BETWEEN THE mountains AND THE ocean

Larisa Brody’s garden on the slopes of the Helderberg is filled with glorious mass plantings and her favourite feature – eye-catching hedges.

- Marie Esterhuyse

A pathway down the centre of a large olive grove takes on an ochre hue at sunset. Fleabane covers the berms where nearly 100 olive trees grow and mass plantings of, among others, gaura, spur flowers, rosemary, wild garlic and ornamental grasses such as Pennisetum orientale ‘Shogun’ and pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) are planted in-between the rows.

A broad grass pathway with mixed beds on either side leads from the rose garden. These beds, framed by orange jasmine (Murraya exotica), are planted up with large groupings of Salvia leucantha, gaura and garden heliotrope, all of which provide an abundance of colour in summer and autumn.

From a mish-mash of all sorts of different plants to the picture of breathtaking perfection – this is the transformation Larisa Brody’s garden underwent in five years.

“We relocated from Gauteng to Somerset West at the end of 2014 and fell in love with the property because of its expansive garden and beautiful views of the Helderberg on one side and the sea and Hottentots Holland mountains on the other,” says Larisa. “Then I met Stellenbosch garden expert Pietman Diener and before I knew it, we were busy with a massive project!”

The garden makeover was undertaken in two phases. First up was the driveway and pavement, the shade garden around the tennis court and the area closest to the house. Keeping Larisa and her husband Hubert’s preferences and ideas in mind, Pietman drew up a master plan and in August 2015, Danie Steenkamp of DDS Projects got to work. The project took about six months to complete. The second phase was only undertaken in September 2018.