Urban gardens have been severely affected by the drought.
Flower beds that in years gone by were a home’s pride, now lie barren and parched.
The much-anticipated summer rains are yet to materialise, and no one is even certain if they will.
While Buffalo City’s dams are relatively full compared to other parts of the province – the Laing Dam is currently at 82.89% capacity, the Nahoon at 66.74% and the Wriggleswade Dam at 86.61% – the lack of rain is still taking its toll on lawns and open spaces.
The SA Weather Service forecasts rain but has little confidence in its current models. Another dry spell is anticipated in March and April.
That said, East London gardeners and landscapers are still finding ways and means to pursue their green-finger ambitions in the midst of the shifting rain patterns.
With infrequent heavy summer rain for the past five years Sean Coetzee, who overseas the annual Pam Golding Properties Gardens of East London showcase, said the event was having to be pushed back later and later in the year.
“We always used to hold it in October, but in the past few years we’ve pushed it back to the second weekend in November to give people a chance to show their gardens in their best condition,” he said.
“I’ve been in East London for 20 years and it’s the driest I’ve seen it.”
However, it seems for the gardening fraternity, where there’s a will there’s a way.
Shireen Harvett, of Amalinda Nursery, said people were turning to drought-tolerant plants and succulents.
“Actually the fashion has been for minimalist gardens in the past few years, so buying these plants fits in with the trend,” Harvett said.
Residents were also planting in pots a lot more than they used to and were using grey water for their plants.
Resident Janet van der Merwe, a member of the Share Gardening Eastern Cape Facebook group, believed it should be compulsory for each household to have a rainwater tank.
“Imagine how much water we will save,” she said.
Another avid gardener, Marietjie Malan Jordaan, has made a decision not to replace water-needy plants when they die.
She has also put containers such as ice-cream tubs in the bottom of her plant’s pots so that water does not just run through.
Thinking out the box, Louise van der Berg suggests placing chopped up banana stalks or thornwood underground, which absorb moisture and will supply plants with water.
“Once a banana plant has born fruit, it needs to be cut down anyway,” she said...