More than 2 500 rose plants, all in soft pastel shades, fill this park-like garden in Bryanston. It looks spectacular all year round, but in autumn the cooler days seem to add an extra dimension, emphasising the subtle colours and soft fragrances.
As a lover of delicate pastels, Lindy McAllister’s brief to landscaper Karen Gardelli,
of Creative Containers, a mere three years ago was uncompromising: keep away from anything bright, like orange, fuchsia pink or red. It has been a challenge for Karen, who loves bright, vibrant colours, especially as a contrast to cooler colours. In deference to her client’s requirements she has learnt to work with blends of cream, pink and lemon, using varieties such as ‘Roberto Capucci’, ‘Priceless Pearl’, ‘Pearl of Joy’, ‘Fay’s Folly’, ‘Bienkie’, ‘Garden and Home’, ‘Adele Searll’, ‘Andrew’s Comfort’, ‘Zanta Hofmeyr’, ‘Moonlight Panarosa’ and ‘Linda Anne’ (named after the owner of the garden). One concession has been the deep pink ‘Granny Dearest’, used as a foil for the soft pink ‘My Granny’.
The first impression of the garden is one of abundance and Karen’s philosophy is very simple –”why have mediocre when you can have spectacular?”
As the garden sweeps down the hill from the house, beds edged with roses lead the eye to the formal rose garden at the bottom. This circular garden is enclosed by an arch and columns of ‘The Heritage Rose’. Twenty-two different varieties of hybrid teas fill the semi-circular beds around a central fountain. These include ‘Snow Queen’, ‘Bridal Pink’ ,’Champagne Pearl’ ,’L’Aimant’, ‘Alan Tew’, ‘Porcelain’, ‘Casanova’ , ‘Una Van Der Spuy’, ‘Delicate Beauty’, ‘Kolbe’s Diamond’, ‘Bride’s Dream’, ‘The Lady’, ‘Lyn Keppler’, ‘Full Sail’, ‘Beach Girl’, ‘Elegant Beauty’ and ‘Belami’.
Looking back towards the house from the formal rose garden is yet another vista of roses interplanted with flowering shrubs and conifers. Raised planting boxes create a sense of enclosure around the house and pool. They act as a low enclosing wall, and have been filled with roses, giving the impression of a green wall of leaves with sprays of flowers cascading over the edges. Raised beds of ‘My Granny’ and ‘Granny’s Delight’ outside the guest wing are particularly spectacular and act as a screen, creating a private space for guests.
In a more secluded section of the garden, roses soak up the sun on a north facing slope while the rest of the garden reclines under shade trees, a mix of ferns, zantedeschias, Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’, variegated hydrangeas and other soft-leafed plants.
To achieve the impression of abundance Karen plants densely, using the same variety of rose in groups of three or five for impact. Where she wants a particularly full look, she will plant three of the same kind of rose in one hole. She also repeats the same varieties of roses and shrubs so that the garden has a sense of cohesion. Roses also climb up the walls of the double storey house and are tied onto the pillars supporting the pergola that shades a dining area for hot days.
Reasons for success
Karen put a lot of effort into the initial soil preparation and reconditioning. This involved trench digging to a depth of one metre and bringing in tons of compost and topsoil. A combination of superphosphate and Ludwig’s rose planting mix was used when planting, and compost is regularly added to the beds so that the soil is remains light, well aerated and drains easily. Creating raised beds has also helped, especially as most of the garden is on a slope. The built up beds have acted as giant containers that retain the soil and protect the rose roots from competition
from nearby trees.
Twice a week Karen and her team of eight men maintain the garden and Karen personally deadheads the roses and a long bank of fuchsias in the raised beds under spreading trees. It is certainly not a ‘mow, blow and go’ service, but a process of continuously renewing and enriching the soil, monitoring the watering, manicuring the lawns and edges, trimming and shaping bushes and making changes as the garden evolves. Karen ‘turbo feeds’ the roses with Vigorosa once a month and Nitrosol is watered on as a drench in between. The roses are watered every day, using an automatic irrigation system linked to a borehole. A separate spraying service sprays the roses twice a month; Chronos is used against black spot and the organically certified Ludwig’s Insect Spray for pests like aphids, beetles and thrips. The result is an immaculate garden that is full of flowering roses for 10 months of the year, with a magnificent autumn show.
