My pioneer plant - spekboom or Portulacaria afra

Dozen for Diana 3

As a gardener something I learnt about years after it was too late, was pioneer plants or nurse trees.

Spekboom against a blue, still summer, sky

In Ernst van Jaarsveld’s Wonderful Waterwise Gardening I find a list of pioneer species for a fynbos or renosterveld garden. Euryops pectinatus and virgineus (yellow daisy bushes), Metalasia (honeybush, tiny fragrant white flowers), Chrysanthemoides monilifera (bushtick berry or bietou donated by our birds), Pelargonium capitatum, Carpobrotus (sour fig, a groundcover with thick succulent leaves), Podalyria sericea (silver sweetpea bush, Cape satin bush) and our annual daisies Dimorphotheca, Ursinia and Arctotis.

Grateful for lush green spekboom leaves

By accident and lessons learnt with grudging difficulty, we have most of these plants in our garden. Now we are tackling the bits that didn’t work. The Ungardener is working on the dry sunny bit between the ash trees and Ungardening Pond – which is in your face as you cross the verandah to But it’s NOT A Garden!! A second neighbour has donated his spekboom Portulacaria afra cuttings to our garden. And we have taken cuttings to our new garden in False Bay.

Lichen encrusted spekboom at Addo

As seen in Addo with real elephants, Spekboom comes from the Eastern Cape with its summer rainfall. It is a tough succulent with small leaves, eminently able to thrive here despite our hot dry mediterranean summer. Given time the shrubby plants grow into small trees amongst which it is hard to see the elephants, until they come to the waterhole or cross the road.

Elephants eating spekboom at Addo

From yearinthewild at Baviaanskloof. Spekboom produces a huge amount of leaf litter – incredibly, as much as wet forest ecosystems! It is this massive amount of leaf litter which allows other plants to grow and thrive in a semi-arid region. The rich organic soil which is generated sustains plenty of life, including herds of buffalo and eland.

The spekboom veld is able to create its own micro climate, in which thousands of other species can live. But if it is overgrazed, and the soil is damaged, it has disastrous consequences, as the whole system collapses and desert conditions will eventually prevail. The rainfall here is notoriously variable, and temperatures can soar in summer.

This ecosystem collapse has happened on a lot of farms which border the river in the valley. 

Our elephant in his spekboom forest

We went to the Baviaanskloof in November 2010 where we saw the thicket restoration project. Carbon sequestration as part of our response to battling global weirding.

Spekboom at Elephant's Eye Light Railway

As the elephants chomp happily on whole branches, so you too can nibble a few lemony-sour leaves. These are plants which don’t sulk and fade when an elephant knocks a branch to the ground. Even a little cluster of leaves landing on the ground will grow. Once you have established plants, you have a ready supply of bits to spread around.

Growing across and over the path, volunteer cuttings of spekboom

For the Dozen for Diana meme return with me to your imaginary empty small garden.

1. A newly cleared bed where the tree came down?

2. Choose plants that you know will grow happily in your climate and soil!   

3. I lean to indigenous/native for wildlife.

4. Colour, scent, texture or interest - so we see a garden.

What would be the chosen pioneer/nurse for your own garden?

Dozen for Diana, now we are 3

I began this year with my signature blue sage, and added a witkaree tree. Originally my third choice was a groundcover Plectranthus madagascariensis but I’ve learnt the pioneer comes first!

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Donna at gardenseyeview has Trilliums.  I’m enchanted by both the burgundy flowers, and the spotted trifoliate leaves.

TheSageButterfly in the other hemisphere is dancing with her spring daffodils.

Laura at PatioPatch is going Franco-Japanese with a hydrangea Mariesii Perfecta.

Christine who shares a shadier version of my climate has chosen our wild iris Dietes grandiflora.

Pam in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania brings her black walnut trees. They don't 'play nicely' with other plants so Pam gardens with informed care.

Beth combines fond memories with today's exuberance in Magnolia stellata.

The Violet Fern brings the magick and alchemy of Lady's Mantle and her dew.

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Joining later, we have the first pioneer choice experiments-with-plants Pinks.

Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.)