Gardening
Gardening is the growing of plants such as flowers, shrubs and trees as a hobby or recreation. Some people also grow vegetables or fruit in their gardens. People do gardening outdoors in the soil in their backyard, or in pots or containers on their balcony or on their patio. Some people do gardening on a roof.
People do indoor gardening inside their house or inside a building. Sometimes indoor gardening is done in greenhouses, which are special buildings where plants are grown. A greenhouse has a transparent glass or plastic roof and walls that let sunlight in. Water gardening is growing plants in ornamental pools and ponds. People doing water gardening plant water lilies and other aquatic plants.
Gardening can be done outside of the home, in city parks, botanical gardens, zoos, amusement parks, theme parks, and around tourist attractions. These types of gardens are cared for by people called gardeners or groundskeepers.
Gardening compared with farming[change | change source]
Gardening is related to farming. But farming is done on a much larger scale. A farm may have hundreds of square kilometers of plants and crops. A garden in a person's backyard usually only measures a few square meters. As well, farming is done as a business, to sell the crops, fruit, and vegetables that are produced. Gardening is done just to produce fruit or vegetables for the gardener's own family. Gardening is done as a hobby or as a recreation, not as a business.
Gardening tools[change | change source]
Gardeners use tools to dig in the soil and water the crops. These tools include a spade, a fork, a hoe, a basket, a watering can, a hose, a bucket, a trowel and a wheelbarrow.
Gardens as art[change | change source]
In many countries and cultures, designing beautiful gardens is considered to be an art. In Japan, for instance, Zen monks created Japanese gardens. In Europe in the 1700s, kings and queens had formal gardens built (for example the gardens at Versailles, France).
