Which expression of garden art / garden style that we have studied this semester resonated most strongly with you personally? Explain why.

The garden styles that resonated the most strongly for me were both the medieval garden and the Islamic garden. In terms of actual garden purpose, I thought it was fun how the medieval gardens had multiple different types, each all so useful and beneficial to the lives of the people during medieval time, bringing in gardens and nature as an important aspect to their culture. Their emphasis and fascination with moral beauty held great importance to this time period, thus making gardens all that more impactful, creating gardens to be some of the core areas of the home. 

The herber was a garden style within the innovation of the medieval garden that especially stood out to me. It seemed so whimsical and beautiful, with such a relaxing emphasis on being able to use nature as a place to spend time in, while also being in a cool, sweetly-smelling little garden space. The idea of a pleasure park also seemed especially fun. Having your own large, impressive park right in your backyard where you can enjoy a variety of aspects, brings one all that closer to the outdoors, becoming an intrinsic part to their livelihood. Trying to picture all the gardens of the medieval time, and knowing how exactly they were fit into the peoples of this time period broadened my horizons in trying to imagine that important time in history.

The Islamic Gardens may ultimately be my favorite type of garden in their simple beauty. Having the ability to learn about them in class, and then to see an actual one-- the Alcazar Palace in Seville-- took the whole concept home for me. Their focus on humble detail, with beautiful and colorful geometric patterns allowed gardens to be created with the most beautiful touch. The gardens weren't just about plant material, but also intricate design, pretty and peaceful water features, and great architecture. I like the emphasis on spirituality mixed with a place to come that replicates a magnificent paradise. While I did not get to see one at the Alcazar, the attribute of a chadar or chinikani seemed so cool. This type of structure, especially the chinikani, stood out to me from the moment it was talked about in class. It sounds so beautiful, and seems like a wonderful aspect to a garden; especially one as beautiful as an Islamic garden. 

(My own photographs from Alcazar)

All in all, everything that was learned about in this class opened my eyes to aspects of the garden that I didn't even realize were such centralized facets of this particular form of flora and fauna. Gardens are such a beautiful component of our world today. It is wonderful to learn about them, understand their history, and appreciate them as a magnificent way to combine art and nature.

Jekyll and Lutyens-- masterminds behind the 'Arts and Crafts Garden'

The Arts and Crafts Garden came out of an anti-industrial movement that was a reaction against mass production, all born out of the the intention to revive traditional values. It was an encouragement of locality and personal design, with the resurgence of the appeal in the medieval era as inspiration. It stood for traditional craftsmanship, with simple forms and design. With the origins of the arts and crafts garden rooted in hardy, old-fashioned design, with country-cottage plants, the gardens advocated a resurgence of economic and social reform. Gardener Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) and architect Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) were behind the culmination of this movement. After meeting one day at tea, the two became compatible ‘kindred spirits’ that complimented each other in together creating some of the best, most beautiful, and well known arts and crafts gardens of their time. 

(Gertrude Jekyll)

(Edwin Lutyens)

As a duo, Jekyll and Lutyens created something magical. As told in the National Trust Book of the English Garden, together the two collaborated their simplistic view-- "Lutyens designed “the ‘hard landscape’- the pools, paths, steps, terraces and buildings-- while Miss Jekyll filled in the plant names.” Jekyll was the first person to apply painterly color theory to the planting of flower beds. Being very artistically minded-- a master of both embroidery and blowing glass-- Jekyll could literally paint with flowers and was able to artistically make a flower bed into a work of art; she also re-invented the subtlety of the herbaceous border.

(Munstead Wood-- Jekyll's residence, and an example of a 'Arts and Crafts Garden')

Together they emphasized the usage of local material being crafted in local and innovative ways, filled with disciplined, but whimsical and colorful planting, in combination with outdoor rooms, enclosed with majestic hedges, long vistas, and grand pergolas. 

