They call retirement the silver years, but there’s no reason you can’t retire in Witsand and be surrounded by green and a beautiful golden yellow. Imagine for a moment, sitting outside with a warm cup of coffee, looking out over the yellow blanket that is the canola fields. This is surely a sight that will warm any winter heart!
Breedezicht Estate adheres to general landscaping guidelines to help create an integrated and responsive landscape, emphasising the natural Western Cape coastal landscape characteristics.
One of the best past times of retirement is the time you have available to spend gardening, and winter is the best time of year to start gardening and the perfect time to establish new plants for the dry summer months ahead.
Milkwood, Sideroxylon inerme, is, of course, one of the best trees to plant. Milkwood trees are seen all over Witsand and remain popular for their ability to grow in harsh, seafront weather. They have dense foliage and offer wonderful shade for a late afternoon picnic.
These hardy evergreen trees also form a natural windbreak when matured. Milkwood is a protected species and may not be damaged, moved or felled without a permit.
The top shrub will have to be the Spekboom (Portulacaria afra). Read this article from Garden and Home for seven significant reasons you should plant spekboom, an indigenous succulent, in your garden.
Cape thatching reed plants like the Restio (Restio tectorum) and easy-to-grow Dakriet (Elegia tectorum) are prevalent throughout the area. These are proudly South African water-wise reeds that form part of the unique group of plants found in the Fynbos regions of the Cape. They are easy to grow in the garden and cope well with being in containers too. These are also popular landscaping plants because of their hardiness and bold structural shape.
Another common sighting in the area is the bright yellow canola fields. Did you know that canola oil contains the least saturated fat of any common edible oils on the market?! Once harvested, the canola seeds are taken to a crushing facility, where the oil is extracted, refined, and bottled as canola oil. The leftover “meal” is then used as a protein source in animal feed. Other uses are biodiesel, fertiliser, cosmetics, and industrial lubricants, to name a few.
If gardening is not your forte, no need to fret, Witsand is the perfect slow-town destination that keeps on giving; may it be the prolific amount of excellent fishing spots in the area or the stunning views of the Breede River mouth meeting the mighty ocean or the sights of farmlands stretching along the highway. The town offers a serene environment filled with stunning, wavy hills of canola flowers, unspoilt beaches, and a small harbour for water sports.
Another bonus of this resort town is the plentiful marine life sightings in the area. This picturesque town along the Garden Route boasts plentiful whale-watching opportunities due to the so-called whale nursery of South Africa being located there. The Breede River has also seen some of the largest bull sharks in the surrounding waters.
There are also few things more beautiful than the winter farmlands along the Garden Route. A true picture-perfect wonderland of patchwork quilted fields. On a winter’s day, the stretch of road on the N2 towards Witsand with the backdrop of the Langeberg mountain range will surely leave you inspired.
Retirement should be about leisure strolls along the coastline, enjoying the tranquillity of the vast open countryside, breathing in the fresh coastal air, and using your free time doing activities and hobbies that you never had time for before. Breedezicht Lifestyle Estate offers all this and so much more.
Let Breedezicht be your escapism from the cacophonies of city-life, book an appointment today with one of our friendly sales consultants and experience the beauty and serenity of a sea-side retirement for yourself at Breedezicht Estate and enjoy spending your much-deserved free time gardening, walking along the beach, enjoying the breath-taking sights and marine life of this strategic location.
