James’ blooming marvellous garden

IF you were to take one look at Glen Anil resident, James Easton’s garden, you might mistake the landscape for a still from the latest Alice in Wonderland film. With more than 1 000 roses dotting the landscape, bonsais of all shapes and sizes, rare and exotic bromeliads and orchids, James’ miracle garden has truly earned its place as the Durban’s best garden.

He even has two titles to back up his blooming green-fingered passion. The 26-year-old’s garden was named the Best Small Garden of the Year by the Durban Horticulturalist Society last year, a feat he is hoping to repeat this year. For Easton, his love for his garden and plants often sees him working in the early hours of the morning and into the late hours of the night.

“It was a great feeling winning for the second time because I pour my heart into my gardening and landscaping. Gardening takes my stress away, every day after work I come down and tend to the various plants. I have about 1 200 roses which bloom in winter and a number of rare orchids and bromeliads. I have a koi pond as well as a bonsai collection. I get a lot of residents stopping by and saying how beautiful the garden looks, which is always lovely. It shows people are moved by what they see,” he said.

The Mvule Road resident, who has been drug and alcohol-free for the past three years, said gardening has helped him on the road to recovery.

“I have always been an outdoors kid, and I loved the garden. But there came a point in my life where things hit a real low point, I began drinking, taking drugs, snorting cocaine. It was the seven darkest years of my life, but gardening was my one saving grace. It took me away from that life and offered me a way to forge my own path. I began to spend all my time landscaping and working in the garden and I’ve worked really hard to get the garden where it is today, which is an incredible achievement for me,” he said.

Easton added that his hope was to use his story to inspire people, especially youngsters, so that they can overcome the odds.

“I think finding your passion and loving what you do is important. I hope I can inspire young people to try their hand at gardening, it really is a fantastic way to bond with nature and appreciate its beauty. Every time my mom or my mates look at the garden and smile, that’s what makes it worth it for me. That simple, tiny moment is priceless,” he said.