Creative Garden Photography

Understanding Gardens

gar·den: /'gärd(ə)n/

noun: a piece of ground used to grow vegetables, fruit, herbs, or flowers.

verb: cultivate or work in a garden.

What is a garden?

Although you may feel that you intuitively know a garden when you see one, this is a surprisingly controversial and tricky issue. It is important, though, for one’s overall understanding of the garden.

First, let’s pick apart something I just wrote in the previous paragraph that may have gone past you without additional comment. (Oh yes, I can be devious!)

I wrote that you likely know a garden when you see one. Surprisingly, this echoes the famous United States Supreme Court dictum regarding obscenity: You can’t define it, but you know it when you see it. Be that as it may, ...