A Growing Passion

When Taryn Turner talks about her Underberg garden, the word ‘love’ pops up frequently. That’s her lodestar – if you love it, grow it

- Anne Schauffer

In early 2013, Taryn and Murray Turner moved as newlyweds to their family-owned dairy farm, Hlogoma in Underberg. The farmhouse – originally built and lived in by Murray’s parents – is around 36 years old. The surrounding garden is fenced, and beyond that, lies endless pasture, and in the distance, the dairy.

Taryn is the passionate gardener, “This old garden really needed some love, and it was given to me to provide that,” she says. “I wanted to maintain and restore its beauty and also to add my own touch. Some of the family’s old roses, hydrangeas, rhododendrons and azaleas were still here, and I kept some, but removed others I didn’t like.”

For Taryn, love is the cornerstone of a garden. “I don’t feel like a garden has to be forever,” she says, “It’s seasonal and changeable – and if you don’t enjoy a certain part of it, then change it until you do. That’s what I’ve always done.”

For the first two years, Taryn and Murray cleared overgrown beds. They retained most of the original shapes, but removed, added, redesigned and changed the contents. Taryn was determined to establish a veggie garden or two, plant fruit trees, and from the 50 roses originally there, she now has 421. She laughs, “Yes, I adore roses!” Her favourite, ‘Knysna’, is in the front garden: “The burst of pastel peach that it gives against a pink foxglove is breathtaking.”