Naming of parts at Elephant’s Eye

UPDATE: In November Ungardening Pond is circled with purple spires as I've solved the marginal planting problem.

We are in January looking thru the eyes of the Roman god Janus both towards and back.  Last week I looked towards and chose my first tree for the False Bay garden which waits for us. 

The Story of Elephant’s Eye

Chapter 1

Today I look back at Elephant's Eye. I choose Summer Gold at Paradise and Roses - adding a little bling to your ‘yellow border’. Since I love words and my garden, I am recalling Naming of Parts.

In December 2006 work begins on Pani's Falls

by April 2007 the house is making progress

Pani’s Falls

The Ungardener’s first big project, after laying out the driveway so we and the builders had access to our panhandle plot, was building Pani's Falls. In our green, eco-friendly, sustainable, tread lightly way – he used urbanite to build the waterfall. Chunks of concrete from the floor of the farmer’s co-op, demolished after the fire. At first the waterfall looked like something dumped from a UFO. But once the pond was dug, and first graciously filled with rain – it appeared and remains the focal point of our garden.

December 2007 we have water in Ungardening Pond

Pani's Falls in January 2013

They collected one Land Rover load at a time, just a few pieces, to build each layer of the waterfall. The heavy labour was done by Pani, Rasta man, whose Sanskrit name means hand, so Pani’s Falls – hand made, fait de main (it sounds better in French!) Pani’s Falls is today framed by four Searsia/Rhus trees.

Ungardening Pond

My husband is the Ungardener. No, it’s not an insult, just my preferred term for hard landscaping. Without his Ungardening, our garden would be just another like any other. 

Ungardening Pond is filled with wildlife. In April 2011 we refilled the pond, after relining it. How immediately life returned. The frogs have been with us, their lives lived out hunting crickets in the mulch layer we try to cover the garden in. A blur of movement, and a frog emerges as the watering can shower disturbs him. We heard reed frogs clicking in the afternoon, frogs croaking and raucous toads bellowing at night. Now there are tadpoles, drawing back our kingfishers.

Water lilies and yellow water iris, but the rest are mostly indigenous/native to South Africa. Dwarf papyrus a graceful thug. In the pond grows Juncus, eel-grass, truckloads of oxygenating plant. There was the bulrush which chewed thru the lining. The damper hollows on fields are covered with wild Arum or calla lilies like a flock of sheep. 

November 2006 we dig Ungardening Pond

Ungardening Pond is large. Return to May 2010 and walk the long and the short view with me. We began construction in November 2006. In December 2007 we had WATER!

The hole the bulrush chewed
in Ungardening Pond August 2010

Repairs in January 2011

Then sadly, infuriatingly our pond sprung a leak, had to be drained completely and resealed. Awful hard work in brutal summer heat, nearly finished off the Ungardener – but Ungardening Pond is now well-behaved. Today’s battle is reining in exuberant plants.

Ungardening Pond first water December 2007

Ungardening Pond in January 2013

I will unravel our story. For us to remember how we were, and so future owners could read back. 

Chapter 2. Well earned names. Black Stork Island and Rest and Be Thankful.

Pictures by Jurg and Diana 

text by Diana Studer

AKA 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.)