Page 14 - Landscape-Issue160

PROJECT

A circular seating area provides a place to rest and enjoy the gardens

planting rather than engineering, and dense ribbons of
indigenous flowering species bind the soil while softening the
terrain into a series of living contours. Comprising tree fuschias,
Cape honeysuckle and mixed shrub layers, these banks carry
colour through the seasons; their purpose is practical but their
effect is aesthetic.
At ground level, the garden opens up into rolling lawns that
bring a feeling of calm to the space. Here, Syzigium cordatum and
Ficus sycomorus have been placed and in time, their canopies will
cast deep shade, creating spaces to gather, linger, have a picnic or
simply enjoy solitude beside the water.
Planting throughout leans strongly but not exclusively towards
the indigenous, with masses of Agapanthus, Dietes and Tulbaghia
creating a shifting ground layer that is textural and resilient. The
effect is not a botanical display but rather cohesion – a garden
that reads as a whole rather than as collection.
Set slightly apart from the main water body is a more intricate
counterpoint – the Unalome garden itself. Here, the language
shifts from broad strokes to intimacy.
Banana and citrus trees share space with lemongrass, herbs
and roses trained over arches, forming a layered food and flower
garden. This is a deliberate acknowledgement to the land’s
agricultural past, but also to its present role – part of a wider
system of orchards and productive landscapes that supply local Roses trained over arches create a layered flower garden
feeding schemes and community initiatives. An on-site nursey
provides a space to propagate and grow more plants for the
venue when needed.
The most evocative space lies beside the wedding venue
itself – a grove of coral trees, their sculptural forms defining a
natural sanctuary. Beneath them, ceremonies unfold not against
a constructed backdrop but within a living one. It is a space that
feels less designed than discovered.
Unalome succeeds because it resists excess. Its gestures are
measured: stabilise rather than impose, plant densely rather than
build heavily, allow time to complete what design begins. The
result is a landscape that offers more than beauty – it offers calm,
generosity and a sense of quiet continuity between what the land
was, and what it is becoming.

Information supplied by Marie-Claire Clements of Simon Clements: Garden &
Landscape Design. Photos courtesy of Toxic Micz Photography n A formal water feature contrasts with the relaxed informality of the circular pond

12 Landscape SA • Issue 160 2025 Check us out www.salandscape.co.za