Indigenous Plant Palettes author assists with community upliftment programme

Marijke Honig, author of the current best selling garden book – Indigenous Plant Palettes – has not been resting on her laurels since finishing her book. Far from it. Marijke has been asked by The City of Cape Town to design a community garden project at Village Heights on the western boundary of Rondevlei, behind Lavendar Hill.

Working in conjunction with Loubie Rusch, a fellow landscape designer, the two creatives completed the plan for the project in December, after various site visits and workshops with the residents to find out what they would want from a local community garden. This pilot project focuses on facilitating a deeper connection between people and nature, while introducing practical aspects of the programme, including a crèche, living library of local plants and community centre, each implemented by different stakeholders.

Getting the local community onboard is crucial to the project. On Monday 19 January a Making A Start event was held with residents joining 33 students from Kingston University in London to make a start on the garden. By all accounts it was a great success.

Over a hundred bags of trash were removed from the nature area, including car bumpers, half a bath, paddle ski and chunks of concrete. 10 tyre benches and seating were created as well with the help of locals.

The city currently has no funding for this project so if you have any ideas on how to raise funds, or want to get involved, please get in touch with Marijke via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/marijke.honig) and make your suggestions. Indigenous Plant Palettes is available from all good bookstores and online retailers.

About the Author

Marijke Honig studied Botany at UCT, worked at Kirstenbosch, and has for the last 15 years been designing and planting indigenous landscapes. Marijke is recognised for her ability to create indigenous landscapes with an underlying harmony, reflecting her in-depth plant knowledge and love for texture.