STAFF capacity shortage during lockdown forced the Durban Botanic Gardens to prioritise areas in the Gardens, particularly its major botanical collections, however the Gardens staff is now on a major revamp programme, with support of the Durban Botanic Gardens Trust, leading up to end of the year.
Martin Clement, curator of the Durban Botanic Gardens, said as the Gardens were closed during lockdown level five, and only gradually opened, and as there has been limited staff on duty, they were faced with an enormous backlog.
One such area of concern was the lake, and reports of the lake covered with water lettuce were received.
Rapid growth
“One of our most popular attractions, the lake, was covered in invasive water lettuce, which grows at an alarming rate. As soon as the weather warmed up, it grew even faster. It is difficult to clear as it grows along the edges and needs to be carefully removed. The Trust managed to secure funding and assistance, and it has now been cleared. It is nice to show visitors that something has happened with this,” said Clement.
He said other projects in the programme include revamping the orchid display house.
“All orchids are being cared for back of house in our special collections nursery. We are using this time to change the collection, and to replace roof sheeting. It is going to take some time as there is a lot of work involved, but I am confident visitors will appreciate the end result,” he said.
Clement said another project was to move the cannas from the area in front of the orchid house to the new strelitzia garden in the educational area.
He said a new drainage system had been put in in the space in front of the orchid house, and future plans were to put in a number of sumps to take water up to the reservoir.
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“The gardens are situated on an old landfill site for the city. If you dig down you will find old bottles and pieces of china, and we are in the process of picking up pieces of broken glass in this area.”
He said a new, large selfie frame would be installed, as the old one had been well used, which would have a view up through the Gardens.
“We have interesting ideas to make this area work well as a vista space.”
How nature responded during lockdown
Clement said this is the first time in the Gardens’ history that it has not been maintained.
“Nature has thrived. It is interesting to see how nature responded to lockdown. however it wasn’t as bad as I expected. For a 15 hectare space such as this, having been in existence since 1851, the resilience builds up over time. Things looked healthy, there was life in the soil, it was interesting from a nature study perspective. However, we need to maintain the space for visitors,” he said.
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Clement said it was quite a challenge to make the public open space accessible as well as safe for visitors.
Now that the Gardens were open seven days a week, limited to 500 people in the space at a time, he urged visitors to be patient while projects were underway.
“There will be no large groups or gatherings, but family picnics are allowed. The conference centre is closed at the moment. We are taking gradual steps as we realise how valuable this place is for people’s mental well-being,” he said.
There is currently only one entrance open, at the Visitors’ Complex, and there is a guard at the gate. There are sanitising stations set up and toilets will be kept sanitised and clean. “We always encourage visitors to provide us with feedback, and we hope they will enjoy their visit and feel safe and secure,” said Clement.
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