by KBergReserve

Upcoming Gardeners’ Circle visit

On Monday 19 November the Gardeners’ Circle will meet at Harold Porter Gardens at 09:00 for a visit around SANBI’s HPNBG nursery. Karen Wall, the horticulturist at Harold Porter, is our hostess. Afterwards we will meet for tea and a chat at the Gardens. Meanwhile, Cornelia de Villiers has set up a Facebook page for the Gardeners’ Circle. Below is the message that she recently sent out to members: Dear Gardeners’ Circle member Please join the "Fynbos Gardeners’ Circle" Facebook group by clicking HERE.  Here we can share our photos of the gardens we visit, ask questions about plants we saw…
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by KBergReserve

A Botanical Art Feast

“Botanical artists are detail people who fall in love with the plants they paint. The close-up view gives us a great connection to the natural world…” Vicki Thomas Our Branch monthly talk for November is by Vicki Thomas, one of South Africa’s most well known and well loved botanical artists. Here, we delve a little deeper into the world of the botanical artist, and hope you find the reading as enriching as we found the researching. The difference between ​botanical art, botanical illustration and flower painting [View source] Put simply the differences relate to EMPHASIS: In botanical…
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by KBergReserve

Pringle Bay Hack Report No 140

On our first Saturday hack on 27 October 2018 the hackers of the community surprised even themselves! In attendance were 38 hackers and 12 chainsaws! Really something to be proud of. During the third session on this plot next to the entrance of Pringle Bay we finally cleared the Eastern side (see photo below). Two pines were left along the fence next to the R44; they are growing too close to the telephone line, so we will engage with them at a later stage. But the rest of the area is now clear of invaders,…
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by KBergReserve

Betty’s Bay Hack Report No 667

The battle for Betty's Bay: Report on Hack no 667 A huge effort by the troops all but cleared the verges of Disa Circle and surrounds. Well done to everybody! The tea was made by Merran Silberbauer, and the sandwiches by Jane Fearnhead. Thank you ladies! Penguin Place again donated the bread, so thank you to them too. The troops were Mike Begley, David Bossenger, Tom Dreyer, Rachel Faria, Ulli Niemann, Chris Geldenhuys, Willem Stiglingh, Bernard van Wulven, John and Sue Weaver, Lewis and Caroline Silberbauer, new hacker David Morant and Frik Potgieter. Ed Silberbauer…
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by KBergReserve

Gardeners’ Circle 22 October 2018

The fourth gathering of the Gardeners’ Circle* took place in Rooi Els on the wind-free, sunnily warm morning of Monday 22 October. Numbers attending the Gardeners’ Circle have grown on each successive occasion, and this time totalled 49 people, who strolled happily from venue to venue under the direction of Dave de Klerk who had organised the proceedings. The aim once again was to visit three local gardens - each with its own specific climate and soil conditions, and to explore the effect these have on the plants one can hope to grow successfully. No…
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by KBergReserve

Something every hacker knows

Courtesy of treepopper.co.za A Tree Popper is a rugged, simple tool that makes it easy to remove invasive/unwanted plants and trees. PRACTICAL - A simple, yet effective, one-person, back-saving implement, used to extract unwanted trees and plants, roots and all. PRODUCTIVE - No repetitive clearing in the same area – the perfect tool for follow-up, final clearing. COST-EFFECTIVE - A rugged tool that needs no maintenance at all. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY - Organic and manual operation with no herbicides, petrol, oil, grease or high-speed blades to cause damage to natural vegetation. ADAPTABLE - The Tree Popper…
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by KBergReserve

Celebrating Women in Conservation: Nosicelo Luhabe

By CapeNature  “I want to thank CapeNature for giving us this opportunity, it means a lot to us and it really opens doors for us.” These are the words uttered by Nosicelo Luhabe after receiving her certificate for her tremendous work as a Pupil Field Ranger under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).  During the month of August this year, CapeNature celebrated some of the amazing women in the organisation. Here is the story of Nosicelo Luhabe. She started as a general worker in 2015 and qualified as a Pupil Field Ranger in 2018.  When we asked her about her journey, she wrote a beautiful thank…
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by KBergReserve

Thanking Priscilla Blake

CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION FOR PRISCILLA BLAKE This huge smile from Priscilla tells it all. At long last Priscilla has a small but tangible token of her very substantial gift of Ethel Dixie paintings to Kogelberg Branch. A visit to her new home, a small room in Heritage Manor’s Health Care Centre, found her happy and alert, in fact she was reading Gerald McCann’s Seven Years among the Giants, the giants being Protea cynaroides. (McCann was a forester in the Kogelberg.) It was a signed copy as was her Your Place in the Kogelberg by Tim…
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