what is a garden?


I have discovered an exciting book that is highly relevant to my interest in reflecting on the meaning(s) of gardening - David E. Cooper's A Philosophy of Gardens. So far I have only managed to obtain the first 20 pages.

In the introduction Cooper tries to define a garden. This is no straightforward matter. He tells a story about a lorry driver delivering a load to the house of the great architect and garden designer Geoffrey Bawa. The lorry driver looked at the informal garden admiringly and remarked: "This would be a lovely place to have a garden."

This reminds of the day 5 year old Gabriella visited us. She gazed out the window gravely and with considerable interest. She realized that she was looking at a garden, but not one that conformed to her previous experiences of gardens. "Why is the garden so dirty?" Gabriella asked her mother.
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  1. Sue Swift7 September 2008 at 02:52

    Hi - Your post made me laugh - twice. Have come in from Blotanical. Wanted to leave you a welcome message on the site there, but it's loading so slowly ...
    Anyway, when Stuart gets the problems sorted I hope we'll see you around a lot - it's usually a fun place to be.

    Sue

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  2. Anonymous8 September 2008 at 15:12

    Hi catmint; Thank you for your message. When you are in the plots you can click "my blogs" and the blogs come up. I leave you my url.
    You will soon get the hang of it; at the beginning it is all a bit of a maze. I like your blog and your thoughts about gardening. I will be back.

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  3. Sue Catmint14 September 2008 at 03:15

    thank you Sue and Titania for your encouraging words.

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