gardening seriously.

David, Cailyn and 

Renee' and Tessa showing us how to use the milk bottle spade.

Inam giving his new plant tender loving care.

The right side of the garden. Looking bare now, but just wait till it all grows!

The right side of the garden, with a lovely stone path to walk on.