A garden is an organized space, usually outdoor, dedicated to the exhibit, cultivation, or display of plants and other living things, as an ideal place for solitary or social life. The single characteristic defining even the wildest wild garden nowadays is human interference. Garden design and landscaping are dominated by the desire to improve home landscape value, thus increasing the resale value of a property. As such, a number of factors have been attempted to integrate the needs of the owner with those of his garden. These include:
Gardens were often designed for ornamental purposes only. This meant that ornamental plants were placed only in areas where they would be readily visible from the road or patio. In recent times, gardens are designed to accommodate not only the visual advantages of plants but also for functional purposes. While some plants are planted solely for their beauty, others are grown for their ability to produce food, attract birds, or reduce water pollution.
“Garden” in the English language often refers only to the planting of plants. A true garden, however, is any part of a structure designed for growing something. A lawn, for example, is a part of the landscape, but a lawn (or a part of) is not a garden. A well-designed lawn combines aesthetic appeal with functionality. A “garden” is a place where plants are grown primarily for their beauty, and where humans may spend leisurely time while they are there.
“A beautiful garden is the view from a garden”. This is an all-purpose statement, applicable to both the physical creation of the garden, and to the preservation of it. A beautiful garden consists of not only plants, but also the vegetation of the landscape such as trees, rocks, paths, or other features that enhance the beauty of the garden.
In American English, “gardening” is used to refer to the act of growing plants. However, the term is more often used to describe the style of landscape design or gardening practiced in a particular community. In British English, however, the word “gardening” refers more directly to a specific type of landscape design. In this respect, the word “garden” does not typically describe anything beyond the actual planting of plants.
Gardening is one of those subjects that is often difficult to define. Many people agree, however, that it involves a certain amount of work, knowledge of plant life, and an interest in how nature works. Gardening also requires a certain amount of equipment, most of which is available locally. Some popular gardening tools include: weed eaters, hand weeding tools, garden gloves, pitch forks, spades, hoes, rakes, spades, forks, trowels, hoes, and cultivators.
