Resumen

DU BRUYN, Derek. "To make a shape in a tree": Oral testimonies about gardens, garden style and gardening in the Batho Township, Bloemfontein. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2025, vol.65, n.3, pp.741-775. ISSN 2224-7912.  https://doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2025/v65n3a1.

In 1918, Batho was established as a "model location"to replace Bloemfontein's old Waaihoek location. Waaihoek's residents were gradually resettled in Batho. Contrary to most of the Union of South Africa's haphazardly laid-out locations, Batho was a well-planned location with plots that measured 50 by 75 feet. Bloemfontein's Town Council, who placed a high premium on aesthetic values, described Batho's plots as "garden areas" because they were big enough for front gardens and backyards. The predominantly English-speaking council was influenced by the British Garden City Movement that promoted the idea of "garden suburbs". Gardening knowledge and a gardening culture that dates to the 1850s were transferred from the Waaihoek to the Batho gardeners. This phenomenon is described as "generational gardening". Owing to acculturation resulting from interaction between black garden labourers and white garden owners, a European garden style which was characterised by formality, symmetry, geometry, clipped hedges and topiary, was also transferred to Batho. The taste for formality and topiary dates to South Africa's colonial period when it was colonised by the Dutch and British respectively (1652-1910). Since Batho's founding, a variety of factors have influenced gardens, garden style and gardening in the location including climate, water provisioning, the council's initiatives to encourage gardening in Batho, socio-economic conditions as well as crime and criminality. Special emphasis is placed on crime because the interviewees have stressed its negative effects on gardening and because of its historical dimension. Archival research has shown that Batho had been plagued by crime since it was founded; it even shaped the residents 'perception of big trees as hiding places for criminals. As a result, many trees were drastically pruned back and turned into oversize topiary. Oral interviews that were conducted with Batho gardeners as part of the National Museum's Batho Community History Project have shed light on the reasons for these gardeners'preference for formality and topiary; the presence of a diverse garden vocabulary among Batho's gardeners that includes Sesotho, Setswana, English and Afrikaans words and phrases; the way in which crime has affected garden style and topiary; the gardeners' relationship with their gardens; and the reasons why the gardeners kept on gardening despite multiple challenges. The Batho gardeners'testimonies were the most important sources of information for this article. Therefore, the objective is to allow them to "speak for themselves" by means of short direct quotes from interviews. All interviews were conducted in English which, in most cases, is the interviewees'second language. Interviews were affected by this limitation and by other factors such as race, gender and emotions that may negatively influence one-to-one dialogues. Such interviews are intersubjective by nature. A range of archival sources, including records created by the Municipality of Bloemfontein, as well as books, articles and newspapers provide secondary information. Based on the gardeners' testimonies and the research conducted, the author offers a few key arguments about the reasons why residents garden and the ways in which they garden. These include the phenomenon of "generational gardening", which does not only include gardening knowledge, skills and a culture of gardening handed down from one generation of gardeners to the next, but also resources such as garden tools, seeds and cuttings. Furthermore, it is argued that the residents' way of gardening, particularly the clipping of topiary, is an accessible and affordable way to create an aesthetically pleasing environment. Their way of gardening has more to do with skill than financial ability. Directly linked to this argument is the claim that topiary gardening provides gardeners opportunities for creative expression, albeit only the ways in which hedges or plants are clipped. In conclusion, it is argued that Batho gardeners have found a form of cultural identity in their way ofgardening, particularly topiary. This identity - a "garden identity"- is substantiated by the residents'argument that their way of gardening has become a Batho tradition. Although rooted in the classical European gardening tradition, Batho's gardeners do not perceive their style of gardening as a European tradition that was adopted but as an integral part of their own gardening tradition. Finally, it is argued that the Batho residents'way of gardening relates directly to the worsening socio-economic conditions in Batho. Gardens enclosed by tall-clipped hedges provide safe spaces in an unsafe township. In addition to providing a sense of safety and security, the gardens also satisfy emotional and spiritual needs.

Palabras clave : Batho; oral history; oral testimonies; gardeners; gardens; garden style; topiary; gardening; garden history; garden vocabulary; crime; emotions.

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