TRUE COLOURS

Big blousy blooms create architectural drama and lure biodiversity to this Franschhoek garden

- HEIDI BERTISH

IN BRIEF

Size Five hectares across various gardened areas on a 25-hectare guest farm in Franschhoek

Soil type Clay and rock with impoverished sandy soils, naturally replenished with compost, organic eco pellets and bonemeal

Climate Long, hot, dry summers and short, cold, wet winters. Strong prevailing winds throughout the year

X-factor Large scale painterly perennial borders, electric colour curated Mediterranean planting and instated meadow, now wild, self-seeding and home to a host of pollinators

One would be hard-pressed to know that the gardens at La Cotte Farm in Franschhoek are in their infancy. The grand double borders, lush lawns and profusion of big, blousy blooms look more like a well-established romantic garden of old than the intoxicating new discovery that it is, completed a little over a year ago, to be precise. La Cotte is the brainchild of landscape and interior designer Dominic Touwen, who has turned his intuitive flair with colour and pattern to the outdoors and created a garden crammed with electric colour and painterly plant combinations that immediately captivate the senses.