Garden Trees in Times of Drought

“There are many options for indigenous tress in your garden that are deciduous and can withstand both frost and drought.”

With the threat of drought looming large, 99FM’s MYD Earth sat down with botanist, published author and lecturer at the Polytechnic of Namibia, Barbara Curtis to find out what the best trees to plant in your garden are especially in times of water scarcity.

According to Barbara “there are many options for indigenous tress in your garden that are deciduous and can withstand both frost and drought however one such perfect option would be the Ziziphus Mucronata”

The Ziziphus tree is family of the buffalo-thorn and is also known as the Blinkblaar-wag-‘n-bietjie or the Omukekete, the Omusheshete or the Omukaru.

This tree requires very little water and produces an edible yet not very tasty fruit. However this tree has more to offer than simply being a great shade provider that grows in times of drought, but bark and leaf infusions of this tree are used externally as medication for open sore, boils and skin problems. The leaf of this tree has also been found to help with fever, diarrhoea when leaf infusions are made.

Another great reason to choose this beautiful tree, indigenous to our country for your garden is that that the tree attracts a lot of birds because of its seeds, making it a useful, resilient and attractive tree to use in your home.

For more information  get yourself a copy of Tree Atlas of Namibia or  visit the Tree Atlas of Namibia website.