Garden Day is an annual day of celebration by all South Africans in honour of our gardens and green spaces. It’s a day to celebrate our hard work and the joy gardens bring to our communities and lives with a fun garden party!
Gardens in every shape, form and size have the potential to bring us together, which is why we call on all plant people to put on a flower crown and join the movement by hosting a Garden Day party in their gardens or green spaces on Sunday 20 October. Anything (and everything!) goes, from a lavish lunch on the lawn, to platters on the patio with your pot plants or tea for two under your favourite tree.
Garden Day is a celebration for garden enthusiasts and plant lovers. It is perfect for those who enjoy inviting others into their gardens and green spaces, as well as for anyone who loves entertaining and spending time with family and friends. Draw up your guestlist, invite your besties and channel your inner hostess for a celebration in the garden!
Gardening shakes us up and calms us down. It grows patience, encourages us to fully observe and each time one plants something, it feels like a pronouncement of faith in the future. Gardens connect us to the natural world and inspire us to care for the ground and the lives that grow from it. No one knows this better than our green-fingered, Friends of Garden Day who collectively agree that our environment is critical to our wellbeing.
Garden Day Friend, Dr Anesu Mbizvo’s journey with plants and nature started at a young age. ‘All my fondest childhood memories are about finding freedom in the outdoors,’ she says.
‘I could go barefoot, get dirty and it felt like nature would hold me.’
‘Garden Day is a reminder of how lucky we are to have a garden or a little pocket of nature to ourselves,’ says Anesu, who is looking forward to setting a harvest table in the garden and inviting her gran for a long, lazy lunch outdoors.
Another Garden Day Friend Corli Leonard, also known as Veldmeisie, is an industrial engineer, now turned floral designer. Nature had been a constant source of inspiration for Corli and growing up on a farm she felt at home with life in tune with the rhythms of the landscape. For Corli, Garden Day is about gratitude and allowing oneself the time to enjoy the garden and being outdoors. She is celebrating with close friends. ‘We’re making floral crowns with a multitude of different plants, fruit, flowers and vegetables. A reminder to use what we have around us - and don’t forget to play!’
Avid gardener and plantsman, Pietman Diener is all about the life-long joy plants and gardens bring to our lives. He openly admits to his home garden being a happy jumble. ‘At home I’m not a neat gardener, I love a frothy mix,’ he laughs, ‘it’s not about it looking perfect.’
Pietman intends to celebrate Garden Day in his garden at home with the special people in his life. ‘Garden Day is an extension of my love of gardening and life is too short not to do what you love,’ he says. ‘On Garden Day we will eat from the garden!’ he says. After a bumper quince crop, that includes syrupy homemade preserves as well as homegrown, fresh garden salad, asparagus, beans… and flowers. ‘Flowers from the garden are very important in our house – and to share with our family and friends,’ he says.
When it comes to community gardens, the studies show how a shared neighbourhood garden elevates residents and; pride in their area, fosters human connection and ignites a sense of community.
Agri-entrepreneur and Friend of Garden Day Ncumisa Mkabile’s journey from modest backyard grower to sell-out urban farmer plans to host a community tea party on her farm, showing her commitment to nurturing growth, both in crops and in communities.
Upliftment agent and founder of Groa (Grow a Garden), Codi Marais, also nourishes communities by promoting sustainable and regenerative living. Groa provides practical planting skills and is passionate about promoting food security in vulnerable communities.
Codi celebrates Garden Day by continuing his grandmother’s legacy, grateful for the botanically diverse country in which we live. He will be honouring the day by engaging in community outreach within Cape communities, driven by a vision to provide education and skills to the vulnerable, ‘ensuring a food secure, sustainable future,’ he says.
Your garden gathering could be anything from a sumptuous lunch or garden tea party to a picnic - or simply relaxing, feet up, under your favourite garden tree. Most importantly, don’t forget to wear a flower crown!
From posters to customisable invitations and guidelines to make your own flower crown, there are plenty of materials to help you prepare for a celebration, create your own invitations and support posts using our customisable templates! It couldn’t be easier. Visit www.gardenday.co.za and hit the Toolkit tab.
We’d love to celebrate with you! Share your garden party pics with us on social with #GardenDaySA or send via WhatsApp to 0742881487. Be part of the action. For exciting Garden Day events and promotions follow
@GardenDaySA on social media.
So mark your calendar for Sunday 20 October 2024 and join us in celebrating our gardens and green spaces with your own garden gathering!
Dr Mbizvo is a trailblazing figure in the world of yoga and holistic wellness- especially when it’s connected to healthy green spaces and produce.
Can you share your youngest memory of being in a garden and what role this has had on your life?
Growing up as an only child in Zimbabwe in the early 90s, I was always a nature child. Our garden was huge and full of established trees and plants and my youngest memory is of feeling the lush grass under my barefoot and swinging on the branches of one of the Pride of India trees we had while singing Nelly Furtado’s “I’m like a bird” which was an absolute hit at that time. I also remember lying on my belly and fishing lady bugs out of our pool and carefully caring them over to the many flowers my mother meticulously maintained. Most of my childhood memories are like this, and as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realise what a blessing and gift it was to grow up like this.
