On 3 September, on a cold and blustery morning typical of spring in Cape Town, staff from GrandWest casino took up their spades to plant trees on the property for international Arbor Day.
A total of 29 trees were provided by the GrandWest Environmental Department, and each GrandWest department and service provider took responsibility for planting one tree.
Environmental officer Rhulani Hlungwane said “There are very few trees back of house, so we decided to focus on this area. Even though most visitors to our property enter through the front boom gate entrance, the general public can still access the property via the back from the Goodwood Train Station.”
And naturally, the five tree species selected for planting are all indigenous and representative of South Africa’s extraordinarily diverse environmental heritage.
One of the choices, Syzigigium Cordatum or Water Berry as it is more commonly known, is the 2012 tree of the year and is ideal for all local conditions as it is very drought resistant, requiring little water.
Speaking about the choices, Hlungwane said: “We settled on the water berry, coastal silverleaf (Brachylaena discolour), wild olive (Olea Africana), camphor tree (Tarconanthus camphorates) and the carob tree (Ceratonia seliqua) precisely because they are so hardy. The environmental policy at the property requires us to reduce our water consumption so this was our objective in choosing these varieties. And given the strength of the famous Cape Doctor, the trees will also conveniently act as windbreaks, as back of house currently has very little screening against our strong winds.”
