‘Oh!’ a recent visitor exclaimed, pushing aside ragwort tendrils to get through the gate into the pilot areas. ‘It’s a little overgrown’.
We tried not to roll about, hysterical (weeping or laughing? Hard to say). It’s February. The air is thick enough to taste; mud sucks at wellies; sunshine, when it appears, super-charges a billion trillion leaves and the vegetation is exploding like popcorn. Broadleafed Bristlegrass (Setaria megaphylla) slaps one across the face; Clinging Aneilima (Aneilema aequinoctiale) clutches stickily at the ankles. There is no seriously big game munching all this overgrowth anymore, never mind that our district is still known as Place of the Elephant. Instead, the control measures are humans, hands, tools.
Here are a few, in need of a scrub after a day’s labour:
Don’t be alarmed: we are not trying to create a park (although keeping walking trails open is a thing). Our rewilding efforts are about seeing biodiversity, in all its feeler-waving, buzzing, furry, wing-snapping magnificence, return. And for that, different tree species need to become reestablished and survive to adulthood, to fruit and reproduce, to feed pollinators and wild creatures. We thought our saplings over two meters tall would be safe, on the way to adulthood. Instead, we’ve found a few near flattened by invasive creepers, from vicious Mauritius Thorn to petal-soft morning glory. Here is a wee yellowwood, with obliterating growth behind it to give you an idea:
So: follow-up is more demanding than we could have imagined, and we and the team dashes about in ever-increasing circles, uncovering trees. Shade is all that slows the growth, reminding us of the importance of canopies and working with nature – leaving some invasives to hold the earth between their toes, and stop that gorgeous sunshine from igniting new growth. We just have to accept that the February soundtrack includes the tool-sharpening grinder, as well as churring Terrestrial Brownbuls and squeaking juvenile Fork-tailed Drongos.
All this follow-up does limit extending operations at this time of the year – troubling as mature trees, too, need uncovering. An iconic Forest Cabbage that was up for adoption, carrying a heavy burden of Mauritius Thorn, has snapped like a matchstick during a storm. And a Lemonwood, its gnarled trunk as thick as a Polo Vivo has fallen. This hurts. We just didn’t reach them in time.
Happily we’ve had help this planting season! There was the inaugural Husqvarna Schools’ Forest Rehabilitation Challenge, which saw Durban High School and Weston Agricultural College dig holes at incredible speed. These were later filled by local volunteers during Arbour Month. A lovely swarm of parents and children from Gauteng visited on what they call a “LeerMeer” excursion: travels that teach them new things. There was the eco-club, and a range of tree-planting visitors, and of course, through it all, the team.
Other essential news: Rocket, our German Shepherd has completely fallen for Pixley, our new rescue. She is star-footed and fleet, somewhat smelly, and irrepressible. From wanting to eat her, Rocket now romps around the garden with a partner in crime, investigating Vlei Rat burrows, barking at Long-crested Eagles, and chasing Vervet Monkeys. Love is a wonderful unifying force, no?
We, in turn, adore our new planting area, at the edge of the primary forest. We started out 1 kilometre away as the crow flies, and have gradually worked our way up a watercourse, adding clusters of trees. Late last year we reached the surviving indigenous forest that coats steep slopes at the top of a ridge. It feels magical to be connecting areas, like beads on a string. The 100+ new trees at the degraded forest edge are already getting settled in; a glorious smorgasbord-to-be. The common names hint at future bounty: Figs, Wild Peach, Wild Plum, African Cherry, Forest Cabbage.
And we’ve gone exploring some places where the forest breath is so pure, you can tell no human has been there for decades. Here, more unusual ferns, orchids and streptocarpus cling to cliffs – a bit like those trying to help our planet are clinging on in the maelstrom of 2025.
Long may all that’s good in the world endure. It matters.
Janine & Connor
Latest numbers:
Total trees planted: 734
Total work days created: 513, putting over R175,000 directly into workers’ pockets.
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