I think it's any place on your property where you're trying to grow something other than what would naturally grow there that isn't lawn.

I got lots of names for the areas of my property. I do gardening in most of them. But I only really call one area "garden"- my kitchen garden. Right outside my kitchen, that's where the herb beds are and I do container growing of random things quick for the kitchen. Some greens and root veggies, a snacking tomato, often peppers, sometimes potato bins. Pots of flowers. The majority of my veggie gardening is done in other beds or cages.

I got the back 40 that's really only 20 but who says back 20? There's stuff like the north pond, green camp, horse grotto, group campsite, past the creek, the side back, deer path, dumping line, the jewelweed patch, berry patches, and lilly pond out on those acres. All of it is my "backyard". My gardening back there tends to be mostly keeping some trails clear and harvesting the wilds. I've started putting in some seed and bulb scattering here and there, and there's a lot of lovely wild flowers all over.

Out back is right behind the house and that has the barn and more gardening. The old stable and stable yard is now the garden shed and garden yard. And the kitty coop :) I'm building various kinds of beds for food and flowers and an apiary in the garden yard. The old riding ring is now just the ring- right handy deer proof for gardening. I coppice a bit, and that area is the willow stands. I have an open area behind the garden yard I keep sort of clear for if we want to put in a big bed for something- we jokingly call it the vodka bed. Gonna grow some parsnip vodka, or so my husband thinks. I think it's more likely a couple nut and maybe a fruit or two trees will eventually end up there.

Gravesites for the pets are in the sanctuary- it's a bit of land past the side drive and leads down to the swan pond. We called it sanctuary before pets started getting buried there. Used to be a keyhole we mowed open, but now we tend to keep that whole area mowed open so no more keyhole. Got a bonfire pad down there. Side yard, front of house beds, corner bed, bedroom corner, solarium beds, kennel beds, lasagna beds, raised cages, perennial bed, front beds, plant nursery.. the crap pile, trouble hill, ditch works, the "alley", out front, arch drive, and an orchard. "The yard" is our original few acres with the house on it. It's the area that gets mowed regularly and has the afore mentioned areas within it.

A lot of names, I know. But when we talk about what we are doing, or taking walks around and the like, it's handy to know where things are or where we are.

I've had the same thoughts!..as in Kentucky in Indiana "garden" refers to a vegetable garden..I've always had shady lots and don't grow vegetables..after years of reading about gardening I noticed many call their entire "yard" their "garden"..(as you do)..it is their garden!..now I say garden most of the time..I'll say "I have a woodland garden".."my garden is waking up"..but I also say front yard..back yard..side yard..the back yard is wide so I say left, middle or right..or by the viburnum..by the birdbath..husband will say the "L******r" side or the "S****r" side referring to the neighbors which sounds ugly but it makes it clear..I'd love to have pretty names for each section..unlikely that will happen..

I've wondered is it backyard or back yard..one reference said when you talk about your back yard as a place use two words..if you're describing a backyard activity or object use one word..I didn't check for front and side yards..I like one word..

I'm sure I've spelled it incorrectly..😂

it's more complicated than you would think it should be to refer to a specific area of the garden isn't it?..

the compost pile is one part that is always understood! 😂..

I think you answered your own question. There are so many types of gardens. It's like saying I live in a house. That doesn't tell you much about what it actually consists of. Or I own a vehicle. That could be anything from a bicycle to a 18-wheeler.

But it is usually assumed by others when I've said garden that I had a veggie patch, which is how I would refer to a cultivated area with primarily edible plants growing. A veggie patch. I don't think I notice any difference in this assumption from when I lived in OH, to the past 15 yrs that I've spent in AL.

I have trouble referring to my own gardens because "flower bed" or "flower garden" isn't accurate. I used the plural, gardens, because there are several individual cultivated areas. Although there are a lot of different nectar plants, with tiny flowers, there are few plants traditionally prized for their blooms in the cultivated areas. There are also some shrubs and I have many baby woody entities being propagated here'n'there. This is where I try to prevent anything that isn't something I purposely put there, from growing, so there is room for the plants that I do want. I notice that I usually refer to this lately in online chats as cultivated area vs. mowed area.

The only reason we have any mowed area is because I don't have the materials to kill that much "grass" (put in quotations because among 8-10 types of grass are many other plants that can survive being mowed,) and not enough time to pull unwanted sprouts from more cultivated areas.

Yes, garden in us typically is intrepreted as growing vegetables. I do not grow vegetables but I say going to play in my garden. yes it is work but i say play. i usually have to clarify bc people assume veggies. why do i say garden and not yard… in my fantasy world i live in england with a lovey cottage garden. lol lol. also i say garden bc to me ”yard” implies fussing with grass and leaves and doesnt sound as nice as garden.

To me, vegetable garden + flower beds is "garden", and grass and trees within the grass is "yard" :)

”Garden” wouldn’t define a type of plant for me. It would need an adjective. I have a vegetable garden within my back yard, and I volunteer in a flower garden at a local park.

I think it is a bit of an assumption to think that 'garden' only refers to growing edibles. Here, 'garden' refers to any area that is intentionally cultivated, regardless of what is being grown. I like this definition: "A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature."

Gardengal, that is the perfect definition of a garden!! maybe it is just different areas of the country… here (south) if you say you are into gardening it is generally assumed as edibles. i have to clarify plants and flowers

I call it my outdoor office. That way dear wife sees it as a money making area instead of a money pit. Better marital relations through better use of words.

