Recreation Africa

Meet Patrick Mmbulawa

Partick Mmbulawa is the new Horticulturist at Misty Hills Hotel, Conference Centre & Spa. He holds a National Diploma in Horticulture from Unisa. His career commenced at Johannesburg Zoo where he gained practical experience through the completion of an Internship in Plants, Machinery, Nursery management and garden design.

Following his internship at Johannesburg Zoo, Patrick got more hands on experience through a Garden World Leanership programme. The experience at Garden World was particularly useful because of the wider variety of plants he got exposed to and also more disciplines such as landscaping, irrigation and flower arrangement.

At Garden World Patrick participated in designing and building the Unisa stand for the Garden Show Exhibition where they took 2^nd place in 2010 and 1^st in 2011. He also gained more exposure to garden design when he got a chance to rebuild the Chelsea Exhibition stand where South Africa took 1^st position in London in 2010. This exposure really opened Patrick’s eyes to the beauty, depth and breadth of horticulture.

Patrick then decided to go into freelance landscaping which was a rewarding experience with a diverse array of clients and requests - this kept Patrick on his toes!

In 2016, Patrick joined the Misty Hills team and has hit the ground running. His first project is to redo the nursery which will include packing plants and organising them according to variety (he’s a stickler for order). He will also conduct monthly lessons for the gardeners to train them on how to appropriately deal with weeds and pests. This will be good for the gardeners’ individual skill sets and good for our botanical gardens, particularly the roses that are quite sensitive and susceptible to weeds and pests.

Patrick also intends on replanting around the property (aloes at the reception and roof gardens for example). We are proud to welcome Patrick to Misty Hills family and feel that this is going to be a mutually beneficial journey.