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FEATURE

Ornamental stream originating from a water feature. The wooden bridge was custom-made for the display. Cymbidium orchids in the display

novelty plants and during the process,
acquired knowledge and expertise from
self-study, research and mentors.”

During their working career, the couple
began creating miniature landscapes and
bonsai as a hobby, and launched Living Art
on Instagram to document their projects.
“We started to sell our creations locally as
gifting ideas and found that it was a niche
market in our area, for which we had a
creative talent. This became a part time
side hustle and as it began to grow, we
realised that we needed a larger working
space. In 2020, I was retrenched from my
full-time job and decided to make Living
Art a brand,” he says.

They rented a small shop in Westville, Durban
and started getting requests to design
garden landscapes. Applying their self-
acquired knowledge and creative flair from
the miniature landscapes, they upscaled
their visions and started to transform small
Above and below left: A shoji screen formed the backdrop to the garden
garden spaces and courtyards.
They then slowly started to build a team of
young landscaping enthusiasts and were
soon approached by a newly qualified
horticulturist, Nomfundo Dlamini, who
was seeking employment after having
completed her National Diploma in
Horticulture at the Durban University of
Technology. Her technical background
added an edge to the team as the company
had started to undertake larger and more
challenging projects.

To date these include a number of residential
projects in Westville and surrounding areas
within Durban, the installation of instant
lawn, artificial grass, design and installation
of custom planter boxes and water features,
biophilic interiors and courtyard design. They
are currently working on an elaborate rooftop
garden for an apartment complex in Durban,
as well as other new projects originating from
Plants used created a soft green garden that the House and Garden Show.
contrasted well with the fine duzi gravel
groundcover Email: livingartdbn@gmail.com n

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