Kikuyu lawn

Ideas take the mind suddenly and forcefully, diminishing or annihilating previous convictions. Sharing new ones successfully brings trends, crazes and fads, showing interplay between thought and emotion in the shaping of human behaviour.

Early planters and gardeners loved exotic plants to tame the wildness of Africa. Discovering the beauty and rich diversity of indigenous and endemic plants came later when city life brought longing for nature, the craze reversed in full pendulum swing. Balance arrives every so often, once thinking deals with extremes.

The realisation that Kikuyu grass from tropical Africa, Pennisetum clandestinum, makes better lawns in many parts of South Africa than anything indigenous, has brought some balance to the plant indigenous fad. Not so green in the dry season, it responds when the rain comes.

The Walter Sisulu, like all public gardens, accommodates many visitors that need space, a commodity that comes at such a high premium in the city. Doing it on Kikuyu.