An unusual hack site for us in Betty’s Bay for our September Hack: The Harold Porter Gardens. The management there have asked us, via the Friends of the Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens’ (FHPG), if we would clear a large number of dead trees and wood from one of the main heavily wooded areas, on the eastern edge of the Garden. This area was badly burned in the fire of January 2019 and there was a lot of re-growth around and through the dead material. As a follow on to this we were also to remove all the new keurbooms from the area above the Dawidskraal River that had also grown back after the fire. This was the second task, as the removal of the dead material was a higher priority.
As we started it was immediately obvious that the task was considerably greater than initially expected. We started on the eastern side of the stream and worked from there to the boundary fence and track. This is not an area that most visitors get to walk around, so we could pile the debris in large stacks.
This was the result of the first efforts. Very dense undergrowth, so getting it out was very labour intensive!
After the coffee break we decided to move to the main side of HPG where we stacked the dead wood and debris carefully near the beds, making sure we did not block any of the main paths used by visitors.
. 
We made a considerable dent in the process, but we still have quite a lot to do, so we will be back there next month.
As our ‘Friends’ team was working in that area on Tuesday morning, it was great to see that the staff were collecting our piles and putting the wood through their chipper. The chips will be spread as mulch in some areas of the gardens. The staff were very enthusiastic about what we had achieved. Wonga, the estate manager, was very impressed too!
Well done team!
It was great to see some of our long-term members back – greetings to Rosemary and to Gordon – and it was good to have Talitha join us too.
Thanks to Anne assisted by Betsey for the food and drink at the coffee break, and to Linda for the images.
Many thanks to Peter and Paddy Dall who hosted us at their house next door to our work site. A great place to be, and much enjoyed, as can be seen.
As ever, on behalf of the Betty’s Bay Fynbos, and, in this case, the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden, I thank the hackers for all for their effort.
David Mourant
Convener Betty’s Bay Hack Group.