(The Deannery--architecture by Lutyens)

The Victorian Villa Garden

The inspiration of the Victorian Villa Garden was in fact in the murder of the natural landscape. This rebellion against the eighteenth century landscape park was fueled by the idea that ‘Gardens are works of art rather than of nature’--- a previous thought of landscape artists such as that of Capability Brown, in the thought that the the idea of a landscape design was to let nature run it’s course and to creating the most natural-looking landscape possible. This new thought of a garden as a work of art became prominent in the early 1800s. As quoted in the Victorian Gardens by Brent Elliott “No theme is more important, no sentiment so regularly expressed, in the Victorian literature on gardening, than this affirmation of the artistic and unnatural character of the garden. Just like the minds of individuals, gardening was now meant to be independent, imaginative, and original. Nature was no longer the sought after leader, and gardens were no longer meant to be subservient to it’s rule. The new leader in charge was now Art, and it held much control over that of the Victorian Villa Garden. 

Garden magazines were now becoming the latest trend, and the influx of exotic plants was widely desired in gardens across the globe, and many technical innovations were in place. Many forces shaped the Victorian Garden, further advancing all that it became. Labor-saving devices such as the lawn mower and transplanting machines, and devices that measure tree heights. Railways made bringing materials straight to sites easier, and made carting other materials across the country much faster. The production of new materials such as concrete and asphalt made laying foundations and building architecture much more possible and easier. One of the most important of new materials was glass. The production of sheet glass fueled the construction of hearty greenhouses, capable of being heated and letting in sunlight. 

(The Great Conservatory, Chatsworth. One of the largest designs and innovations in greenhouse production)

Composed of three different components of the grounds, the Victorian Villa Garden became a beautiful multi-dimensional display of pleasant greenery and productivity. The formal garden, the pleasure grounds, and the kitchen garden made up all the different aspects of the villa garden. Included in the formal garden was geometric bedding arranged in formal displays, and this garden most often included the greenhouses, were exotic specimens among plants, fruits, fungi, or succulents were kept and grown. The pleasure gardens were the only aspect of the garden that potentially still maintained the ideals of the english landscape garden, more removed from the house towards the end of the property was the  pleasure gardens, which had the most ‘natural’ feel. Ponds and paths, rockeries, and collections of plants in bedding characterized this gardenesque area. The kitchen gardens were the productive gardens and were most often situated right near the house for easy access to materials used for cooking. Here common vegetables, fruits, and herbs were cultivated and harvested. Orchards were also among this space. With many aspects to the Victorian Villa Garden, the concept was widely popularized and heavily copied.

(Victorian Garden- formal garden and kitchen garden, without pleasure grounds pictured)

The History of Urban Green Spaces in Copenhagen

There were various green spaces that were implemented within the city of Copenhagen in the 19th century, and all of them now contribute largely to the appeal of this multi-dimensional Scandinavian city. With green spaces being a very fundamental aspect to the city of Copenhagen from early on, the city has incorporated many green spaces of parks and gardens throughout it’s boundaries, making urban living very readily available, and very possible.

Ørstedparken is one of 3 parks that was created on the large plot of land that was once part of the old fortification ring that protected Copenhagen up until 1850s, but was given back to city 1868. Construction of this park began in 1876, with Henrik August Flindt as the designer. This park was designed as a promenade park, and notoriously involved Copenhagen's first public playground, largely introducing a very relevant aspect to 21st century urban parks. This park still has much of it’s original character, as many of the old fortifications have been preserved in the landscaping of the park such as the old moat which now serves as a lake, running the length of the whole park. The park has a variety of trees across the vast landscape that were imported from all over, and has a section of flower garden that blooms a variety of beautiful colors. This park is now very beneficial to Copenhagen in a variety of ways, including being one of the few green spaces with a large water feature, such as this lake, in the center.

(Ørstedsparken)

The Rosenborg Castle Gardens is the oldest of all park spaces in Copenhagen, and started off as a Renaissance style garden in the early 1600s. It delivered both pleasure and purpose to the royal household of King Christian IV, being both a pleasure garden and a productive garden of fruits, vegetables and flowers. A pavilion stood on the north- west section of the garden’s land at the time, but was largely expanded and is now the Rosenborg Castle that stands on the property. 

