Joseph Mwendala at work with his aloes
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (published 17 January 2020)
Joseph
Mwendala had been tending the grounds in New Muthaiga long before the present
owners moved in.
“They
invited me to stay on since I knew the garden like the back of my hand,” says
the gardener who’s been based on that 1.3 acres of lush green land for more
than 20 years.
“They
especially wanted me to help them clean up the rubbish that the previous owners
had dumped behind the tall stone wall they had built to hide their trash,”
Mwendala says.
There is
good reason why this gardener didn’t want to leave when the previous owners
did. It wasn’t just the pride he felt in tending a beautiful garden that he was
largely left to plant as he wished. It was also the amazing location of the
grounds.
“The house
and grounds look out on the Karura Forest,” he says, pointing over the tall
palms, podos, pines, bombax and Cyprus trees to where I could see Karura in the
distance.
It was a
windy day so the trees were swishing and swaying like young girls doing a
graceful dance.
“And the
river below, which is as far as the Bwana’s land extends, is the Kitisuru which
I’m told has its source up in the Aberdares,” Mwendala says, noting how the
river seems to sing in time with the trees.
What he
doesn’t say is that there are essentially two gardens he has tended since the
new owners arrived. Separated by the tall wall, the steep ground going down to
the river’s edge had first to be cleared of debris, leaving seriously eroded
ground which the Bwana had to replenish with rich top soil.
“He hired a
landscape [architect] who helped me uproot most of the [exotic] trees and
re-plant indigenous ones,” says the gardener who explains how the landscaper
had created terraces all the way down to the river to ensure no more topsoil was
lost.
In all, the
process of reclaiming the land took about four years, but Mwendala says it was
worth it. He doesn’t have to do much on that side of the wall anymore. “We more
or less let it grow wild,” he says.
A view of Kitisuru River through the bush
Noting that
the Bwana insisted on keeping several exotic trees in the backyard bush,
Mwendala says his favorite exotic plant is the ‘Queen of the Night’. Also known
as the Orchid Cactus, he says she lets off a wonderful Jasmine-like fragrance
in the evenings that he loves to smell.
And because
human beings now spend very little time in the yard leading down to the river,
those trees and shrubs are now home to whole colonies of monkeys, both Colobus
and Sykes. Mwendala says they don’t seem to bother the new owners who remember
Professor Wangari Maathai fondly.
'Queen of the Night' lets off Jasmine-like fragrance in evenings
“It’s thanks
to her that Karura Forest still exists,” he says, noting that his bosses are
also environmentalists who have played their part in cleaning up and
re-foresting the land adjacent to Karura.
In addition
to monkeys, Mwendala says he also sees lots of birds in his bushy neighborhood.
“I’ve seen owls and sunbirds and I believe we are also a breeding ground for
birds of prey,” he adds.
The Gardener
also believes they have bats and moths, both of which come out at night. The
bats come out in search of food while the moths come to pollinate one
particular cactus flower that grows just on the other side of the wall.
Facing Karura Forest
“We have
lots of succulents on the higher side of the wall,” Mwendala says, noting he’s
had to plant several assorted gardens on the ground leading up to the Bwana’s
magnificent ivy-covered stone house. “We have planted a rose garden on the far
end of the land. We also planted an herb garden right near the kitchen where we
grow at least 15 different herbs.”
Rose garden
Then at the
entrance just next to the steep driveway leading down to the cobble-stoned
terrace are an assortment of magnificent trees. “There’s an avocado, mango, orange
and even a loquat tree,” he notes, adding that the old Croton tree in the front
yard was there even before he came to work in New Muthaiga.
Before I
leave, the Gardener wants to ensure that I understand he works a lot harder
than he has let on. For he also looks after the monstera, anthurium, aloes and
a slew of plants whose names he only knows in Kikamba. I’m in no doubt,
Mwendala’s a hard-working man.
The cactus flower pollinated by moths
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