The garden is a place of peace and recreation to escape the troubled world we all live in. The history of the garden is a long one that touches every culture bringing us a rich and diverse template from which to fashion our own large or small piece of paradise. At the centre of every garden whether exotic or simple is a place to sit and soak up the pleasures of our and others hard work, The Garden Bench.
Nature has a much broader brush that humans and left to it own devices any land will be assimilated into the local environment, whatever that may be. But the garden is a human development. Albeit the first garden noted in history was the biblical Garden of Eden, and that was of course credited to our Creator. Today nothing remains of that garden except mans desire to return to a paradise lost. So it could be said to be the template for all gardens. The very name Eden is synonymous with restoration and preservation of the ecology with such places as the Eden Centre in Cornwall, UK.
The real beauty of the garden is the intervention of man as the artist and the land a canvas onto which he tries to paint his ideas. However, the garden is a living thing constantly changing with the local environment, climate and seasons. A constant battle to impose his will and prevent mother nature claiming her own whilst father time is not on our side either. Many a garden or landscape is left for posterity to enjoy at its finest, we just have to hope they appreciate it, or are still around in years to come.