Once garden styles changed, the garden was redesigned into a Baroque garden. A complex system of paths, typical of Baroque style, was incorporated into the garden, all leading to a central space. All of these features still exist in the garden, as the current Rosenborg, of King’s Gardens, is still covered with large paths that lead to a central feature, with useful green spaces in between. Today there are still two diagonal lime tree walkways that intersect at about the center of the park/garden, and the rest of the paths are laid out in a grid fashion. While the lime-tree lined walkways were incorporated into the baroque renovations, the other network of paths can be traced back to the original garden plan. This garden is now the most visited park in Copenhagen, allowing a beautiful space for people to come relax or take a walk through in the center of Copenhagen. 

(North- west section of garden--Rosenborg Castle that was once the small pavilion)

(Lime-tree lined walkways)

(Lawns in between the paths)

Brown, Kent, and Bridgeman

      The work of ‘Capability’ Brown was the most influential of most people of garden design today. From the eighteenth century, this English landscape architect has designed over 170 parks during his time and his influence was very powerful. His style involved smooth, cleanly kept grass running right up to the house was a good example of his more informal style. A scattering of trees and greenery, among large ponds and small lakes strewn throughout the landscape were also a new staple to his style. Coming out of a time where formal gardens with embroidery like patterns of green were the must have, ‘Capability” Brown introduced the more informal ‘gardenless’ type of gardening and landscape, where it looked much more natural and vast. Brown was such a mastermind behind this new style, and it took off into the future as a new form of landscape design.

William Kent, another originator of the English Landscape garden, also followed the more naturalistic side of gardening. His natural style was incorporated into gardens and estates. While Kent came before brown, he initiated the movement of the naturalistic approach for Brown. His greatest achievement is that of the Chiswick House in Stowe and is one of the earliest examples of English Landscape gardening. Incorporating vast greenery, paths, water features, and many trees. Kent also believed in the informal garden, where nature was ruled by God and not man.

Charles Bridgeman was in fact the first of all gardeners of the natural landscape design, and came before both Kent and Brown. He stood at the forefront of the transitions from formal, patterned landscapes, into informal English Landscape garden design. While Bridgeman was still in some ways influenced by the previous formality of straight lines and hedges, he began to incorporate the idea of a more wild scenery scattered about. By bringing in vast lawns, statues, winding paths, wooded areas, and garden buildings among the more formal features kept in the garden design, Bridgeman was both formal and informal in his innovative actions. However, he did pave the way for the future of English Landscape Design and gardening.

The Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles was built under the rule of Louis XIV, built through his desire to establish a new center for the Royal Court, while also building something that was as magnificent, extravagant and powerful as his current reign over France. Louis was a man who believed in the Divine Right of Kings. He believed that each king was chosen and crowned by God, and in return accountable to him alone. It was under Louis’s rule that France became the most powerful. 

(King Louis XIV)

In 1661, Louis witnessed another garden that he believed to be more grand than his own. In response, Louis came to the obvious conclusion that he needed to have the most grand and magnificent garden in Europe...as a result: the construction of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles began.

It was in his palace that Louis saw a positive future for his ruling. By moving all of the nobility to a beautiful chateau about 15km outside of Paris, Louis hoped to keep close control over the government of his time, without any schism coming from the nobility. He hoped that if he built a large compound for them to live and be contained in, he would avoid any rebellion that could potentially overturn his current ruling. Government offices, homes, and events were all among the palace. By keeping everyone close inside this glorious compound of 700 rooms and 2,153 windows, Louis’s Palace of Versailles can be called somewhat of a “Golden Cage”.

(The Palace of Versaille)

The gardens were built to a massive scale, almost 250 acres large. As was the chateau itself, the gardens were built to mimic and celebrate the fact that France was the most powerful country in Europe. The garden held many works of art and architecture, such as the Bassin d’Appollon. This beautiful fountain was built in a celebration to Apollo, whom brought magic to Le Notre’s vision when constructing the gardens.

(Bassin d'Apollon with palace in the background)

Besides being a "Golden Cage", and a celebration of France’s power, the palace and the gardens were also meant to symbolize Louis XIV’s tremendous wealth. Not only was he able to conduct the construction of an absolutely elaborate and beautiful compound, but he was also able to maintain it throughout his rule, something that was very costly and could have been pulled of by many at this time. In his garden he had an Orangerie, with the capacity for more than 3,000 trees, and he was able to have them replanted with the coming of each new growing season. Another aspect of his gardens were the intricate Baroque style patterns that covered the gardens. He was able to keep his Baroque garden perfectly uniformed, with beautifully cut bushes that looked like embroidery on the ground. 

All in all, with 6 different components, or sections, of the garden, and a fountain running through the center almost 2 km long, the Gardens of Versailles, and the Palace itself, were an extremely impressive and extravagant feat for this time.

Based on what we have learned about garden art, if you had to create a garden incorporating any combination of features or styles that we have examined in class, what would your garden look like and why?

If I were to design my own garden based on what we have learned, I would blend two main styles and concepts..a medieval whimiscal herber mixed with the purposes of the Reanissance garden.

I would start with the idea of a herber as my layout, as relatively small, enchanting, and some what enclosed garden. However I would not have it confined by walls bur rather bushes and vines and trellises. I would design it with the thought that it would be similar to the idea of the Renaissance secret garden, in that it would be small (but in this case not so small) and enclosed. with an emphasis on the concept of it being a garden meant connect with nature and to contemplate life. Meanwhile also using this space to cultivate a wide variety of different plant life. Just like in the Renaissance secret garden, I would tactfully intertwine art and nature, but in a less systematic and symmetrical way than what was once emphasized in these Renaissance gardens. I would put more of an emphasis on a whimsical atmosphere, with no real order to the garden. Contrastingly, this "Renaissance herber" would not be enclosed within a larger garden like how many of the Renaissance secret gardens were, it would be the main garden. It would reside closely connected to my home, as if the doors on the back and side of my home were to open up into garden, if not then led to it by a short path.

I wold actively follow the concept of the herber, filling the garden with sweet-smelling herbs and flowers of every kind. The most important aspect of my garden would be an emphasis on flowers, a feature that is emphasized in the herber, but not as prominently in many of the other gardens that have been examined. In between the innumerable flower beds and herb patches, I would have paths of differently cut stones, with mossy or flowy grass growing wherever a bed or path is not present. In another area of the garden, I would have a vegetable garden, similar to that of the monastic monks practical vegetable gardens. Here I would bring order to my garden, and grow beds of vegetables lining this area of the garden. Like the medieval orchard, but not as manicured and aligned in straight rows, I would like to grow a few nut and fruit trees popping up here and there throughout the garden, offering scent, shade, a beautiful blossom when in season, and of course: wonderful produce. In addition, a couple of other fruits would be grown, such as berries and cherries. 

Now for the design and features, I would love to fill my garden with beautiful vines, and I would allow this to happen using pergolas, arbours, and trellises. The garden entrance would be, as mentioned, near the door of my home, but would welcome visitors with a beautiful arbour entrance, with trellises filled with vines on either side. Once walking under the arbour, your feet would immediately find their way onto a stone lined path. On either said of the paths and on the other side of the trellises inside the garden, would be turf seats looking out into the garden. These seats would be identical to those of the herber, flowering and lovely. The path from the entrance would be a spider web of a route, leading you to all difference areas of the garden. Through the flowers, around the trees, towards the vegetable garden, and around the berries. 

There would no main axis, and in no way would the garden be symmetrical. No water features would be present. This garden would be bringing in the ideal of the smelly flower and herb filled space of the herber, blended with the peaceful idea of the Renaissance garden as a space to come and think and ponder current life, all the while also making the space practical by growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs for cultivation.