To me yard and garden are synonymous. There are different sub areas within my yard/garden

Great topic. I had been thinking about how a lot of people do not
see individual plants or appreciate seasonal changes, except the presence/absence of foliage. Bloomings azaleas, splendid hostas are splashes of color, green stuff. Here in NC, gardening with ornamentals is quite common, as well as with veggies. Gardening clubs focus on bulbs and ornamental plantings, but also kitchen gardens. I think of my property as my garden with subsets of gardens that each have unique conditions like microclimates. I include landmarks and yard locations relative to our house, but I think no one is actually paying attention to any of that.

"To me, vegetable garden + flower beds is "garden", and grass and trees within the grass is "yard" :)"

But are the two mutually exclusive? Is my grass a yard yet when I step over a bed border I'm in a garden?

Do trees inside flower beds make it a yard? How about beds around a grass area?

By this definition my area is just my yard, and it is just a yard- the entire reason I live here is to provide a large free running area for my dogs. I "cultivate" the perimeters of their running areas to dress it up for me, so that it is pleasant out there for me when I am watching them.

Trying to define a multi-use area like mine in one word is futile and there's no reason for me to try, really. Maybe I need to come up with some sort of blended term that grants it the nod that I think it deserves.

But it feels, to me anyway, as if the word "yard" doesn't quite acknowledge the work I have done and I guess I'm needing validation. My next door neighbor's entire property is bereft of plants- it's one of those sterile properties you see that has zip decor and is all about low maintenance- that is a "yard"- mine deserves a better word, that's all, lol.

In my area most think that I am referring to a vegetable garden but to me my garden is the entire property surrounding my house. If I could, the whole acreage would be one giant flower bed. Some probably think it is on its way now.

my parents had a 3 acre property for 30 years..random trees and shrubs (previous owner), a big vegetable garden and so much grass you needed a riding mower..they weren't plant lovers (like me) but it was a pretty place and maintained perfectly..Dad was at my house with my loaded half acre of trees, shrubs, perennials and potted plants and says to me "you don't really have a yard do you?"..😂

it was funny to me..knowing his mindset I wasn't insulted..

Rather than ask what is a garden you really want to know why we garden and others don’t

for me it is simple connecting with and nurturing nature makes me happy.

not everybody is wired that way. …hopefully they find joy some other way.

I have a yard and a garden but only a few vegetables on the edge of my yard. At one time I had a large vegetable garden but over the years (almost 50) I've let the trees grow and shade the area to where veggies will no longer prosper. So now it is my shade garden with mostly hostas.

This year I did put in a raised bed (5'x10') in the middle of the back yard for a few veggies. If it works out, i'll put in another next year.

What about 'yarden'? I've heard that term used somewhere before. Anyone use it? I don't really like it.

If you mentioned a garden around here most people would assume you meant a edible garden, unless you specified a rose garden, etc.. Now, if you said you were into gardening, they would understand you meant gardening in general. I'm Kentucky born, lived here all of my 74 years, lived in rural ares in different parts of the state and don't know anyone who would assume you meant veggies if you said you were "into gardening".

I would think "garden" and what constitutes a garden might have more to do with your background and age. In rural areas, most people think of a garden as a vegetable patch. Both of my grandmothers had "gardens". One of my grandmothers also had a "rose garden". Both had "yards".

Although both my parents grew up in rural areas, my generation was the first to grow up in a city. We had yards with "flower beds". I still think of my "yard" as my "yard" and refer to it as such. I still think of vegetables when someone refers to a "garden", unless it's in a park or an arboretum.

If your "yard" is a "garden", it seems (to me), it should be a pretty special place.

bkay

So do you go outside to do "yard work" or "garden work"?

L Clark and juniorballoon..too funny 😂😂😂..

I say yardwork

Although it IS work, I generally announce that I am "going out to play in the garden".

I say "I'm going outside"..

Lets not leave out rain gardens!

Mostly discussed in the Great Lakes discussion forum, here is my rain garden working today holding a lot of water to percolate into the ground rather than into drains carrying pollutants to Lake Michigan. Also a pic from a week ago showing its depth dry. And because this is the also in the hosta discussion forum, a third pic from last fall.

April 22, 2022:

April 16, 2022:

September 15, 2021:

Guacamole hostas and sum & substance

gardengal - I just say I'm going to go play outside, that covers a host of sins :)

@chamaegardener (Z5) Northeast Illinois Very nice! In the PNW all of our gardens are Rain Gardens. ;o)

Disclaimer: I know a Rain Garden is a particular type of garden built to absorb rain.

And I really started gardening in 2012 to protect my yard from erosion. While making a rip-rap to protect my patio and to slow the flow of water, I discovered the work of previous owners. My rain garden was already a rain garden with French drains already in place, just silted over.

I addressed silt for my setup with the red jasper and river rocks that catch what floats before it enters the basin.

Yep, ChamaeG! That’s what my granite rip-rap and liriope do!

As a non-veggie gardener (too many critters!), I am a perennial garden. When I say I'm a gardener, folks (men especially, for some reason) assume I grow food. I refer to the beds as the garden. I notice in British gardening shows, they refer to the yard as a whole as "the garden."

I guess nobody has posted yet that Europeans tend to call their whole 'yard' a garden. Within that, I've heard them refer to what we would call a [flower] garden, a 'border'. More or less. I remember my bemusement years ago, when I heard that song from Belle and Sebastian than mentions taking a lover's picture in a "herbaceous border"...a lyrics you can safely say you'd never hear from an American pop song.

Oops, I had this thread opened from a while ago and see that violetsnapdragon just mentioned it.

The word 'yard' means something quite different from a garden in the UK. A yard there is not always or even often a planted space but frequently has a hard surface and is typically present in association with some other activity......a barnyard, builder's yard, stoneyard, prison yard, junk yard, stable yard, graveyard, etc.. Homes there don't have front yards or back yards. They have front gardens or back gardens.