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What is a garden?
By Jane Keightley of giggleberries
A garden is a unique area that can have a multitude of uses and styles. It can be indoor or outdoor, private or public, functional or ornamental. The uses and styles of gardens is influenced by a number factors such as culture and religion, geographical location, historical events to name just a few, however, common elements link each style and make the area a garden and not simply a space. These elements are boundaries, such as a fence or wall, space to allow you to see and enter the garden, life and structure which are three dimensional pieces. These elements may be achieved in a plethora of ways however; they are present in most gardens worldwide. I intend to look at a few different garden styles and uses and look at common elements which link them.
DIFFERENT GARDEN STYLES AND USES Up to a century ago the average garden was there to produce food, medicines and cleaning products. Until as recently as the 1950’s the style and function of gardens was significantly different between people of different social classes. For the poor a garden was an “on the spot survival kit” (Titchmarch, 2002) supplying them with food such as fruit , vegetables and also meat, as many people would keep pigs and chickens. For the rich the garden was seen as a status symbol, they filled their extensive grounds with statues, fountains, mazes and exotic plants. The Victorians had formal, symmetrical gardens with strong structures such as large trees, stone ornaments and topiaries. They also introduced a separate walled area close to the house, known as the kitchen garden, to grow fruit and vegetables, as these were thought of as vulgar. This became known as the kitchen garden. The modern garden generally has areas for the children to play and the adults to sit and relax and entertain. The emphasis is very much on relaxation, enjoyment and privacy. Space is often seen in the form of a lawned area or patio or deck. The boundary is defined usually by a fence hedge or wall and planting gives the garden structure and interest. Other household gardens may simply just contain grass and paving slabs and fencing as the boundary. The requirements of a public garden or park are again very different from private gardens. Here the garden needs to appeal to a wide range of tastes and functions rather than being a personal space that can be designed to suit individual needs. Because of the size, parks generally require very large structures and planting as well as wide open spaces for children to play. Many British parks were designed over a century ago and therefore reflect the needs of that time. Parks were created to give people living in urban environments somewhere to relax, exercise and meet socially. The boundaries of parks or public gardens are usually defined by railings or hedges; they may contain play grounds and lakes or ponds to attract wildlife or to be used for sporting purposes. Culture, religion and society influence garden design and use, this is very evident when you look at Japanese gardens. Preston L Houser (1996) describes a Japanese garden as ‘more than a quaint arrangement of stones and shrubbery, the Japanese garden delights the senses and challenges the soul’. A Buddhist Zen garden shows how religion influences design, as the focus is on ‘inner truth’ and the Buddhist disdain for superficiality and ornamentation is evident in the minimalist layout. Zen gardens also have another religious function, which is the attention to cleanliness; clearing fallen leaves and weeds and raking the intricate wave patterns in the sand each day is seen as a restful process as it requires attention and composure. All Japanese gardens have very clearly defined enclosed boundaries in order to control the way that the garden is viewed as well as eliminating the surrounding landscape or buildings. There is also a strong theme of space both physically and visually, particularly in a contemplation garden that is only entered with the mind. Empty space can be used to represent nothingness which is central to Zen Buddhism. The structure and planting of a Japanese garden have precise meanings, objects and plants are not just arrange to be admired, but are placed in specific places and arrangements to represent specific things. A triad of boulders for example represent the image of Buddha and his attendants. Whilst the Island of Horai and the surrounding islands are commonly done by placing a solitary rock in a pond or a dry sand bed, the other islands are then represented as small mounds which are often planted with pines. Even the plants chosen for the gardens have meaning and are not just selected for there beauty. A garden is generally an enclosed area which, if it is a private space surrounding a house, can be personalised and changed to suit the needs and taste of the owner. So what actually makes a garden a garden? There are elements required that all gardens, irrespective of use, size or location have in common these are: a defined boundary, three dimensional structure, life and space. A garden must have a defined boundary, other wise it just becomes landscape, this boundary can be very open such as wire or trellis or even a ha ha, but it must be there. A garden needs three dimensional structure, this can be in the form of plants or objects that create some form of interest. A garden should have some visual space such as a lawn, patio or open pathways to walk down so that it may be entered. I should have some living element, usually in the form of plants or grass. In addition, a garden is also usually aesthetically pleasing, but not always, however, at least two of these elements must be present to allow a space to be defined as a garden.
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The RHS garden just outside Harrogate has some very interesting of domestic garden, showing fashions and trends over the past 80 years or so - worth taking a look.
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This intel was contributed by Jimbob
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