Introduction

Abstract

Gardens, a man-made natural environment for relaxation and enjoyment that is born of man’s desire for nature, are an object of aesthetic pleasure. Traditionally, gardens are a luxury for the privileged stratum of a society. To build a garden, one will first need land; even the “Half-acre Garden” will need a land of half acre to build upon. Even Hanging Gardens of Babylon, another case in point, needed a tract of land upon which the garden was strutted. Land means wealth, as do the finances, manpower and materiel necessitated for building the garden on the land. Therefore, gardens were historically owned and enjoyed by the affluent. Admittedly, it is out of the question for the destitute who did not have “a place to stick an awl” to even think of owning a garden; even families comfortably off that could afford building a garden were scant in number. Such was the situation in China in its former days, so was it in other nations around the world. As for the modern times marked by increasingly advanced civilization, however, enjoying a garden has become a necessity in life for the broad masses of the people. As a form of public welfare, many countries have set up public gardens, or parks, of various types. In more developed countries, gardens of private households have also become increasingly common.