Gardens
Most Americans have an inherent love for gardening. Gardens can make or
break the character of a site, hold the soils, provide a windbreak, and modify
the climate. However, most do not realize the important role that
individual plants play to a garden. One poorly placed, inappropriate plant
can ruin the visual effect of the garden, and conversely, one well placed plant
can do much to transform the area into a pleasant, more personal
environment. This is what attracts people to gardening; The hope
that their efforts will aid in creating a more stable and pleasant site to be
viewed by both the owner and the visitor.
Gardens also serve an imperative ecological role as
well. Plants, flowers, trees, and shrubs can stop the potential erosion of
soil from a site before it even starts. Also, certain plants actually
return nutrients back into the soil, making it more fertile for the
future. Also, gardens can alter the climate of an area. Ever lye in
the shade of a large tree in the summer or feel the breeze of a cool, fall
day? This is a direct result of trees and other plants being present in
order to transform the climate of an area
Gardening, however, fulfills one basic human need among all
others: sight. Humans like to have something to look at. Which would
you rather stare at, a beautiful garden with hundreds of different specimens of
trees, flowers, waterfalls, ponds, and shrubs, or a plain, lifeless yard with a
tree here and there?
The
word garden brings up different things in different people's minds. Some
may think of gardening only in a sense of food, while others may think of it in
a flowering plant sense. Both mindsets are correct. Gardening can
include flowers and bulbs, but also fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Garden landscapers
use two different terms when referring to features in the garden: hardscape and
softscape. Hardscape refers to things like gazebos, walkways, paths,
decks, and statues. Softscape refers to the plants in the garden.
Just like designing a house or a room, certain basic elements are important in
designing a garden, such as color, shape, texture, and function. It is
important to put much planning into a garden. When deciding what to do
with a site for garden, the best thing that one can do is to look at pictures of
other gardens and look at your own site. Determine what purpose the garden
will really serve and if it will be in the way of anything. The worst
thing one can do is go to the local garden center and buy the best looking
plants. A lack of adequate planning can make the difference between a
beautiful garden and a pile of vegetation.
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