How does your Cape Town garden grow?

At the end of October every year, a number of people with beautiful gardens in the Cape Town area open their garden gates to the public. So if you are in Cape Town at this time of year, you have the opportunity of seeing some of the best gardens in Constantia, Durbanville and, a little further afield, in Elgin, which is just over Sir Lowry's Pass on the way to the south coast.

There is absolutely no doubt that these gardens will take your breath away, and have you itching to find out some of the tips and tricks the owners used to get them this way.

While there are numerous university and college landscaping courses in Cape Town aimed at a qualification that will enable you to make a profession of gardening, you will need to search a little deeper to find more casual classes. Generally the best places to start looking are:

• in specialist gardening magazines that are published in South Africa, the Gardener for example, and


• at local nurseries and plant shops.

You will find that in general gardening courses in Cape Town are offered either by those in the industry, seed manufacturers for example, or by professional landscapers. Many organise talks though, rather than courses or classes.

Jo-Anne Hilliar School of Landscape Design was founded by Jo-Anne Hilliar in kwaZulu-Natal more than a decade ago, but now offers courses in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and even in Mauritius. Courses range from an introductory to a professional level, and include drawing skills, horticulture, straight-forward gardening, as well as staff development and business practice. While Jo-Anne runs most of the courses herself, she does use additional trainers who have specific experience and qualifications, for instance Arthur Mennigke Gain who runs the new two-day advanced gardener's program aimed at creating self sustainable landscapes.

The Jo-Anne Hilliar School of Landscape Design is a member of the South African Landscapers Institute (SALI) that sets industry standards. Courses generally run for two, three or four days.

Di-Di Hoffman, who is dubbed South Africa's "blogging herb man" also offers short courses and home study courses that are specifically aimed at those wanting to make the most of their vegetable and herb gardens. Even though he is based in Gauteng, he does visit the other provinces, and comes to Cape Town from time to time. Watch out for course dates in The Gardener. Courses are generally held over at least two days, often at weekends.

SEED, a permaculture education organisation, offers a range of modular-type courses in urban gardening for those living in the city or city suburbs and townships who want to start a food garden in their own backyard. Modules include basic garden design and irrigation systems. SEED currently holds its courses at the Rocklands Primary School in Mitchells Plain.

Protea Agricultural Training Centre which is based in Bellville, in Cape Town's northern suburbs, holds gardening courses from time to time. These include things like garden maintenance, pruning of trees, and landscape irrigation maintenance, and are held over a period of two days.

If you can't find a suitable gardening course, the other option is to enrol for a course online. There are various colleges that offer this option including the Cape Town based College SA [http://www.collegesa.co.za/]. Their online landscaping course has a textbook written by the legendary British landscaper, John Brookes, and encourages hands-on participation throughout the course. At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to design a small garden and specify plants and hardscaping materials for the garden.

Penny Swift is a seasoned writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and has produced numerous books on many different subjects. She also writes long-distance courses and tutors for a correspondence college.