THE Durban Botanic Gardens planting and design team has been hard at work this week preparing for the upcoming Trail of Lights event.
Speaking about the project, horticulturist, Jennifer Rampersad, said three areas in the Gardens had been prepared for the festive season and Trail of Lights, with 18 000 annuals having been brought in from the Parks nursery.
“I have had my team of five working to ensure the Gardens are ready for the event. I did things a bit differently this year and prepared the design a month ago. I grew plants from seeds, rather than bringing in seedlings like previous years. This was one of the challenges of lockdown, as we had losses at the nursery. Our team worked from Monday 6am, and finished on Sunday afternoon this week, working hard to make the Garden beautiful,” said Rampersad.
She said despite the challenges, her team had still accomplished a design for Magic Lighting to work on, to incorporate the colour of their lights.
Rampersad said plants were planted in the Gazebo, Sunken Garden and Garden of the Senses, and Magic Lighting was currently completing their light installation.
“The lights are basically in, and we are now just doing some touch ups to the Gardens,” she said.
ALSO READ: ‘Tis the season for giving life, says SANBS
Commenting on the event, curator, Martin Clement, said he was grateful the Gardens was able to host the event again this year.
“I have confidence in the organising team, the Trail of Lights production team, our Trust team, including Koren Gnirk, and Jennifer’s team and this was definitely the right team to be able to pull this off again. We looked at the restrictions and compliance to make this a safe event for our visitors, and I feel that particularly this year this event is very much needed,” he said.
Clement said the event also brought to light the value of public open spaces and he said it was so rewarding seeing the preparations taking place for this event.
“It has been a huge push as preparations started later this year, but the team has done well. The strong family and charity focus make this more than just an event, and it is an opportunity to showcase the Gardens. Even from a creative perspective, this is such an exciting event,” he said.
The Trail of Lights runs from 11 to 30 December, excluding Christmas Day.
Tickets are available from Webtickets or Pick ‘n Pay at R80 per person with entry at 6pm, R70 for those entering at 7pm and R60 for people attending at 8pm.
Children two years and under enter for free.
Do you want to receive news alerts via Telegram? Send us a message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple
