Gardening
Gardening is the art, technique and practice of cultivating gardens. It consists of cultivating, both in an open and closed space (flowerbeds), flowers, trees, vegetables, or vegetables (orchards), either for aesthetics, for pleasure or for food, and in which the economic objective is something secondary.
The term "garden", known since the XII century, seems to come from the Latin compound- Germanic hortus gardinus literally meaning "garden surrounded by a fence", from Latin hortus, Frankish garden, or gart or gardo 'closed', as if the garden had to defend itself against animals and even thieves.
Gardening can be considered as aesthetic expressions of beauty through art and nature, a display of taste or style in civilized life, an expression of an individual's philosophy or culture, and sometimes as a display of private status or national pride, in private, and public landscapes.
Definitions
The term "gardening" It has been known since the end of the XIII century (with it the group of gardens was designated). But he acquires his rank of nobility with the famous treatise published for the first time in 1709 entitled & # 34; Theory and Practice of Gardening & # 34;, by Dézallier d'Argenville, lawyer and secretary of the king, great lover of gardens. He made a synthesis of the knowledge of the Great Century for the art of gardens and for horticultural techniques. On the other hand, Olivier de Serres, an agronomist, wrote in 1599 "The Theater of Agriculture and Care of the Fields" detailing everything that is needed to care for, enrich and beautify the rustic house. It is, undoubtedly, an agricultural manual that explains how to manage a rural property (the property of O. de Serres was 150 ha.) and in which the economic purpose prevailed over the aesthetic fact and the pleasure, but the work contains a chapter entitled "Gardening", with some subtitles: "To have Herbs and Fruits: the Herbs and fragrant flowers: the medicinal Herbs: the Fruits of the Trees: the Saffron, the Flax, the Hemp, the Chaff, the Thistles, the Rozeaux and, in addition: the Way of making the Preserves for the conservation of the fruits in general».
The term gardening is used, especially, for the use, enjoyment and consumption of individuals while the term horticulture designates the professional activity dedicated to the production of fruits, flowers, legumes and other plant products. Its main denominations are: horticulture for legumes, fruit growing for fruits, floriculture for flowers and arboriculture for trees and shrubs. Despite everything, it can be used for lucrative activities, if the production is not very important, for example, when a horticulturist sells directly in a market. This situation is common in countries where markets continue to be supplied by small producers who could be called "gardeners".
The difference between gardening and horticulture is a difference in values and means: gardening can be entertainment or a means to supplement income, while agriculture or horticulture are part of the large economic circuits, with large surfaces, quantities and very different practices. Gardening almost always requires labor and uses little capital and mechanical means, some tools are typical: a shovel, a rake, a basket, a watering can, a wheelbarrow. By comparison, agriculture relies on tractors, mowers, chemical fertilizers, irrigation systems, etc.
Gardening is generally associated with caring for a garden, not just creating it. We talk about landscaping, or garden architecture, when it comes to the art of thinking or creating a garden. It is necessary to remember that this term did not exist at the time of André Le Nôtre, there was no talk of landscaping, only the term gardening was used. Finally, it is interesting to note that a certain group of contemporary landscape designers prefer the term "gardener-landscape designer". The best known is Gilles Clément, author of the Planetary Garden. This obviously denotes a certain philosophy with respect to nature, respect for its rhythms, and the economy of means, energy and resources that characterize gardening: isn't the gardener the one who endorses the Semper festina lente (grows slowly)?
History
Antiquity
Forest gardening, a forest-based food production system, is the oldest form of gardening in the world. Forest gardens originated in prehistoric times along jungle-covered riverbanks and in the humid foothills of the monsoonal regions. In the gradual process of families to improve their immediate environment, useful species of trees and vines were identified, protected and improved, while undesirable species were eliminated. Over time, foreign species were also selected and incorporated into the gardens.
