Since initiating the project, with much support from Facebook group, Knysna Gossip Girl, dreams are being turned into plans. Their vision of 50 plant boxes along the road is taking shape.
A large team gathered recently and started plotting and planning "in a way that only girls can!" Sohn laughs. "Coffee, tea and cake were non-negotiable. We immediately started off by making our calculations and sourcing the right material for the boxes. The boxes will be made out of recyclable material and will have a modern feel to it. The boxes will have a very long life-span with almost no need for maintenance."
Two of these boxes have already been filled with rich soil and beautiful indigenous plants and will be placed between Long and Grey Streets. Sohn says the next big step is to find sponsors for each box. "We are involving organisations, Knysna Eco schools and local businesses. Each box will be fitted with a plaque with the names and details of sponsors." She says a full-time gardener will be employed to make sure the plants get replenished and are cared for.
Eventually, Knysna Bloom would like to extend the project to include the rest of the town.
Sohn calls on all planters and lovers of plants to get involved and make their green fingers available. "We are going to need all the help we can get."
"This town belongs to everyone who lives in it and it is time we take ownership. It is very easy to give in to inertia – doing nothing because it is easier than coming up with an idea and following it through. This has to change", she says.
Sohn says this project will be driven by the Knysna community and there is no need for long meetings and waiting on approval as long as what they do is done responsibly and sensitively, keeping pedestrians and traffic in mind.
She says local government's challenge is to empower communities to be able to continue doing things for themselves and to venture into social contracts that have sustainability as its main focus. "Complaining has brought as nowhere."
Municipal manager Lauren Waring welcomes this initiative. "Council has always encouraged partnerships with its citizenry. This beautification initiative will most certainly enhance and soften the street interface and create aesthetically pleasing spaces. Unfortunately we cannot relinquish our regulatory role." She invited the members of the Knysna Bloom project to contact her directly to resolve any fears of delays due to red tape or any other restraints.
Anybody interested in volunteering for this project or sponsoring a box or helping in any way, can contact Stella Sohn at 083 325 2581.
Stella Sohn, Timothy Nyironda, Lizette Monk and Ebrahim Windwaai (representative of Knysna Tourism) plant a Silver Leaf tree, sponsored by Monk, in the garden of the Knysna Tourism office. The Silver Leaf tree (Leucadendron argenteum) is an endangered species in the family Proteaceae. Its leaves change colour from silver to greenish silver when wet and the flowers give off a pleasant scent. Sohn and a group of residents took it upon themselves to uplift Main Road by planting indigenous plants. They call their initiative the Knysna Bloom project.
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