Embracing The Past

Selected for year-round interest, plants such as aloes, Albuca nelsonii and agapanthus soften the terraces that define this revamped garden

- Connall Oosterbroek

When Paul and Kathy Inglis moved to the historic Thornhill Estate in Modderfontein about 17 years ago, they had pretty much no garden to speak of. The house was originally semi-detached, built in the Transvaal vernacular and surrounded by a few trees and kikuyu lawn. “We were also rather intimidated by the sheer scale of the project. Luckily, we had an ace up our sleeves – our good friend Debbie Smit of Foxgloves Landscape Design,” says Kathy.

“It was quite an imposing task at first glance,” agrees Debbie, “but because the garden was already broken up into sections, I knew that we could tackle it one ‘room’ at a time and when funds allowed. In fact, we finally revamped the verge garden this spring.”

Debbie’s first bit of advice was to bring in another Phoenix canariensis. “There was a single large palm as you came into the property and it threw the balance right out,” explains Kathy. “Although their first instinct was to remove it, it seemed such a shame to take out such a magnificent specimen,” says Debbie, “So I suggested that they source another one of a similar height.”