WHAT IS A GARDEN ANYWAY?

Religions and myths seem to indicate that the first place on earth was a garden. It was a place lush with plants that could feed, shelter and give us pleasure. I guess it could still be defined that way.
I had two separate experiences yesterday related to the “place” we call a garden. One was from a friend who for the first time in her life, has the opportunity to garden and is absolutely overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. The other was a quick observation on the TV, as my husband was roaring through the channels trying to find the perfect place to stop. On one of the gardening channels a woman was talking about how long it took her to get the curve in her perennial bed just perfect. She said her partner could tell if it was just an inch off. HUH? Which brings me to the definition of a garden.
Eden was not planned, but according to artist’s renderings through the ages, it sure was lush and lovely. It was there before we could even think about what it meant to garden. Today we might define gardens as places to grow food for either people or animals. Or we might define it as a place we construct to give us pleasure for all of our senses. But, do you HAVE to make your green space a garden?
I think it’s something buried in the soul of every human. We have a need to take a little space of ground and make it productive.
Not everyone has the advantage of a mentor to teach them how to go about this. Some of us grow up in cities where the closest we come to gardening is the dandelion growing out of a crack in the sidewalk…or maybe a pot someone has filled with petunias. That’s kind of where my friend was when she and her husband bought a house in the country and all of a sudden had a piece of land that can actually be “tended”. But how does one approach that task?
The other lady with her “inch off” perennial bed I think needs pity! She’s not enjoying her garden; she’s enslaved to it!
More on this topic in the next few postings! I’ve got to get breakfast for my recovering husband…