Charles shares gardening wisdom at Ouland Royale venue

Charles did a talk for the Formosa Garden Club recently at his sister Wilja’s extraordinary venue, Ouland Royale, fondly also known as the Barn, on the Reitz family farm Ouland, outside Plettenberg Bay. Charles is not a seasoned speaker but quickly had his audience engrossed as he imparted some of his knowledge about trees and gardening in general, all fuelled by his natural passion.

Charles naturally concentrated on trees and tree care, including creative pruning, with little tips that come from daily experience and make all the difference in getting the tree to look just that much better and that much healthier. He also spoke about subtleties of style in large and small gardens, including tips on tending plants brought in from commercial nurseries and their special requirements, and the best types of compost (which you can’t buy).

Charles is also passionate about subtlety in gardens (and roadsides for that matter) and not shocking the viewer with an overdose of juxtaposed colours. Pavement delinquency is also a concern for him, when property owners annex their roadside pavements with white painted rocks and other illegal interventions.

And don’t worry about those innocent little daisy flowers that pop up through the roadside lawns in spring; you don’t need to annihilate them with your high-powered mower; let them be.

Above all, keep the neighbourhood tranquil. Garden services have their place, but their workers are often machine-trained and love nothing better than blowing away the peace and quiet, not to mention nutritious detritus, with the leaf-blowing machines, a particular menace for Charles.

Turning an untidy tree into a beautiful work of art for transplant

Transplanting a tree requires careful preparation best undertaken by experts. Crown reduction and general pruning is one of the first steps to be completed, as seen in these pictures of Charles and his team. They have worked together on so many of these projects that while Charles is in the tree doing the pruning he can trust the practised eyes of his foreman Themba and his right-hand man Ova to judge and gauge the balance and aesthetic appearance of the tree.

Unfortunately this process puts the tree into a state of shock and it needs special feeding to maintain its good health, for which Charles applies a special supplement food spray to give the tree additional energy before the transplant. Then the roots have to be checked and the root ball specially prepared, enclosed and protected, before it can be picked up by a crane truck.

This Natal mahogany is to be transplanted from one part of Plettenberg Bay to another for practical and aesthetic reasons.

Trees are frequently regarded as being “in the way” on new building sites or on properties with sea views, for example, and either cut down or indiscriminately “topped”. This is often unnecessary and even tragic when one considers the great contribution trees of all kinds make to beautifying, enhancing and moderating often bland or downright ugly environments.