After the first civilizations appeared, wealthy individuals began creating gardens for aesthetic purposes. Ancient Egyptian tomb paintings from the New Kingdom (circa 1500 BCE) provide some of the earliest physical evidence of ornamental horticulture and landscape design; they depict lotus ponds surrounded by symmetrical rows of acacias and palm trees. A notable example of ancient ornamental gardens were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - while ancient Rome had dozens of gardens.
Wealthy ancient Egyptians used gardens for shade. The Egyptians associated trees and gardens with the gods, believing that their deities took pleasure in gardens. Gardens in ancient Egypt used to be surrounded by walls with trees planted in rows. Among the most popular species planted were date palms, sycamores, figs, walnuts, and willows. These gardens were a sign of higher socioeconomic status. In addition, the wealthy ancient Egyptians cultivated vineyards, since wine was a sign of the higher social classes. Roses, poppies, daisies, and irises could also be found in Egyptian gardens.
Assyria was also famous for its beautiful gardens. These used to be wide and large, and some of them were used for hunting -as a current hunting ground- and others as leisure gardens. [Cupreses and palms were some of the most widely planted trees.
There were also gardens in the Kush. At Musawwarat es-Sufra, the Great Enclosure dated to the III century contained splendid gardens.
Ancient Roman gardens were laid out with hedges and vines and contained a wide variety of flowers—acanthus, cornflowers, crocuses, cyclamen, hyacinth, iris, ivy, lavender, lilies, myrtle, daffodils, poppies, rosemary, and violets. -as well as statues and sculptures. Flower beds were popular in the courtyards of wealthy Romans.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages represent a period of decline of gardens for aesthetic purposes. After the fall of Rome, gardening was done in order to grow medicinal herbs and/or decorate church altars. Monasteries maintained a tradition of garden design and intense horticultural techniques during the medieval period in Europe. Typically, the types of monastic gardens consisted of orchards, infirmary gardens, cemetery orchards, cloister garages, and vineyards. Individual monasteries could also have a 'green courtyard', a patch of grass and trees where horses could graze, as well as a winemaker's garden or private gardens for the obedientiaries, monks who held specific positions within the monastery..
Islamic gardens were built on the model of Persian gardens and were often enclosed by walls and divided into four by waterways. Typically the center of the garden had a reflecting pool or pavilion. Islamic gardens are characterized by the mosaics and tiles used to decorate the streams and fountains that were built in these gardens.
At the end of the 13th century, wealthy Europeans began cultivating gardens for recreation and for medicinal herbs and vegetables They surrounded the gardens with walls to protect them from animals and to provide insulation. Over the next two centuries, Europeans began planting lawns and erecting rose beds and trellises. Fruit trees were common in these gardens and some had grass seats as well. At the same time, monastery gardens were a place to grow flowers and medicinal herbs, but they were also a space where monks could enjoy nature and relax.
16th and 17th century gardens were symmetrical, proportioned and balanced with a more classical appearance. Most of these gardens were built around a central axis and were divided into different parts by hedges. Typically, gardens had flower beds arranged in squares and separated by gravel paths.
Renaissance gardens were adorned with sculptures, topiary and fountains. In the 17th century, knot gardens became popular along with hedge mazes. Around this time, Europeans began to plant new flowers such as tulips, marigolds, and sunflowers.
Country House Gardens
Country gardens, which arose in Elizabethan times, appear to have originated as a local source of herbs and fruit. One theory is that they arose in the aftermath of the Black Death of the 1340s, when the death of so many laborers made land available for small cottages with personal gardens. According to the turn of the century origin legend XIX, these gardens were originally created by the workers who lived in the huts of the villages, to provide them with food and herbs, with flowers planted among them for decoration. Farm workers were provided with architectural-quality cabins set in a small garden - about 1 acre (0.4 ha) - where they could grow food and raise pigs and chickens.
Authentic yeoman cottager gardens would have included a beehive and cattle, and often a pig and pigsty, along with a well. The medieval peasant was more interested in meat than flowers, and herbs were grown for medicinal use rather than beauty. In Elizabethan times there was more prosperity and therefore more space to grow flowers. Even the first flowers in home gardens had practical uses: violets were scattered on the ground (for their pleasant scent and to keep vermin away); marigold and primrose were attractive and used in cooking. Others, like sweet william and hollyhocks, were grown exclusively for their beauty.
18th century
In the 18th century, gardens were laid out more naturally, without walls. This style of smooth, undulating grass, running straight up to the house, clumps, belts and scattering of trees and its meandering lakes made up of small invisibly dammed rivers, was a new style in English landscape, a form of landscaping. "no garden," which swept away almost all remnants of earlier formal styles. The English landscape garden often included a lake, lawns set against groves, and often contained shrubs, grottoes, pavilions, bridges, and follies such as mock temples, Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape. This new style emerged in England in the early 18th century century, and spread throughout Europe, replacing the more formal and symmetrical garden a the French 17th century as the main style of gardening in Europe. The English garden presented an idealized view of nature. They were often inspired by the landscape paintings of Claude Lorraine and Nicolas Poussin, and some were influenced by classical Chinese gardens of the Orient, which had only recently been described by European travelers. Lancelot's work 'Capability'; Brown was especially influential. Also, in 1804 the Horticultural Society was formed.
The gardens of the XIX century had plants such as the spider or the Chilean pine. It is also the time when the so-called "gardenesco" of the gardens. These gardens displayed a wide variety of flowers in a fairly small space. Rock gardens grew in popularity in the 19th century.
India: In ancient India, sacred geometry patterns and mandalas were used to design their gardens. The various patterns on the mandalas denoted specific deities, planets, or even constellations. Such a garden was also called a "Mandala Vaatika". The word "Vaatika" it can mean garden, plantation or parterre.
Social and political aspects
Since the birth of gardening, the first signs of sedentary lifestyle of human beings with economic interests in gardening can be verified, but here it is a question of evaluating the first steps of its birth in Ancient Egypt that had a political and social connotation. The chosen date can be explained by the fact that the birth of this culture and gardening both denote the same factor: an increase in prosperity. This allows the use of land, time and agricultural techniques more for reasons of aesthetics and entertainment than otherwise. From this moment is when you can start talking about gardening itself. The gardens allow some to demonstrate their prosperity, which shows that gardening also plays, in a certain sense, a sociopolitical role.
This role grows over time. In Europe and North America, people express their political or social views in the garden, intentionally or not. For example, the political message of the ecological parties, or some NGOs, such as Greenpeace, advising wild gardens and against neat, very green lawns.
Like all human activities in Western societies, gardening does not escape a certain commercialism and an entire economic activity develops around this practice. Originally supported by the grain trade, the commercialization of plants and grains is increased by gardening, which is accompanied by an offer of accessories and products with various treatments that are currently part of the landscape of commercial areas. and the big cities. Nurseries and companies dedicated to green spaces complete the offer of services accessible to individuals.
Democratize access to a garden
Although it can be admitted that, in general, gardening has been within the reach of the upper social classes, the same cannot be said for the rest of society. As prosperity grows, the outcasts of gardening are demanding their rights. In Europe, more specifically in Spain, in the XVI century, under the postulates of the Renaissance, the first public garden on the continent was built, on land hitherto subject to flooding in the center of the city of Seville known as "la Laguna". In the place, ditches were opened to drain it and a large wooded public garden was conceived, with fountains, a monument and sculptures that are still preserved, it is the Alameda de Hércules (1574). Later, it can be said that it was England, during the Victorian era, the country in which the State began to grant land for the construction of public gardens.
Currently, and in Europe in particular, given the ever increasing lack of virgin land, especially in and around cities, a garden is almost a luxury. But additional income can be obtained for less favored people, promoting the use of intermediary technologies (especially organic gardening). Community gardens that offer access to gardening for citizens have managed, as well as with the ideas for this type of garden, to be able to feed up to 100 citizens.
In some countries other movements have been put into practice, such as Slow Food, which have proposed, for example, the creation of food gardens in schools.
Biodiversity
After the havoc that the post-industrial era has wreaked on nature, political-environmental movements and their derivatives have exerted their influence on the field of gardening (also on architecture and life in general). This is how wild gardens (or natural gardens) were born, so that ornamental plants and fruits are cultivated together with native species. Cultivated species are included in a kind of pre-existing natural ecology, not disturbing it, quite the contrary, benefiting from the gardening process. As in other forms of gardening, these gardens play a central role in deciding what is right, without any other constraints.
Wild gardens are, by definition, an example of gardening that knows how to manage water resources, since the natural species present in an ecoregion or microclimate adapt themselves to local resources.
The lawn, more than the garden, is an important point in urban planning, since it establishes the right to the existence of wild nature, before the dominant nature. For some, the right to accept all kinds of species in gardens, even harmful or allergic ones, represents a right of expression.
Waste treatment
In some eco-constructions, which generate water and its waste by themselves, green roofs have been created. This principle is closest to that of a living machine, which rests on:
- Reproduction of waste (ball or wastewater).
- Its transformation (e.g. in a fertilizer, septic tank or dry toilets).
- His spreading on the ground.
- The broth of cultivation on the same soil.
- The collection of products that, after consumption, generate the fertilizer and wastewater.
In most of the world, this type of garden is common, despite the existence of health risks, since modern technologies and methods are not used.
In China, for example, farmers put their toilets outside, on the roads, to encourage their use by tourists and stock up on organic materials. Calories, water and minerals are obtained with this method, but it clashes with the aesthetic and sanitary considerations of most Westerners who would not accept the use of human waste in their gardens or feeding animals. Thus, the conflict between gardening for personal or aesthetic reasons and practical reasons for food production is established.
The grow wall is an unusual twist on a living machine turned vertical garden; the water slides down a surface on which moss and other plants, some insects and bacteria develop, at the end of the wall a puddle is formed that is reinjected again ascending the wall. This type of garden is perfect for the interior of the rooms, helps to reduce the stress of life in urban areas or serves to increase the oxygen content in the recycled atmosphere. Other indoor gardens are part of heating or air conditioning systems. The growing wall or living wall is part of what is called urban gardening.
Cultural and historical aspects
The art of gardening is considered an absolutely essential art in most cultures. An infinite number of different evolutions are known on all continents and even by country.
- Gardening in Europe: old gardens in the covered gardens of the centuryXXI.
- Gardening in Asia: bonsai in the Zen stone gardens.
- Gardening in North America: gardens of the first settlers of the White House.
- Gardening in South America: patios of Spanish settlers, modernist gardens.
- Gardening in Ancient Egypt: the first Egyptian gardens.
- Contemporary gardening: analysis of the evolution of gardening in recent years.
There are, however, two parallel and perfectly differentiated evolutions in gardening, derived from the main landscaping styles. Some cultures have developed a symmetrical and rectilinear gardening, others a spontaneous and disorderly gardening. This dissociation can be explained in the history of gardening, which originated mainly in two places: Ancient Egypt and China. The enormous climatic difference between the two countries causes the two currents. The arid conditions of North Africa forced the Egyptians to adapt their plantations in order to facilitate their irrigation. On the contrary, the climate of China, and its luxuriant vegetation inspire a much more careless gardening in its inhabitants. The Greeks brought rectilinear gardens to Europe, at the same time that Chinese gardening was imposed in Asia.
Economic aspects
Thanks to the reduction in working time and the increase in free time, the number of hobby gardeners has grown remarkably, and the sector dedicated to gardening has experienced an increase. The shops, (large surfaces dedicated to this sector) have proliferated or have been expanded thanks to computer science for gardening. Its growth is considerable.
Garden irrigation systems
The most commonly used irrigation systems in the gardening sector are usually the following:
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