SNOW ON THE MIDLANDS MEANDER

August Snows on the Summerhill / Hartford Estate, KZN Midlands
(Photos : Leigh Willson)

KZN Midlands - August 2012

We all know how destructive snow can be when it comes down heavily but when it comes in a few inches, it brings the first moisture ahead of the spring, and it sprinkles our  paddocks and pastures with a liberal dose of 'free' nitrogen.

Despite the KZN Midlands' reputation for its beautiful indigenous forests of Yellowoods, White Stinkwoods and Cape Chestnuts,  the reality is these occur only on the Southern and Western-facing  slopes of the valleys. The bulk of the territory was hitherto great,  open savannah country, with millions of acres of waving veld, perfect  for the big grazing herds of red hartebeest, eland and the black  wildebeest.

It was only when the European settlers first arrived here in the  early 1820s that the trees you see so many of these days on your travels  through our region, were first imported. Those that came from Australia  were not built for snow, so that when it comes down heavily, the gums  and the wattles take strain, and they shed their boughs, and often their  trunks, by the drove. By contrast, those of European origin, the  conifer and the cedar varieties, carry their burden with equanimity.

If you're a tourist though, the precincts of Mooi River resemble a winter  wonderland. The roads and roadsides are littered with visitors to the  Midlands; snow fighting, building snowmen and generally having the best  time ever.

For more information please visit :
www.hartford.co.za