PARRA would like to thank Warren Lange from Hort Courture Landscape Architecture & Planning for this assistance and contribution of this invaluable list of problematic invasive plants affecting our area and also useful suggestions for indigenous alternatives.
PROBLEM PLANTS & ALTERNATIVES
RESPONDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL & CLIMATIC CONDITIONS IN PORT ALFRED
The local ecology of Port Alfred has adapted to these particular environmental conditions, even as the climate has slowly changed over eons. The mix of fauna & flora, including insects and micoorganisms, have evolved in dyanamic equilibrium, responding delicately to the constraints of their environment and their balance is the the talent of Nature.
With this balance in mind, humankind is the proverbial “bull in a china shop”. Collectively, the scale of our influence on the environment is unsurpassed by other species, arguably even greater than all species combined. However the sentimental will of the individual is still to maintain some form of harmonious existence.
Where else but in our homes are we able to make the important decisions about how we live and what impact we will have on the world around us? What things we buy? What do we do with these purchases? Do we recycle? Do we re-use and try to use less? Or do we simply resist buying what we dont need despite the pressure to consume?
Outdoors, the question of how we impact the environment is a more direct question. If you live on a property with a garden, that space IS the environment. Is this piece made up of living, growing plants that contribute to the biodiversity of life or is it dead brick and concrete? Hand’s down the most cost effective sustainable way of managing our outdoor space is to replicate the way nature responses to the environment – because nature sustains itself.
There is an aim to provide a list of local plants which are hardy and low maintenance; are adaptable to our coastal conditions; are water-wise and which attract birds and wildlife to your garden. Each plant is ideal for the home space in one way or another. We have also focused on some common problem plants – alien invastive plants which are taking over and damaging Port Alfred’s natural habitat. This will help you identity these invaders and replace them with a suitable indigenous alternatives.
Here’s to going GREENER!
By Hort Couture
Landscape Architecture & Planning
PARRA asks residents to please irradiate alien vegetation in our gardens and on open plots to prevent them affecting our natural habitat.
