A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form is known as a residential garden. Western gardens are almost universally based around plants. Zoos, which display wild animals in simulated natural habitats, were formerly called zoological gardens. Some traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens, use plants sparsely or not at all. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of a hobby rather than produce for sale). The gardening article discusses the differences and similarities between gardens and farms in greater detail.

Gardening is the activity of growing and maintaining the garden. This work is done by an amateur or professional gardener. A gardener might also work in a non-garden setting, such as a park, a roadside embankment, or other public space. Landscape architecture is a related professional activity with landscape architects tending to specialise in design for public and corporate clients.

Garden planning and design

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Garden planning and garden design may be undertaken by a professional. A landscape architect is a professional who can plan and realise outdoor spaces. A garden designer is usually trained to plan and realise residential gardens. The planner must give consideration to many factors:

• Purpose
• Existing conditions
• Financial constraints
• Maintenance implications

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L.A. Times - Home & Garden

Wildflower seeding in the fall can pay off later
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Buying good seeds and sowing now could lead to a spring outburst. But this breed is different from garden varieties, so watch the watering and the weeds. IN NO INSTANCE is the California gardener more richly rewarded than with the autumn planting of wildflower seeds. Buy them now, sow them between Halloween and Christmas, and spring will be marked by a tumbling succession of grace notes.
A cooling-off
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The number of bidders dropped 50% at the Modern Design event at the Wright auction house in Chicago last week. ON A DAY when the Dow lost 508 points and consumer confidence plummeted with the stock market, one might consider the sale of $2.13 million in home furnishings to be a respectable haul. But Richard Wright, director of the Chicago auction house Wright , couldn't help but wonder whether his Modern Design event on Tuesday signaled the beginning of the end for a seven-year run of record prices on 20th century furniture and other design collectibles.
Fingerprint-scan deadbolt can eliminate need for keys
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
You enter your home after the high-tech gizmo reads your fingerprints. In other words, you can never lock yourself out again, in theory anyway. YOU KNOW, people don't take enough time to sit outside alone and just think. Listen to the birds. Feel the wind on their faces. Wonder when their spouses are coming home to unlock the door.

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