Unwind in Spier's new elemental play garden this summer
Spier has launched its new Elemental Play Garden: a safe and beautiful outside space where families can explore, dream and play. Adjoining the farm’s historic Werf (farmyard), the Elemental Play Garden is just a stone’s throw from Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery and Spier Farm Café.
Conceptualised by landscape architects Ed Brooks and Danielle Croly, focusing on indigenous plants and using local artisans and materials, the garden is divided into quadrants representing the four elements: water, air, fire and earth.
Intersecting all four is a spiralling waterway that symbolises the Fibonacci Sequence – a set of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. Many patterns in nature follow this rule — such as the spiral shape of a seashell, the arrangement of leaves on a branch, or the petals of some flowers (such as daisies and sunflowers).
Features of the garden include a slide landscaped into earth mounds, a tunnel to crawl through, a Charl Conradie wind sculpture and a swing bridge. The water in the Water quadrant has been treated and is safe to splash about in – perfect for hot summer days.