Gardening The beginnings
By John Russell
Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade. Rudyard Kipling, "The Glory of the Garden"
Are gardens a recent invention?
The modern garden has a history going back many thousands of years. Early humans were hunters and gatherers, and didn’t usually stay in one place for a long time. Instead, they travelled from place to place following the food (plants and animals) according to the seasons. During the Neolithic period (over 10,000 years ago) this slowly began to change; humans started to domesticate certain plants, which meant they could remain in one place and grow their own food. The first ‘garden’, was a vegetable-garden, where early humans cultivated different types of plants for food.
What plants did people grow?
Evidence of early agriculture in Europe includes edible plants such as wheat or lentils, but also includes more ornamental plants for other purposes. Plants for medicine were grown (such as sage), as were herbs and spices for flavouring or preserving food. Certain plants also had religious or spiritual value and were not only grown because they were useful or edible. Growing of plants not only for food was the beginning of gardening.
Why did people plant gardens?
Gardens today are beautiful places to go and relax, but have had many purposes over the years. In the past they were planted to honour the gods, or used in religious ceremonies such as funerals and weddings. Certain trees were also sacred in some cultures; Yew trees were important for Celts, as were Sycamores in Egypt. The ancient Greeks planted groves for their Gods, and many cultures believed gardens were holy.
They were also a way to show that their owners were rich or powerful. Ancient rulers created huge gardens to display their wealth, in the same way that large palaces were symbols of prosperity. In Roman times the garden became an extension of the house, representing the owner’s status in society, rather than a holy place.
What does paradise mean?
Sir Francis Bacon described gardens as “the purest of human pleasures.” Pleasure and happiness are ideas linked with gardens. The ancient Greeks believed growing food was a job for the poor, but gardens were places for enjoyment and contemplation. The English word paradise comes from the ancient Persian word Pairidaeza – meaning a walled space, a garden. The gardens of the Middle East, described in The Arabian Nights, were places of great beauty and splendour where people enjoyed the pleasures of life.
What was the most famous garden?
One of the most famous early gardens was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was created around 2600 years ago near the river Euphrates and contained many plants, flowers, fruit trees, stone columns and waterfalls. It was designed so the river could continually irrigate it and as a result was green all year round.
Are gardens artistic?
As gardens have developed over the years, design and beauty have become more and more important. Humans have learnt to control nature and to design gardens precisely, like a work of art or a building. The Gardens of Versailles in France are an excellent example of ‘garden architecture’, everything is symmetrical and even the trees are pruned to fit in with the design.
Carefully planned or not, gardens are still beautiful and relaxing places to visit. On a fine day you might even find a little part of paradise, if you look hard enough…
But it’s not only films – now there are also Grammies, Brits, the Mercury Prize and the MTV and Q awards for music. In Britain, a writer who wins the Booker prize can expect to see their difficult, literary novel hit the bestseller lists and compete with the “Da Vinci Code” for popularity. The Turner Prize is an award for a British contemporary artist – each year it causes controversy by aparently giving lots of money to artists who do things like display their beds, put animals in glass cases or – this year – build a garden shed.
Awards don’t only exist for the arts. There are now awards for Sports Personality of the Year, for European Footballer of the year and World Footballer of the Year. This seems very strange – sometimes awards can be good to give recognition to people who deserve it, or to help people who don’t make a lot of money carry on their work without worrying about finances, but professional soccer players these days certainly aren’t short of cash!
Many small towns and communities all over the world also have their own awards ceremonies, for local writers or artists, or just for people who have gradauted from high school or got a university degree. Even the British Council has its own awards for “Innovation in English Language Teaching”.
Why have all these awards and ceremonies appeared recently? Shakespeare never won a prize, nor did Leonardo da Vinci or Adam Smith or Charles Dickens.
It would be possible to say, however, that in the past, scientists and artists could win “patronage” from rich people – a king or a lord would give the artist or scientist money to have them paint their palaces or help them develop new ways of making money. With the change in social systems across the world, this no longer happens. A lot of scientific research is now either funded by the state or by private companies. Perhaps awards ceremonies are just the most recent face of this process.
However, there is more to it than that. When a film wins an Oscar, many more people will go and see it, or buy the dvd. When a writer wins the Nobel prize, many more people buy their books. then a group win the MTV awards, the ceremony is seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. The result? The group sell lots more records.
Most awards ceremonies are now sponsored by big organisations or companies. This means that it is not only the person who wins the award who benefits – but also the sponsors. The MTV awards, for example, are great for publicising not only music, but also MTV itself!
On the surface, it seems to be a “win-win” situation, with everyone being happy, but let me ask you a question – how far do you think that publicity and marketing are winning here, and how much genuine recognition of achievement is taking place?
