by KBergReserve

Don’t Be Trashy!

Nature offers so much and it is the responsibility of us all to conserve the unique natural heritage resources of the Western Cape for the benefit of future generations.  Nature works like a natural factory to provide us with clean, fresh water and other natural ecosystem services. Water travels all the way from our majestic mountains, through rivers, wetlands and dams before it comes out of your tap. All rubbish ends up in our water ways and the ocean and has a severe impact on the natural environment.  The process starts with each one of us – to reduce our consumption…
read more
by KBergReserve

Talk Report – Sept 2018

Plants and light Chris Whitehouse Living and gardening in the fynbos, we are very aware of the impact of the specific soil conditions of our gardens and the need to provide protection from the wind, but we may not give much thought to the amount of light that various plants require. That is unless your home is close to the mountain, where you are in shade for a large part of the day, particularly during the winter months when the sun is low on the horizon.  Sunlight and its effect on plants was the topic of the interesting talk given on Saturday 15 September by Chris Whitehouse, who runs the Philipskop Mountain Reserve, near Stanford.  Chris began by reminding us why the leafy natural world around us is predominantly in harmonious shades of…
read more
by KBergReserve

Walk Report – Sept 2018

Walk Report for 15 September 2018   It had been months in the making – a combined walk, bringing together members of the Kirstenbosch Branch and the Kogelberg Branch of the Botanical Society, and it didn’t disappoint.  When you have upward of twenty-two eager fynbos junkies making their way through the Brodie Link part of the Hangklip Nature Reserve two things immediately become apparent, you move more slowly and you see more flowers. Aided by such botanical legends as Ivor Jardine and Corinne Merry, we could be sure of a fascinating morning. A bewildering variety of Aspalathus, Cyclopia, Diastella, Serruria, Erica, Leucospermum (including the exquisite sprawling L. prostratum in full flower), Lachnea, fragrant Agathosma, Gladiolus, Mairia, Erepsia, Wachendorfia paniculata, the endemic Hangklip form of Saltera…
read more
by KBergReserve

Future Walks

20 October 2018 Meet at HPNBG at 09h00 and we will walk from there. Enquiries: Tim Attwell, cell phone 082 343 2501  This one is an easy ramble with lots to see. We will explore ‘The Commonage’, the large public open space between Bass Lake (aka Malkopsvlei) and Waterfall Road in Betty’s Bay. Burnt three years ago, the area includes Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland, Hangklip Sand Fynbos and Overberg Dune Strandveld. Let’s see how it has recovered. The paths are good and we can take our time. 
read more
by KBergReserve

Upcoming Talks

Diarise these dates 20 October 2018 17h30 for 18h00 Topic: Old Four Legs Presenter: Dr Kerry Sink (SANBI) Venue: Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens Dr Kerry Sink of SANBI will give a presentation she calls Old Four Legs which is about marine reserves around South Africa. Old Four Legs is a common term given to the coelacanth. The blue-grey coelacanth adults are about two metres long, weigh about 80 kilograms, and have strange tails, limb-like fins, thick scales and prodigious teeth. The fins contain bones that resemble toes on a reptile.    Coelacanths could well be an…
read more
by KBergReserve

Wednesday Hack Group shenanigans

You might have already read the Wednesday Hack report for the month of September. It gives a pretty usual account of the group’s activities, and you might have got the sense that this is a group of regular hackers who, like all the hackers in our part of the world, are passionate conservationists, who enjoy a real sense of camaraderie, and who get stuck into the job with a bucketful of good humour.   But you would not have realised that in the past few weeks, behind the scenes, Willem has been working on a creative design project for the group. So here we unveil, for all Botsoc members to see…
read more
by KBergReserve

Pringle Bay Hack Report No 138

Kindly take note that there was a Hack Report 138, but it was actually a nil return in the sense that the hack was stopped due to rain on the day. Pringle Bay Hack Report No 139 Today, 30 September 2018, was the first scorcher of Spring and what a great turnout! After the cancellation in August due to the rain we had a second session on the plot next to the entrance to Pringle Bay. We again engaged with the serious infestation of Eucalyptus Spider Gum, Rooikrantz, Port Jackson, Australian Myrtle and Pine trees.…
read more
by KBergReserve

Betty’s Bay Hack Report No 666

The battle for Betty's Bay: Report on Hack no 666 On a windy, early summer’s day, the dreaded Roooikrans along the verges of Disa Circle were tackled. This area is a good example of how this enemy proliferates if left to its own devices! But also how, with effort, the fynbos can be restored to all its glory. Well done everybody! The tea was made by Merran Silberbauer, and the sandwiches by Christine Dreyer. Thank you ladies! Penguin Place again donated the bread, so thank you to them! The troops were: Tom Dreyer, Jeannie Harning,…
read more
by KBergReserve

The aliens drank our water!

Understanding the impact of invasive alien vegetation on our water resources   [With thanks to info from the Department of Environmental Affairs]  The Working for Water (WfW) programme was launched in 1995 in response to the realisation of the gravity of the threat that invasive alien plants pose to water resources. A group of scientists and natural resource managers presented the idea to the late Kader Asmal, who was at the time Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry. Professor Asmal was instrumental in getting the government support needed for this programme and it was officially launched in September 1995 at a cost of R25 million. At the time Rand Water also formed an integral part of…
read more
by KBergReserve

Gardeners Group

The second meeting of the Gardeners Group was on Monday 20 August 2018. Perhaps because we are all so grateful for rain, the prospect of a drippy walkabout on this Monday morning did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of our newly-formed Gardeners Group. There was the promise of weather clearing up later in the morning so 23 of us showed up for an exploration of three gardens – this time located at the Pringle Bay end of Betty's Bay. The gardens again differed greatly as to their terrain, soil conditions and age, and once again…
read more