Prestondale couple’s verge a blooming success
The Verge Competition is a programme initiated by the eThekwini Municipality.
A WELL-KNOWN Prestondale couple are ecstatic to have won the eThekwini Municipality’s Verge Competition and hope it will inspire others to follow in their footsteps of planting indigenous, water-wise plants.
Peter Tavener and Marilyn Jesse, from Jesse James Succulent and Landscape Design, walked away with top honours for the Best Residential Verge of the Year in eThekwini at the prize-giving ceremony held at the Durban Botanical Gardens recently.
The Verge Competition is a programme initiated by the eThekwini Municipality and encourages residents to beautify and keep their verges well-maintained in a sustainable way.
The duo won a 5 000 litre JoJo tank, gloves, a wheelbarrow and an array of other gardening items.
Their garden, which is broken up into three different beds, has a mixture of beautiful plant species, including Golden Sedum, Aloe Vanbalenii, Spekboom and Euphorbia Firebush.
“Our motivation was really to showcase our different style of landscaping and to promote water-wise, indigenous plants. We wanted to disprove the misconception that indigenous plants are ugly and that you can’t put them together. We think our verge has shown quite the opposite. Our verge has taken quite a bit of preparation as we see it as painting a picture. As our design unfolds, we are able to move plants around until we find the perfect combination and synergy. It was born out of our love, and we are so proud to have been recognised for our efforts,” Peter said.
His comments were echoed by Marilyn.
“We are proud of what we’ve achieved given there are so many beautiful gardens out there; we were just so honoured and humbled to be recognised.When we sat at our table with many of the other contestants at the prize-giving ceremony at the Botanical Gardens, they announced third place and then second place, but our names hadn’t been called out we held our breath. We held hands, and I closed my eyes, and it was such a beautiful surprise when they called out Jesse James Landscape.
“We’ve had such wonderful feedback from family, friends and neighbours. One of the things we’ve noticed since transforming our verge is the amount of bird life and insect life, especially the beautiful butterflies. They are a really good sign that we are doing something right.We have also transformed the verge of Peter Rabbit’s Playschool, our neighbours, as a labour-of-love project for the children. The school was ecstatic with the results,” she said.
Their collective vision has also led them to transform their inner garden in their home.
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