Some pergola, trellis, and entrance inspiration...

Some lighting inspiration…

The Italian Renaissance & The Garden

Through the emergence of the Italian Renaissance, Italy and many other parts of Europe were reborn into a beautiful new way of living and seeing life. It was the intellectual movement known as humanism, brought about by Francesco Petrarch at the end of the 14th century, that fueled these new ideals, and resurrected in many parts of Europe an entirely new way to view many things among man, nature, the world, and god. This cultural movement of the Renaissance, initiated by the Italians, profoundly affected European intellectual life through a reevaluation of mans relationship with God & nature, and a rediscovery of classical texts and philosophies. This period of life slowly flourished into being about putting order to, and the inter-relationship between, God, man, & nature.

(Francesco Petrarch)

"The confidence in human reason, which is a lasting legacy if the Renaissance, profoundly changed humanity's view of nature." This quote by Elizabeth Rogers, in her book on Landscape Designs, sums up how important of an aspect nature was to the Renaissance. Gardens-- offering a large connection to nature-- were profoundly intertwined with these new ideas and actions. This new realistic and humanistic way of thinking was now heavily expressed in the design and content of the garden. The liberation of science and the spirit of open-ended inquiry found expressive analogue in garden design (Rogers). The inwardly focused and self-contained gardens of the Medieval Age were no longer, as these new outwardly, humanistic, expressive and worldly gardens hit the scene. This new representation of nature was not inspired by a doctrinal religion, but by the human intellect alone.

It was the resurrection of axial planning and symmetry that lead the Renaissance garden towards a more spatial setting that extended its boundaries beyond closed walls. The idea of villas were reestablished and incorporated into the lifestyle of the people during the Renaissance, most usually the wealthy. They built these villas as a place to retreat to, similar to the Romans, but with the idea that it was also a place to cultivate the intellect, and then less important- the land.

(Italian Renaissance Garden)

Another aspect of the Renaissance was the reemergence of the classical forms and practices of antiquity. This style was imitated by artists as they now used it as inspiration in sculpture and decoration. With this new interest in antiquity emulated through art, an interest in the classical deities was reborn. The idea of Gods and Goddesses re-flourished, providing gardeners with an antique imagery that helped in styling these new spaces. Sculptures of these deities were often placed in the gardens arranged in "tableaux"(a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story or from history) cultivating the garden in an ordered way. Besides the presence of sculpture in the garden, water was also another important element. As Rogers says in her book-- "Sculpture and water were used as elements in increasingly elaborate iconographic programs that celebrated the fruitful partnership humanity had achieved with nature through art and technology".

(Giusti Gardens, Verona)

Using the garden as a story book, and as a blank slate to be written on, people with this new humanistic education used gardens as a place to practice the intellectual lifestyle, and demonstrate aesthetic and intellectual values.

Italy, being the forefront of these humanistic ideals and movements, reached an especially productive time in the beginning of the sixteenth century, with the development of a well established Renaissance lifestyle. They developed the Italian Baroque style gardens, the idea of "secret garden" (a small enclosed space amongst the larger garden, where an intimate connection with nature could occur), and again- the reemergence of the Italian Villa. 

(Reanissance Style Italian Baroque Garden-Chateau Villandry)

The idea of villas being mounted upon higher elevations with a view of the surrounding countryside, became especially prominent and popular during the time of the Italian Renaissance. The Villa Medici at Fiesole, situated on a hillside over looking Florence, was one of the first gardens since ancient times to take advantage of it's scenery. Inevitably so, "scenic perspective" quickly became a large consideration when constructing these gardens, where location, orientation, structure and design became especially important in Italian Gardens. 

(Villa Medici at Fiesole)

Gardens & Religion

Through the study of three different cultures-- Roman, Medieval, and Muslim-- three different approaches to religion are examined, and as a result three different garden forms are implemented and used. While some hold more emphasis and have greater ties towards religion than others, each culture and time period finds their own way to create a garden in which to have a separate space set aside for devotion, spirituality and symbolism, whatever it may be.

