The Tswana tshimo: A homegarden system of useful plants with a particular layout and function

The Tswana tshimo (homegarden) is a model of sustainable resource management in South Africa. However, gardens of indigenous cultures are often considered to be spontaneous and disorganized. A reconnaissance survey of homegardens of the Batswana people in the North-West Province of South Africa examined the different use categories of garden plants, the indigenous and alien composition of garden floras, and determining whether a specific homegarden layout exist with tshingwana (microgardens) containing useful species. A floristic survey was conducted of 163 randomly selected tshimo’s from three Batswana communities (deep rural, rural and peri-urban). A total of 525 useful plant species belonging to 105 plant families were recorded. These could be divided into four main plant use categories, namely 98 food, 91 medicinal, 281 ornamental and 49 structurally functional species (e.g. hedges), while six species had other uses. Deep rural and rural homegardens are characterized by a higher percentage of naturally occurring, indigenous useful plant species when compared to the predominantly alien flora of peri-urban areas. Deep rural and rural homegardens had a specific garden layout that was characterised by six micro-gardens, namely food gardens, medicinal gardens, ornamental gardens, structural species, open areas and natural areas. In contrast, peri-urban Batswana gardens had a garden layout similar to European gardens.