Garden
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The Pagoda at Kew Gardens, London, England
A kaiyu-shiki or strolling Japanese garden
The back garden of the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, India.A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form is known as a residential garden. Western gardens are almost universally based around plants. Zoos, which display wild animals in simulated natural habitats, were formerly called zoological gardens.[1][2]

See traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens, use plants such as parsley. Xeriscape gardens use local native plants that do not require irrigation or extensive use of other resources while still providing the benefits of a garden environment. Gardens may exhibit structural enhancements, sometimes called follies, including water features such as fountains, ponds (with or without fish), waterfalls or creeks, dry creek beds, statuary, arbors, trellises and more.

Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while some gardens also produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas, or sometimes intermixed with the ornamental plants. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of a hobby rather than produce for sale).

Gardening is the activity of growing and maintaining the garden. This work is done by an amateur or professional gardener. A gardener might also work in a non-garden setting, such as a park, a roadside embankment, or other public space. Landscape architecture is a related professional activity with landscape architects tending to specialise in design for public and corporate clients.

The term "garden" in British English refers to an enclosed area of land, usually adjoining a building.[3] This would be referred to as a yard in American English. Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, colors, textures, and fragrances to create interest and delight the senses.

Contents [hide]
1 Garden design
2 Elements of a garden
3 Uses for the garden space
4 Types of gardens
5 Watering gardens
6 History of gardening
7 Gardens in literature
8 Other similar spaces
9 See also
10 References



[edit] Garden design

Flower gardenGarden design is the creation of plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals. Most professional garden designers are trained in principles of design and in horticulture, and have an expert knowledge and experience of using plants. Some professional garden designers are also landscape architects, a more formal level of training that usually requires an advanced degree and often a state license. Elements of garden design include the layout of hard landscape, such as paths, rockeries, walls, water features, sitting areas and decking, as well as the plants themselves, with consideration for their horticultural requirements, their season-to-season appearance, lifespan, growth habit, size, speed of growth, and combinations with other plants and landscape features. Consideration is also given to the maintenance needs of the garden, including the time or funds available for regular maintenance, which can affect the choices of plants regarding speed of growth, spreading or self-seeding of the plants, whether annual or perennial, and bloom-time, and many other characteristics.

The most important consideration in garden design is how the garden will be used, followed closely by the desired stylistic genres, and the way the garden space will connect to the home or other structures in the surrounding areas. All of these considerations are subject to the limitations of the budget. Budget limitations can be addressed by a simpler garden style with fewer plants and less costly hardscape materials, seeds rather than sod for lawns, and plants that grow quickly; alternately, garden owners may choose to create their garden over time, area by area.


[edit] Elements of a garden
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Rockery in EnglandThe elements of a garden consist of the following:

Natural conditions and materials:

Soil
Rocks
Light conditions
Wind
Precipitation
Air quality
Pollution
Proximity to ocean (salinity)
Plant materials
Man-made elements:

Terrace, patio, deck
Paths
Lighting
Raised beds
Outdoor art/sculpture, such as Gazebos and Pergolas
Pool, water garden, or other water elements such as drainage system.

[edit] Uses for the garden space
A garden can have aesthetic, functional, and recreational uses:

Cooperation with nature
Plant cultivation
Observance of nature
Bird- and insect-watching
Reflection on the changing seasons
Relaxation
Family dinners on the terrace
Children playing in the yard
Reading and relaxing in the hammock
Maintaining the flowerbeds
Pottering in the shed
Basking in warm sunshine
Escaping oppressive sunlight and heat
Growing useful produce
Flowers to cut and bring inside for indoor beauty
Fresh herbs and vegetables for cooking

[edit] Types of gardens

The Sunken Garden of Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia
Tours, France
Zen garden, Ryōan-ji
French formal garden in the Loire Valley
Bristol Zoo, England
Castelo Branco, PortugalGardens may feature a particular plant or plant type(s);

Back garden
Bog Garden
Cactus garden
Fernery
Flower garden
Front garden
Herb garden
Orangery
Orchard
Rose garden
Vegetable garden
Vineyard
White garden
Wildflower garden
Winter garden
Gardens may feature a particular style or aesthetic:

Alpine or rock garden
Bonsai or miniature garden
Children's Garden
Chinese garden
Dutch garden
English landscape garden
French formal garden
Italian garden
Japanese garden
Knot garden
Mughal garden
Native garden
Persian garden
Terrarium
Trial garden
Tropical garden
Water garden
Wild garden
Xeriscaping
Zen garden
Types of garden:

Botanical garden
Butterfly Garden
Butterfly zoo
Cold Frame Garden
Community garden
Container garden
Cottage garden
Cutting garden
Garden conservatory
Greenhouse
Forest garden
Hydroponic garden
Rain garden
Raised bed gardening
Residential garden
Roof garden
Sacred garden
Sensory garden
Square foot garden
Vertical garden
Walled garden
Windowbox
Zoological garden

[edit] Watering gardens
See rainwater, hand pump, tap water and drip irrigation.

Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.





[edit] History of gardening
Further information: History of gardening

[edit] Gardens in literature
The Garden of Eden
Romance of the Rose
Nathaniel Hawthorne's short-story "Rappaccini's Daughter"
Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera La finta giardiniera
John Steinbeck's short-story "The Chrysanthemums"
Ernest Hemingway's The Gardener

[edit] Other similar spaces
Other outdoor spaces that are similar to gardens include:

A landscape is an outdoor space of a larger scale, natural or designed, usually unenclosed and considered from a distance.
A park is a planned outdoor space, usually enclosed ('imparked') and of a larger size. Public parks are for public use.
An arboretum is a planned outdoor space, usually large, for the display and study of trees.
A farm or orchard is for the production of food stuff.
A botanical garden is a type of garden where plants are grown both for scientific purposes and for the enjoyment and education of visitors.
A zoological garden, or zoo for short, is a place where wild animals are cared for and exhibited to the public.

[edit] See also
Gardening portal
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
GardenWikibooks' Wikimanual of Gardening has more about this subject:
gardeningGarden tourism
History of gardening
Museum of Garden History
List of botanical gardens
List of companion plants
List of public gardens

[edit] References
^ Garden history : philosophy and design, 2000 BC--2000 AD, Tom Turner. New York: Spon Press, 2005. ISBN 0415317487
^ The earth knows my name : food, culture, and sustainability in the gardens of ethnic Americans, Patricia Klindienst. Boston: Beacon Press, c2006. ISBN 0807085626
^ The Compact Oxford English Dictionary
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