There're not many people in Johannesburg who have 45 gardeners to look after their garden. But then again there're not many people who have 45 acres of gardens that need tending. One person who does though is Strilli Oppenheimer of Brenthurst, in the heart of Parktown.

And those 45 gardeners are doing a magnificent job indeed — the gardens are breathtaking. Led by head gardener and horticulturist Dawid Klopper from Kirstenbosch, who joined the team at Brenthurst four years ago, the gardens range from gracious avenues of planes and oaks, to indigenous grass enclaves, beautifully manicured circular lawns and several miniature forests. All this is interspersed with tumbling fountains and sculptures, and several kilometres of stone pathways.

And what's extraordinary is that all this is in the middle of the suburbs, just below the Johannesburg Hospital and just above the M1. So many Joburgers have driven past it hundreds of times, blissfully unaware of this delightful slice of paradise.

Brenthurst was originally built on the steep rocky slope of the estate in 1906. It's been occupied by the Oppenheimers since 1922, when Ernest Oppenheimer, who founded the mining conglomerate Anglo American in 1917, brought his family to live at Brenthurst. Members of the Oppenheimer family still live on the estate.

Organic gardening

Strilli Oppenheimer is a firm believer in natural gardening, and uses no artificial fertilizers or pesticides, says Klopper. The roses are kept free of bugs with a mix of garlic, milk and copper, and the vegetables are sprayed with a mixture of garlic, onion and vegetable oil. Marigolds and nasturtiums are planted in between the vegetables, to break the predictability of beds and to "confuse the insects" and the entire garden is fed by borehole water.

The Oppenheimers have an estate in England, Waltham Place, and on the Waltham Place website she explains her gardening philosophy.

"I am a gardener of place, who seeks to work with the nature of the place, adapting and evolving the planting to its ecology rather than producing a decorated garden. Natural gardening is all about your relationship with the garden, and its evolution, using your knowledge of plant systems and families. We seek to combine forces with nature, rather than fight against it, and to explore the boundaries between garden and nature. In doing so, we have created a haven to an abundance of insect and animal life, fungi and indigenous flora. This is our legacy, our investment in the future."

Garden tours

The gardens are open to group tours, given by Klopper. The tour starts at the bottom of the estate, alongside the freeway where macadamia trees have been planted on this western edge, in an effort to try and block the noisy traffic.

Down this end of the estate is the Oppenheimer African Library, a squash court and Little Brenthurst, a Herbert Baker design in Cape Dutch style. Also down this side is an avenue of 90-year-old plane trees, curving gently around the road up to Brenthurst at the top of the hill.

Then the tour winds its way up the hill, on stone paths which are inlaid with small circular granite drill cores in various shapes, discards from the gold mines, making clever and creative pathways. These were used by one of the estate's gardeners, Joane Pim, who began work on the gardens of Brenthurst in 1959, leaving her impressive stamp on the garden and building on the work of numerous gardeners before her. She worked on terraces around the main house and created an indigenous garden above the house, with aloes and proteas, Cape heaths and indigenous trees. These days it contains a charming water wheel from Japan and has a distinct Japanese slant to its plantings. Different varieties of cycads are dotted around the garden.

Rose garden

From Little Brenthurst Klopper leads the group up the hill, a fairly steep climb but with cleverly designed pathways and steps that disguise the steepness. On the way is the rose garden, created by Pim as a spiral circle shaped like a snail's shell and positioned within a sunken square. Taller roses grow around the outside, with an edging of soft grey lamb's ears. The roar of the traffic is now a distant hum. The tour flows through other sections of the gardens: the fragrance garden, meant to attract butterflies, a favourite of one of the Oppenheimer children, who tragically died at the age of two.

Children's garden

This leads into the children's garden, with two beautiful 70-year-old bronze statues of children: Peter Scott (the late ornithologist Sir Peter Scott, sculpted by his mother Kathleen Scott) and a young girl, called simply The Enchanting Girl (sculpted by Edwin Whitney-Smith). Peter is standing naked on his toes, stretching into the sun with his arms stretched upwards, with the girl down a grassy avenue looking at him from the middle of a pond.

Japanese garden

The garden also contains several Japanese sculptures, and Oppenheimer is taking this theme to its extreme. She has established a Japanese garden to the east of the main house which will contain an 18-metre waterfall with male and female elements, falling into a lake below.

The Japanese Emperor's head gardener and his team will be spending six months of the next three years designing and creating what promises to be a stunning addition to Brenthurst.

Klopper is excited about the project, and is actively imbibing this new knowledge. Oppenheimer too wants to share the knowledge, and invites interested people to come along, join in the creation and learn from these experts.

Man and Woman sculpture

The final part of the tour sees the pathway winding its way again down the hill, and looking down through the trees is a huge striking two-person sculpture, called "Man and Woman", by South African artist Louis le Sueur, sculpted in 1969. It consists of two figures, the female looking up at the male, resting on her arm, which is perfectly aligned to the slightly bent tree behind her. The male figure is over six metres tall, and the sculpture is perfectly positioned, surrounded by lush lawns and tall trees.

Beyond this is the large vegetable garden and the cuttings garden, with plants grown for the house. Then there's a nursery; a tennis court with decorative trimmed plants around its edges, the only examples of topiary on the estate, and a stone Baker house, originally built as a studio and now occupied by Klopper.

Klopper considers himself to be "so fortunate" to live and work in the garden. The tour members undoubtedly also considered themselves to be fortunate to have walked the pathways of this garden, judging by the contented sighs as we reached the gate again, two hours later.

    Visit Brenthurst garden
  • If you would like to take a tour of the Brenthurst garden, phone (011) 646 4122. Tours are conducted in groups of 20, and you will be included in a group once that number has been reached.
  • Visit www.brenthurstgardens.co.za to find out more.
  • The large vegetable garden on the estate supplies vegetables to the residents of Johannesburg. You can phone in your order and get your vegetables delivered to your door, if you live within close proximity to Parktown. Money raised is donated to charity. Phone (011) 646 4122 for your Brenthurst vegetable order.

Courtesy of the Johannesburg News Agency.