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PROJECT

Ficus alii underplanted with Plectranthus ciliaris and
linear rows of Ruscus and Aspidistra

Main entrance

To create the street announcement, Wium
says she used soil mounding to form
two “table tops” with sloped sides and
hedging. The soil was sloped upwards
from the pavement so that it is level with
a retaining wall at the hotel’s entrance
and exit points. The raised table tops carry
two large Harpephyllum caffrum trees
and clipped Viburnum sinensis hedges,
creating the highest level of the “stacked”
hedge design. The sloped, hedged sides
of the table tops blend with the lower
level hedging to form different heights; all
hedging comprises Viburnum foliage.

Close to the hotel’s glass doors, the
planting design is linear, with bands of
groundcovers flowing outwards from
Ficus alii trees in raised boxes. Planting
comprises Plectranthus ciliaris, Aspidistra
eliator and Ruscus aculeatus and their
placement was dictated by the presence
of massive Y-shaped concrete columns.
Wium also had to take into account the
fact that there was restricted depth on
this slab, affecting both the planting
and a water feature. Designed by Bertha
Wium Landscape Development, the water
element comprises a series of raised
blocks of different sizes and stepped at
different heights, seemingly emerging
from the tiled flooring. The water is calm
in these shallow basins, which are divided
Tree and hedge planting on Katherine Street, creating a landscaped by small walls and weirs; pebble beds
announcement to the hotel provide an attractive finish. Wium says
that after completing the design of the

Landscape SA • Issue 93 2020 5