With the Romans, hierarchy was as much of an importance to society as religion was an importance to their culture. Both were brought together to simultaneously become an important aspect of the Roman Empire. With a less spiritual connection to a single specific god-like force, the Romans did not have one central belief. More focus was placed on mankind, on the power of a variety of individuals such as gods and spirits, and on the certain divine characteristics that these individuals held in relation to Earth and to their hierarchal society. As a very civilized and advanced society, the Romans focused much of their energy towards appreciating art, beauty, and form instead of one particular ideology. During a time where science, philosophy, sports, literature, architecture, theater, and entertainment were becoming more and more progressive, the Romans thought it very important to indulge in the idea of otium (withdrawing from daily business to engage in relaxing or enlightening activities, a term used in the post above). Through this idea, gardens flourished in the way that they were seen as a wonderful place for activity and religious expression. In many ways, it was though the beauty of their surroundings that the Romans felt connected to religion. Involving the ideas of conspicuous consumption, relaxation, showing off wealth, otium, and religious expression, the gardens in Rome were used for a variety of reasons. With the implementation of all of these ideas, the Roman gardens developed and flourished, with religious expression as an important practice.

With the development of the Roman peristyle garden, symbols and religious meanings were placed throughout the space. These formal gardens, while very peaceful and tranquil, were also very formal with much symmetry and geometry, and were well manicured and very intricate. Both in plants and in form, the gardens were generally very sophisticated. The quincunx form of the gardens, with a central axis and bisecting axis, created axial symmetry that was in some ways a Sacro-Relgious symbol of the cross. Other Sacro-Relogious garden features were aediculas, or small shrines that were used for religious devotion. Also used for religious purposes was the statuary that was often placed throughout gardens in a symmetrical style. Statues replicating figures in which Romans felt religiously connected too were sculpted and placed in gardens.

(House of Vetti, Pompeii)

After the Roman empire collapsed, Europe slowly shifted onto an entirely different wavelength of society. This time it now was a centralized form of religion that was the one unifying idea that was spreading during this period. It soon came to be that it was the religious institutions that had the most money and power. The art followed Roman traditions, in that the religious art of this new time period inherited both a Romanesque and Gothic style, where architecture, reliquaries, music, painting, and illuminated manuscript were prominent forms of art. From this time period the Medieval Society was born. While still holding true the idea of the hierarchal society that was prominent during the Roman Empire, the Medieval Society differed in that instead of an emperor or king being at the top with the most power, it was now the church that was now at the top, separate from all other beings and institutions. Inside the church was another hierarchal system, in which the pope was at the top with the most power, followed by the bishop, and then the local priests at the "bottom". From this society grew an entirely new idea of gardens, with moral beauty being one of the most valued concepts.

Instead of the classic Roman peristyle gardens set within the confines of the home, Medieval gardens flourished into a place for practical productive growth of horticulture, or as a place for leisure and recreation. Some of the largest gardens with the most variety and growth were the gardens of the churches. Here these gardens were meant for both production and withdrawal, being both practical and utilitarian. Involving these two different concepts, the monastic gardens of the church were comprised of both cultivation and a place for religious devotion. Vegetable gardens lined the garden, along with smelly herbs and other productive plants. For leisure and devotion, the cloister became an important aspect of the gardens. Here these little spaces were meant for religious purposes, filled with Virgin Mary and plant symbolism, such as the Madonna Lily. Here, peoples of the monastery or church could come to relax and think about God, putting aside time from their day to use the space and the time to pray and devote themselves to the various elements of their religion.

