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After working diligently in his beautiful garden for many years, Harry Gerber (94) is the proud winner of the Eedenglen Retirement Village Gardening competition, a prestigious award for the elderly at the village.
Gerber said that before moving to the retirement village 16 years ago, he built his own homes over the years and planned out his own gardens.
Despite moving to the retirement village 16 years ago, Gerber only moved into his current home with his wife Minnie (88), 12 years ago.
He said that when they moved to their new home he redid their entire garden and transformed it into a succulent plant garden.
Since transforming the garden, with help from his wife, Gerber continued to maintain the garden and occasionally planted new plants while removing those that died.
He said that when establishing a new garden, it is important to become familiar with the layout of the garden.
“You first have to place poles in the north, south, east and west of the garden, and then start planting according to the direction,” said Gerber.
“By establishing the different poles and locations, it is important to identify which plants prefer to be in the shade and which prefer the sunlight. It is also good to know which direction the wind comes from.”
Gerber said that establishing a garden can be a very technical process, and the plants must be well spread out around the house.
In addition to the succulent plants, he also has a vegetable garden filled with green beans, spinach, tomatoes, chilli and parsley.
“The vegetable garden usually supplies us with vegetables two times a year, and is more than enough for the two of us,” said Gerber.
He said that since moving to the retirement village he has seen that it is one of the most beautiful and clean places within the Kouga region.
Gerber further said that the entire retirement village had beautiful gardens, with each resident taking responsibility of maintaining their gardens regularly.
He said that the manager of the retirement village, Dirk Botha, regularly inspects each garden to ensure it is clean and up to standard.
In addition, Gerber said that all plants and trees must maintain a certain height to avoid taking away from the sea view.
Fortunately, his dedication to taking special care of his garden has not gone unnoticed.
Three years ago Gerber walked away with first prize in the Eedenglen Retirement Village Gardening competition, and in 2022 he placed second in the same competition.
Finally, in November this year, he won first place in the gardening competition again.
As part of the prize, he won a five-night stay in Hartenbos near Mossel Bay, which they are looking forward to.
