Planting a new tree in your garden is always a significant event. This year, why not think waterwise and choose one of these low-maintenance, drought-hardy specimens.

• The Cape Ash is an evergreen, indigenous tree with glossy green leaves. It produces sweetly scented white flowers, followed by green berries, which turn red as the fruit ripens. Birds love to feed on the berries.
• The Coral Tree is a deciduous tree which produces bright red flowers in spring. It has particularly thorny stems, so it’s a good choice for next to a boundary wall.
• Sweet thorn (Acacia Karroo) has delicate, fern-like foliage and produces attractive yellow pompon-like flowers. It gets its name from the sweet-tasting tree gum, which is eaten by people and animals.
• The Kapok Tree bears large pink flowers in mid-summer. It has fern-like foliage and also has thorny stems.
• Rhus crenata (Dune crow-berry) is ideal for coastal gardens. It copes well in sandy soils and grows into a medium-sized tree with grey-green leaves
• The Pepper Tree is a tall tree with grey-green foliage which produces attractive, small red berries, which resemble pepper corns.
• The indigenous Kei Apple is an easy to grow evergreen tree which has glossy leaves and produces bright yellow fruit, which attract a multitude of birds to the garden.

Remember to water trees deeply, but less often. Aim to water trees a maximum of once a week during the summer months. Watering deeply encourages trees to develop deep root systems as the roots grow downwards in search of water. This makes them more resilient in times of drought.