Excellence in garden maintenance

Andrew Mangwarara

WHEN I thought I had seen the most fascinating gardens, I was pleasantly surprised by what I came across in Belvedere, Harare.

Mr Adam Rafik’s Belvedere residence is a good example of excellence in garden maintenance.

Before you enter the gate, a high-quality lawn welcomes you. The exterior leaves one wondering if the interior of the property has a similarly lush lawn.

As soon as one walks into the property, the colour palette is immediately noticeable. I could see that a lot of effort had gone into establishing a level, weed-free green lawn.

The grey bottoms of the king palm (roystonea regia) matches well with the creamish durawall and a touch of the green lawn and bougainvilleas well-trimmed in embedded beds on the wall.

The driveway is lined with groups of pots in teams of four, painted in white. The plants are healthy and colourful.

A creative pebble bed borders the cycads in a group of three. There’s always room for more cycads in a garden like this, which also happens to have a fountain in the centre of the lawn.

Of course, an array (army) of palms are scattered around the yard. Palms promote some kind of elegance. Every garden needs a sitting area, which is the case here. Neat white sets of cement benches and tables are included here, but covered with a green shade cloth roof to match the green scenery.

The staghorn fern specimens (platycerium bifurcatum) give something to admire in this beautiful garden. You can at least pause for a moment here to enjoy the scenery.

A border filled with plants that add colour and variety is necessary for a garden to look spectacular.

It is no different here and it was done to the greatest artistry. From the corner to the rest of the yard, the stone-lined border has a variety of plants such as crotons, aloes, salvias, ferns, buzzy lizzie, bromeliads, begonias, pony tail palms, cordylines, calatheas, philodendeons, rhoeos and many other unique plants.

There is always room for some special features such as hanging baskets, which can be seen here strategically placed to create interest and wonder.

All of them together make a pleasant story of intrigue and wonder. Excellence is rather the name written in this garden.

To create a weed-free garden with healthy plant specimens from scratch requires a special kind of dedication and commitment.

I watched Mr Rafik and his gardener, Farai Sinoia, working so hard in the garden, and they both showed so much passion.

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