Beach Road resident keeps rockery garden in tip top condition

A Sea Point resident has taken it upon himself to make sure the rockery garden on the promenade is well maintained.

Andrew Newall, 75, started taking care of the garden four months ago, planting flowers, cleaning it up regularly, and watering the plants.

“I started doin g this by myself and realised that it's too much work for me. I then asked a few homeless guys to assist me and they did, and one of them, Marlo, is still with me, he does an excellent job and is here two or three times a week,” Mr Newall said.

“I saw that it, the rockery as I call it, was not looking nice, the council came and cut it and cleaned it a little bit but still it was not looking good. I chatted to one of the ladies that cleans and waters the promenade as well as the rockery and asked if I could maintain it, and she said yes,” he said.

Mr Newall and Marlo have planted a variety of flowers, including daisies, geraniums, and vygies, as well as trees; they tidy the rockery daily and water the plants twice a week.

“Watering is the main thing now as we are heading into summer. We have cleaned up and made it as pretty as possible so it’s just the watering that we have to do. We also cleaned up and made some of the paths from the parking to the promenade because people just walk over the plants,” he said.

People passing by, according to Mr Newall, express their appreciation with a kind word or a thumbs up, and he says gets enjoyment from being active in the garden.

“It’s nice just to look at it, it’s pretty and when we are busy there then people will say something about it and it’s just a good way for me to get out as I enjoy gardening. I pick up the litter on a daily basis and I noticed that some people do it as well, I do this to keep it from blowing into the sea,” he said.

“I pay Marlo when he cleans up and I have bought fertiliser for the rockery as well as the garden where I live, it’s not a massive expense and it’s for something I enjoy doing.”