Following the successful planting and sprouting of the vegetable garden ATOMIC, Deloitte SA and Keyhole Gardens SA planted for Yenzani Children’s Home on International Nelson Mandela Day, ATOMIC decided to welcome the new spring season by building a keyhole garden for its own offices.
A keyhole garden is a low maintenance gardening concept that requires less water compared to the conventional garden. It was given this specific name due the keyhole shape of the garden when viewed from the top. To retain moisture and nourishment to the soil, the garden utilizes a number of layers, which in turn makes it more productive than a traditional garden. Staff members from ATOMIC collected recyclable materials such as boxes, old catalogues and shredded paper in order to fill up the bottom half of the keyhole. As the layers of biodegradable material broke down over time, topsoil was added over the broken down material and a composting basket was inserted to the garden.
A composting basket is a metallic structure built in the centre of the garden with the purpose of providing a place to discard uncooked vegetable cuttings, as well as eggshells and basic kitchen waste. One of the benefits of having the basket in the centre of the keyhole garden is that it serves as a source for feeding the soil with nutrients.
This brilliant concept was sourced from a proudly South African organic gardening company trading as Keyhole Garden SA. Keyhole Gardens SA specializes in DIY keyhole gardening kits.