Create an ornamental garden underneath the oak trees. Plant indigenous species as far as possible. Examples are: Tulbaghia species; Agapanthus species; Dietes species; Plumbago auriculata; Freylinia tropica, Bulbine frutescens, Crocosmia aurea, Chlorophytum species, Anthericum species. A lawn can also be developed but is not as effective as an ornamental garden in allowing water infiltration and soil enrichment, and is also more labor-intensive to maintain.
Irrigate the ornamental garden (or lawn) regularly and don’t remove fallen leaves from the ornamental garden. They act as mulching and are eventually deposited to the soil as organic matter. Keep the soil in the garden beds loose – the soil must not be compacted. Finish the ornamental garden off with a 2,5 cm layer of mulch (in addition to the falling leaves) obtainable from nurseries. If it is impossible to create an ornamental garden or lawn underneath the oak trees, water the trees after the construction of a tree pit with a radius of at least 2 metres from the trunk.
Tree pits must be more or less circular and the edge must be high enough to retain water. Loosen the top soil in the pit not deeper than about 15 cm to increase water infiltration.