(Classic medieval herb garden, gardened by monks)

Soon the muslim culture of Islam was born, and their use of gardens were especially symbolic and special. With a special focus on pattern, geometry, and intricacy, these gardens are deeply spiritual and symbolic. In Islamic gardens the essential element was water. With an important emphasis on symmetry, muslim gardeners used water canals to divide the garden into 4 quadrants. In these gardens, but also in the Islamic tradition as a whole, everything tied back to the Qur'an in terms of moral direction and divine guidance. The arts were integrated into everyday life, and the ideas of "beauty without arrogance" and "inner richness vs. humble appearance" was emphasized. The Garden as an art form served a purpose, and that was to symbolize and represent an Earthly paradise or afterlife. The Islamic gardens are filled with symbolic religious meanings, and all of them stem from the Qur'an, in which "jannah-al-firdaws" or 'gardens of paradise' is mentioned over 120 times. The bisecting cross axis of water canals represents the '4 rivers of life', and the 4 garden beds created from the water canals create a 'chahar bagh' style garden in which 4 different gardens or flower beds are created, something typical for an Islamic garden. Out of the central water source (something that could be symbolic of the giver of life, a fruitful area where all life springs from, because all life starts from a particular source? Potentially to have displays of both life and afterlife in the gardens?). Influencing these gardens and the culture were 3 forms form which all gardens held some aspect of: arabesque-- decorations based on linear rhythmic patterns scattered and intertwined; geometry-- levels of detail, generally showcasing patterns of 8; and calligraphy.

(Mughal Garden crafted in Islamic Style)

Gardens as an intrinsic part of European culture

It is true that people use gardens for many different reasons, and as a result many different types and styles of gardens have arisen throughout time. "Different people want different things from gardening, and different cultures and climates make people see things differently" (pg 5 compendium). This comment made my Penelope Hobhouse in her novella The Story of Gardening  I think holds very true to the art of gardening, and reflects why there have been so many different types of gardens and gardening styles. In European culture, this thought is exemplified through the magnitude in which gardens were used and the different styles that we developed. From the earliest of times, gardens have become a very intrinsic part of the culture throughout Europe. 

(Egyptian garden plan)

For many different purposes gardens were created. Famously, gardens have been a place to retire to and relax. Noteworthy European writers and philosophers, such as Voltaire and Rousseau, have supported this idea of gardens as a place of retirement, while also having gardens themselves. 

(Voltaire's garden: Les Delices)

Besides a place to to relax and return to nature, gardening has also been used by the poor and the imprisoned, becoming to them a symbol of hope and freedom. Throughout Europe between the 1600s and 1800s there have been many accounts of  prisoners maintaining gardens, making them a priority and a important part of their lives. On top of this, gardens have further been an important part of Europe's culture as being used as a medium for teaching morality and responsibility and a symbolism and comparison to politics and religion.

The evolution of gardens and gardening has been quite impressive. During the Roman Empire, life quickly became more advanced and civilized, and the Roman Peristyle Gardens became a popular development. This garden was a formal type of enclosed space attached to the house. It incorporated architecture with a main axis of horticulture, occasionally incorporating the use of extensive painted murals to further define the feeling of nature and privacy. 

(House of the Vettii, Pompeii, peristyle garden)

The idea of a villa soon became equally as popular, as a practical place for the production of crops and as a place to retreat to, as opposed to a space focused more on aesthetics. Here, Romans centered their time around the word otium, an idea of withdrawing from daily activities to engage in relaxation and enlightening activities. 

(Villa Rustica)

During the Medieval Age, gardens soon became one of the core areas of the home, as moral beauty became idolized in medieval society. Several different ideas of a garden became prominent during this time: the Herber, a small herbaceous and colorful enclosed garden; orchards with lines of fruitful trees and grassy walkways; enclosed pleasure parks for recreation; and vineyards to yield wine.

(Medieval Herber Garden)

All in all, gardens in European society were seen as a way to fulfill a variety of different aspects of life, and were perceived in many ways: as an expression of self, an escape, a place to practice spirituality, a therapy, a story, a place to relax, or a place to show off wealth. With the ability to be either ornamental or productive, gardens gave people a degree of control that was both therapeutic and useful. As a result of the former, gardens quickly became and still remain to be an intrinsic part of European culture.