About Gardening
A garden is often more than a plot of ground, specially cultivated and nourished, that you set apart to grow flowers or vegetables. People tend gardens just for the joy of it. Farmers, engaged in the vocation of agriculture, keep kitchen or cutting gardens, and suburbanites who earn their livings as builders or tax attorneys tend community gardens. People, whatever their life's work, garden as a way to renew the spirit and enjoy the beauty of the garden. Does this Spark an idea?
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History of
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The history of gardens begins with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Persian and Indian pleasure gardens that were maintained for no other purpose than to provide joy for kings. These early gardens combined elements of flowers and vegetables with structures and water in lush, formal worlds where a ruler could relax after a long day at the kingdom. Asian gardens developed using the concepts of Zen and Buddhist philosophy that simplicity defined beauty. The great European gardens at the Alhambra and Versailles drew on ancient traditions and modern husbandry to create masterpiece gardens that still amaze visitors today. The tradition of gardens for everyone, however, can be traced back to the cottage gardens of the middle ages, where each household was allowed to grow vegetables and flowers for the family alone that were not taxed and didn't have to be shared with the landlord.
Function
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Gardens provide fresh herbs and produce for the kitchen and flowers for the table. Shrubs, flowers and garden elements like water and structures decorate the spaces that surround the places people live. They may frame a lovely vista or screen an unattractive view. Gardens replenish oxygen and have a smaller carbon footprint than lawns, relying as they do on the hand labor of gardeners rather than gas-powered mowers and trimmers.
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Features
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Public gardens tend to be arranged for a specific purpose such as botanic or zoological gardens. Public gardens generally focus on either scientific study and development of new varieties or the practice of the garden as art. Residential gardens range more widely from window box and container gardens to perennial borders, herb gardens and vegetable plots. They reflect people's individuality and, by their design, tell neighbors whether they are welcomed or excluded. Community gardens are generally collections of vegetable plots, but some are creative community projects that rival some public gardens in beauty and practical value.
Type
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Gardens may be public or private, indoor or outdoor. They may be professionally landscaped or more akin to the humble cottage gardens of our ancestors. Most have been planned to provide a succession of blooms---something is always in flower to provide interest. They may have an arrangement of geometric beds or a collection of graceful borders. They may be organic, water, container or impact gardens.
Benefits
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Gardens may provide herbs and produce for the table but, more importantly, they provide recreation and pleasure for their keepers. Agriculture has become mechanized and industrialized. Gardening retains that labor-intensive effort that results in a feeling of accomplishment that is the result of human efforts alone. Every rose that blooms, every tomato you slice is fresher, prettier or tastier than anything you can buy in a store because it is the result of your own efforts.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Microsoft Office clip art, DRW & Associates, Inc
