The Johnman home ‘Camido’ is surrounded by one of the last of the Old Cape gardens in Stellenbosch.  Another extensive walled garden stretches beyond three of the Trust’s Herte Street cottages to border on Market Street.  Once integral to the character and charm of Stellenbosch, similar large and verdant gardens with fruit orchards and vegetable patches have been replaced by office and apartment blocks and parking lots.

Their gardens were an intimate and daily part of the Johnmans’ way of life, whether as the source of fruit and vegetables for domestic consumption, or flowers and shrubs to adorn their own home or be shared generously (Dorothy’s dedication was expressed for example through taking responsibility throughout her life for large floral arrangements for musical concerts at the University Conservatoire).  Most significantly, however, the gardens provided the setting for human engagement, the catalyst for the relationships they built through entertaining their wide circle of friends – and beyond that, through their desire that these gardens should provide opportunities for horticultural education to the youth of Stellenbosch.