Forest fantasy

PHOTOS: Leana Clunies-Ross | PRODUCTION: Annemarie Meintjies | WORDS: Jacqueline Myburgh-Chemaly

It has taken fashion designer Clive Rundle 15 years of intensive gardening to create this apparently neglected Victorian garden in Kensington, Johannesburg.

Clive Rundle has never been a follower of fashion. His shows, always the grand finale of South African Fashion Week, are an intriguing spectacle – untouched by trends and all about what is going on in the designer’s head. His recent Autumn/Winter 2010 collection deconstructed the classic white cotton men’s shirt and reinvented it as an evening dress using kilometres of black tulle. The show was called “A Lesbian Wedding”.

Regarded by many as the intellectual’s designer, he has a tremendous following precisely because of his unpredictability. Women visiting his new shop in The Firs of Rosebank in Johannesburg know without a doubt that a Clive Rundle design will be unlike any other.

A unique green oasis

So it comes as no surprise that the designer has used only his own ideas to create a rambling green oasis in the hills of Kensington.“Think of this as an abandoned Victorian garden with a new owner who is attempting to introduce a Japanese aesthetic,” he explains.

My first experience of the garden was on MMS. Out of the blue, a few months ago, I was added to a list of people who were to receive wordless images of exquisite beauty: An elegant moonflower in the day and night light, a cherry blossom tree in glorious full bloom, a rusted table beside a sparkling water fountain.

Separately, the images confounded me. What on earth was he trying to say? Only when I saw the garden in all its glory did I understand the message – and it was quite simple: This is Clive’s most beloved creation of all and his passion is to share its poetry with others.

Make no mistake, this is no classically beautiful outdoor space. At first glance it appears to be a rambling collection of overgrown terraces where nothing is ever swept or pruned, for leaving a garden alone is Clive’s obsession: “Cutting is not allowed – the only plants that are ever pruned are the roses,” he says.

But that is where the apparent neglect ends because the result is a study in untouched splendour: Clive knows every single plant here, every stone, every water feature and every seat, and it is under the fresh green canopy that envelopes his home that the designer spends every minute possible.

The warmth and patina of the characterful house and garden bring home the irony of most South Africans’ aesthetic sensibilities: We holiday in Provence and Tuscany and marvel at the magic and charm of those ancient and unmanicured villas and gardens, and then return to create perfect interior and exterior spaces by painting over the cracks and pulling out the weeds, leaving no magic at all.

A new brand

Clive, however, has spent 15 years creating his brand of Japanese Victoriana. When he and his late partner Colin Kaufmann moved into the old house, it had a classic design with terraced lawns and floral borders. It took six months to reconstruct the garden and rebuild the terraces that now form the foundation of this dense construction. Clive also created a network of water features and ponds that link every inch.

The first few years were tough and the designer says he learnt more about engineering and mud slides than about anything else.Then he started planting and he hasn’t stopped. There is barely an inch of lawn. Instead, a hidden series of paths, ponds and seats link a magical jungle of trees and shrubs.

Clive’s central gardening philosophy is to watch the plants grow and not touch a thing – even when it it is dead and falls to the ground. While the effect is that of inattention, the approach in fact requires daily input.

Planting is random, with groves and individual plants arranged in absolutely no order at all because he wants it to look as if birds have randomly deposited the seeds. And when he discovers a tiny miracle, such as an impatiens that self-seeds and spreads a lavender carpet, it is left alone and encouraged to take over.

Two years ago Clive began mass planting and now has 100 flowering cherry blossom trees, 45 crab apples and countless dombeyas. The giant yuccas were there when he first started and he believes they reflect a Victorian longing for the tropics.

Beautiful, all year round

The focus has been on planting in a cyclical manner so that at any time in the year one of the mass plantings looks spectacular. Even after the flowering of the cherry blossoms, the first wind brings a pink shower of petals that cover the entire garden floor – another exquisite spectacle in itself.

There are no perennials here and in winter the mass of barren sticks is also a sight to behold. This is the only time that the garden is awash in sunlight, exposing its graphic design. A shabby chic planting shed completes the Victorian effect and a sunken old bath has hot and cold running water for when the owner wants to commune with nature.

He has a fascination with steel, particularly old rusted furniture, and Victorian-style chairs and chaises longues pepper the garden, which is also entirely organic.

Clive’s next project is to create an outdoor dining area under his exquisite rose blooms. He is not quite sure where to find the table top he needs but, as in all his endeavours, he’s in no hurry. Clive knows that he will find it when the time is right.

• Clive Rundle: 011 880 3839, www.cliverundle.co.za