The Babylonstoren Garden Tour is simply spectacular and is something not to be missed. In 2007, owner Karen Roos commissioned French architect Patrice Taravella to plan the layout of the garden. His work at Prieuré Notre Dame d’Orsan in France had impressed her greatly. There Patrice had reconstructed a medieval cloistered garden on the site of a restored 12th-century monastery.

About the Babylonstoren Garden

The garden comprises 15 clusters spanning vegetable areas, stone and pome fruits, nuts, citrus, berries, bees, herbs, ducks and chickens, a prickly pear maze, and more.

Gravity feeds water from a stream by rills into the garden, flowing through ponds planted with edible lotus, nymphaea lilies and waterblommetjies.

Every one of the more than 300 varieties of plants in the garden is edible or has medicinal value. They are also grown as organically as possible and in a biologically sustainable manner. The fruit and vegetables from the garden are harvested all year round for use in two farm-to-fork restaurants. Along the edge of the garden, a natural stream flows from the Simonsberg Mountain to the Berg River, creating a space for indigenous wild olives to flourish. In their shade a collection of some 7000 clivia lilies explode in a spectacular display every spring.

Our head gardener Liesl van der Walt and her team tend the plants that have flourished beyond expectation – so much so that it’s quite hard to believe that the garden is still relatively young.

Garden Visits

Set within 3,5 hectares (8 acres) of cultivated fruit and vegetables, the big garden at Babylonstoren is at the heart of the farm. It was inspired by the historic Company’s Garden in Cape Town, which supplied sailing ships of the Dutch East India Company with fresh vegetables and fruit during the days when the Cape was a halfway station between Europe and Asia. But we also link back to the mythological hanging gardens of Babylon. Those were thought to have been created by Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century BC, for his wife who longed for the mountains and valleys of her youth.

Starts at 10h00 in front of the Farm Shop. One of our experienced gardeners will be your guide on this tour, during which we encourage guests to pick, taste, smell and touch while walking through our garden.

What you should know

When visiting Babylonstoren, whether it’s for lunch or a garden tour, an entrance fee is required for access to our garden.

This is a working farm with lots of feathery friends, so please leave your pets at home. Guide dogs are welcome. Note that all pathways in the garden are gravel and, in some areas, covered with peach pips.

A famous Swedish proverb holds: There ain’t no bad weather, just the wrong clothes. Remember to wear comfortable shoes, bring a hat in summer and wellies plus an umbrella in winter.