2GreenLandscaping & garden maintenance in Franschhoek
From the oak-lined main road to the wine estates ringing the valley, 2Green keeps Franschhoek's gardens looking as good as its views.
Your local garden team in Franschhoek
Franschhoek sits higher and greener than the valley floor, tucked against the mountains at the head of the valley. It sees more winter rain and the occasional frost, so planting and lawn care here follow a different rhythm to Paarl: hardier, cold-tolerant species and careful seasonal timing matter.
We look after private homes, guesthouses and estate gardens across the valley, including the Wiesenhof area, where presentation counts. Whether it is a manicured entertainer's garden, a wine-farm-style landscape of olives, lavender and vines, or the common grounds of a residential estate, we build and maintain to suit the setting.
Where we work around Franschhoek
What Franschhoek gardens are working with
The ground
Two grounds on one property is normal here. On the foothills it is thin Glenrosa and Mispah over Cape granite, and we hit rock inside a spade's depth, so beds get built up rather than dug down. On the valley floor along the Berg River it is deep sandstone alluvium that stays wet all winter.
The weather
Rainfall changes more across this valley than any town we work in: the wine-region accounts put it near 400 mm on the lower north-eastern floor and over 2,000 mm in the south-western corner where the Groot Drakenstein and Franschhoek mountains meet. The village itself averages around 780 mm, and June is the wettest month at roughly 130 mm. Three ranges close the valley, so it is sheltered from the south-easter and cold air settles on the floor.
The properties
Two kinds of property, ten minutes apart. In the village, small walled plots and courtyards under the main road oaks, with no sunny corner to move a lawn to, plus guesthouse gardens that have to look right every day of the season. Out at La Motte, Groot Drakenstein and Wemmershoek, smallholdings measured in hectares.
Best lawn for Franschhoek
LM Berea under the village oaks, kikuyu only on the open rural lawns, artificial grass where the canopy never opens.
Kikuyu is the reflex. Under a walled village plot's oaks it is the wrong call: it thins in shade, and in this cold valley it browns off harder and greens up later than the same lawn in Paarl. LM Berea has the best shade tolerance of the common lawns. It is warm season, so we lay it October to March, not into a Franschhoek winter, and mow it long.
What we plant here
Protea repens, Leucadendron rubrum, Leucospermum grandiflorum and the local ericas on the slope side; olives, lavender, rosemary and deciduous fruit closer to the house.
These are the dominants of the Boland Granite Fynbos still growing on the Groot Drakenstein and Wemmershoek slopes above you, on the same shallow Glenrosa and Mispah soils. They want poor, sharp, acid ground, so no kraal manure, no bonemeal, no lime, no mushroom compost: phosphorus and salt kill proteas. Composted pine bark instead, under bark or gravel mulch. The cold here also buys the chill deciduous fruit needs.
What we get called out to in Franschhoek
The garden we get called to has been watered on a Paarl schedule. Three ranges shelter this valley from the south-easter, mist sits on the floor into mid morning, and the alluvium below the village stays wet through winter, so nothing dries. Add evening watering and we get black spot, mildew and Phytophthora root rot in the proteas. We cut run times, water at first light, and open hedges and beds so air moves.
Watering rules: Stellenbosch Municipality
Checked August 2026
Level 2, in force since 1 March 2026
This town falls under Stellenbosch Municipality, not Drakenstein, so a Paarl or Wellington neighbour is on a different rulebook. Council resolved on 25 February 2026 to implement Level 2 in terms of the municipality's Water Services By-law: household use capped at 330 litres per person per day, commercial users down 20 percent on 2025, agriculture down 10 percent, and irrigation confined to set days and hours. Those windows are the part that moves, so read the current notice before setting a controller.
Restriction levels change with dam levels. Confirm the current one with Stellenbosch Municipality before you set an irrigation controller.
What we do in Franschhoek
Complete landscaping and garden care for private homes and estate common grounds alike.
Garden landscaping & design
Complete garden landscaping: from concept and planting plans to paving, lawns, retaining walls and water-wise indigenous gardens, built to transform your outdoor space.
Garden maintenance
Regular garden maintenance for private gardens and estate common grounds: mowing, weeding, pruning, hedge trimming, bed care and seasonal clean-ups all year.
Irrigation systems
Water-wise irrigation designed, installed and maintained so your lawns, beds and new landscaping thrive with less water.
Tree felling & pruning
Tree felling, removal and pruning, plus lawn treatment and pest & weed control by experienced, horticulturally-minded hands.
Paving & hard landscaping
Patios, driveways and garden paths laid on a properly prepared base, with edging and drainage that keep them level for years.
Instant lawn
Supplied, prepared and laid: a level, rooted lawn in a day, with the soil prep and top-dressing that makes it take.
Artificial grass
Hard-wearing artificial grass for shaded corners, pet runs and small courtyards where real lawn simply will not grow.
Franschhoek garden FAQs
Do you plant for Franschhoek's colder, wetter winters?๏ผ
Yes. Franschhoek gets more winter rainfall and occasional frost than Paarl, so we choose hardier, frost-tolerant planting and time pruning, feeding and lawn care to the valley's seasons.
Can you maintain guesthouse and estate gardens to a high standard?๏ผ
Absolutely, much of our Franschhoek work is presentation-critical gardens for homes, guesthouses and estates. We offer regular scheduled maintenance so the garden always looks its best for guests and residents.
Do you clear wattle and pine regrowth on the mountain boundary of a property?๏ผ
Yes. The slopes above the valley carry Pinus pinaster, black wattle (Acacia mearnsii), Acacia longifolia and Hakea sericea, all pushing down into the top of Franschhoek properties. They are listed invaders, so clearing is the landowner's duty. Wattle coppices from a cut stump, so the cut face gets herbicide the same day. Pine and hakea do not resprout, but both leave a seed bank, so we come back for the seedlings on scheduled visits.
Helpful guides for Franschhoek gardens
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