Is there a specific person/s who has encouraged and tended your love of gardens and gardening?
My mom is definitely the person who fostered my love of gardens and gardening in my life. I have more baby photo’s of me doing tummy time outside than I do of me being indoors and given that my mom’s mom (and her mom before her) is an avid gardener, I’ve always felt like plants and gardening have been the thread connecting me to all the matriarchs in my family.
I enjoy untamed, natural, wooded gardens mainly because it feels like one’s own personal corner of the wild. When I enter a garden, I feel most at home in spaces which feel like natural forests because they create a feeling of freedom. Gardens like this allow me to disconnect from manmade spaces and human society. They feel like a refuge for me.
I would say my favourite plants and flowers vary. I love dainty and petit wild flowers and fynbos that really encourage you to stop, crouch down and take a look at the minute details, as well as aromatic plants and the experience of rubbing their leaves between my fingers, inhaling and taking in their beautiful scents. I also love the drama and flair of lush tropical plants with big, deep, green leaves because of my memories of resting in the shade with dappled sunlight on my face. In this way, I tend to shy away from picking out just one favourite, it’s more about the interaction I have with the plants, as opposed to their unique looks or qualities.
How much time would you say you spend in your garden and would you say that this has definite health benefits?
Since I currently live in an apartment in Joburg, I don’t really have the ability to go outside and step foot into a garden right now. However, I purposefully chose a first floor apartment surrounded by trees and overlooking a farm so that every day I can head out onto my balcony and get a taste of being outdoors. I generally spend at least 30min a day doing this - feeling the sun on my face, resting my hand on the tree near by (also a Pride of India interestingly enough) and watching the weaver birds building their nests. These moments are fundamental to me feeling at peace during my day and I find that I feel grounded and in tune with my true Self when I do this. Apart from impacting my mood, being barefoot outside and disconnecting from screens and the buzz of the city impacts my wellbeing and health immensely and I find it fascinating that I’m able to achieve this right in the middle of buzzing Johannesburg - it just goes to show that when it comes to nature and plants, a little goes a really long way.
I find being in a garden extremely peaceful and grounding. I feel like being outside soothes me and reminds me of what’s truly important in my life. It gives me a dual perspective of how precious and sacred every little moment and creature is while also reminding me of my ultimate insignificance in the web of life which is humbling and satisfying. I always say that the outdoors is my happy place and it has the ability to liberate me and canon me all at once.
Why is Garden Day important to you and how would you encourage people to celebrate the day?
Garden Day is a really important initiative to me because I feel like gardening and interacting with plants is the gateway to encouraging people to take care of the environment and our planet. The healing properties of gardening are universal and a great reminder that every single one of us is intricately connected to nature and I find that having at least one day a year where we actively encourage each other to go outside and celebrate our unique human gift to tend to nature as her custodian has a profound ripple effect for both the health of our specifies and the world around us.
Do you have a favourite community garden that you like to visit and why?
I’m lucky enough to have a mom who works at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and it is one of my absolute favourite community gardens. The garden seamlessly weaves together the artistry of gardening with its manicured beds and informative sections, with the majesty and wilderness of Table Mountain - one of the 7 wonders of Nature. It has won the accolade of being one of the best botanical gardens in the world and is an absolute must see!
For those people who don’t have a garden or interest in gardening, what advice would you give them to take up gardening?
Start small. As someone who lives in an apartment, it’s really easy to think that you can’t be a gardener if you have no outdoor space, but plants are extremely versatile and resilient, and my house plants have brought me so much joy over the years. It’s also important to choose plants that suit your personality and lifestyle - if you are busy and don’t have a lot of time, consciously choose plants that are low maintenance in terms of watering and upkeep.
My final bit of advice is to embrace your curiosity to learn new things about the world around you, instead of being disgruntled if your plant or garden is not flourishing, use it as an opportunity to research what that particular plant species thrives off. All good things take time and Mother Nature is an excellent teacher in patience, consistency and persistence.
She’s also an excellent listener and therapist so if you feel like your mental health needs attention, allow your first step to be stepping outdoors.
If you could tell your younger self anything about gardening what would it be?
Hmmm, I feel like my younger self has more wisdom about gardening than I do so I think the conversation would likely be swayed towards her giving me advice if I’m honest. I think the main sentiments would be: spend more time outside, talk and sing to your plants more, and match your own routine and cycles to the rhythm of nature.
Which would be your dream garden to visit anywhere in the world?
A10. I’m not sure if it counts, but I would absolutely love to visit The Amazon Rainforest which I consider to be the greatest garden of all. This has been on my bucket list for a while and I can’t wait to make that dream a reality one day soon!
10 Ways to Celebrate on Garden Day
1. Invite the neighbours for a garden picnic party.
2. Have tea under a tree.
3. Convert your garden into an open-air cinema - set up a projector and a screen
against a blank wall or a white sheet.
4. Do lunch in the veggie garden.
5. Throw a tea party with your besties.
6. Serve cake at your closest community garden.
7. Braai on the lawn.
8. Share platters on the patio.
9. Party with your house plants.
10. Host the Garden Day Olympics. Turn your garden into a playful arena for a day of friendly competition and outdoor fun with the kids.
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