Are gardens a recent invention?
The modern garden has a history going back many thousands of years. Early humans were hunters and gatherers, and didn’t usually stay in one place for a long time. Instead, they travelled from place to place following the food (plants and animals) according to the seasons. During the Neolithic period (over 10,000 years ago) this slowly began to change; humans started to domesticate certain plants, which meant they could remain in one place and grow their own food. The first ‘garden’, was a vegetable-garden, where early humans cultivated different types of plants for food.
What plants did people grow?
Evidence of early agriculture in Europe includes edible plants such as wheat or lentils, but also includes more ornamental plants for other purposes. Plants for medicine were grown (such as sage), as were herbs and spices for flavouring or preserving food. Certain plants also had religious or spiritual value and were not only grown because they were useful or edible. Growing of plants not only for food was the beginning of gardening.
Why did people plant gardens?
Gardens today are beautiful places to go and relax, but have had many purposes over the years. In the past they were planted to honour the gods, or used in religious ceremonies such as funerals and weddings. Certain trees were also sacred in some cultures; Yew trees were important for Celts, as were Sycamores in Egypt. The ancient Greeks planted groves for their Gods, and many cultures believed gardens were holy.
They were also a way to show that their owners were rich or powerful. Ancient rulers created huge gardens to display their wealth, in the same way that large palaces were symbols of prosperity. In Roman times the garden became an extension of the house, representing the owner’s status in society, rather than a holy place.
What does paradise mean?
Sir Francis Bacon described gardens as “the purest of human pleasures.” Pleasure and happiness are ideas linked with gardens. The ancient Greeks believed growing food was a job for the poor, but gardens were places for enjoyment and contemplation. The English word paradise comes from the ancient Persian word Pairidaeza – meaning a walled space, a garden. The gardens of the Middle East, described in The Arabian Nights, were places of great beauty and splendour where people enjoyed the pleasures of life.
What was the most famous garden?
One of the most famous early gardens was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was created around 2600 years ago near the river Euphrates and contained many plants, flowers, fruit trees, stone columns and waterfalls. It was designed so the river could continually irrigate it and as a result was green all year round.
Are gardens artistic?
As gardens have developed over the years, design and beauty have become more and more important. Humans have learnt to control nature and to design gardens precisely, like a work of art or a building. The Gardens of Versailles in France are an excellent example of ‘garden architecture’, everything is symmetrical and even the trees are pruned to fit in with the design.
Carefully planned or not, gardens are still beautiful and relaxing places to visit. On a fine day you might even find a little part of paradise, if you look hard enough…
But it’s not only films – now there are also Grammies, Brits, the Mercury Prize and the MTV and Q awards for music. In Britain, a writer who wins the Booker prize can expect to see their difficult, literary novel hit the bestseller lists and compete with the “Da Vinci Code” for popularity. The Turner Prize is an award for a British contemporary artist – each year it causes controversy by aparently giving lots of money to artists who do things like display their beds, put animals in glass cases or – this year – build a garden shed.
Awards don’t only exist for the arts. There are now awards for Sports Personality of the Year, for European Footballer of the year and World Footballer of the Year. This seems very strange – sometimes awards can be good to give recognition to people who deserve it, or to help people who don’t make a lot of money carry on their work without worrying about finances, but professional soccer players these days certainly aren’t short of cash!
Many small towns and communities all over the world also have their own awards ceremonies, for local writers or artists, or just for people who have gradauted from high school or got a university degree. Even the British Council has its own awards for “Innovation in English Language Teaching”.
Why have all these awards and ceremonies appeared recently? Shakespeare never won a prize, nor did Leonardo da Vinci or Adam Smith or Charles Dickens.
It would be possible to say, however, that in the past, scientists and artists could win “patronage” from rich people – a king or a lord would give the artist or scientist money to have them paint their palaces or help them develop new ways of making money. With the change in social systems across the world, this no longer happens. A lot of scientific research is now either funded by the state or by private companies. Perhaps awards ceremonies are just the most recent face of this process.
However, there is more to it than that. When a film wins an Oscar, many more people will go and see it, or buy the dvd. When a writer wins the Nobel prize, many more people buy their books. then a group win the MTV awards, the ceremony is seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. The result? The group sell lots more records.
Most awards ceremonies are now sponsored by big organisations or companies. This means that it is not only the person who wins the award who benefits – but also the sponsors. The MTV awards, for example, are great for publicising not only music, but also MTV itself!
On the surface, it seems to be a “win-win” situation, with everyone being happy, but let me ask you a question – how far do you think that publicity and marketing are winning here, and how much genuine recognition of achievement is taking place?
