ABSTRACT
Most of us are familiar with plants and how they grow, through our gardens and gardening . Around us are examples of gardens that are little more than surrounds to houses, with the main interest being in providing standing room for the car, utility areas and a place to sit out when the weather is good enough. Any relationship with plants is restricted to minimizing the workload, with much hard surface and an emphasis on weed control. For others, the surrounds are an opportunity to provide an attractive view, to enhance the look of the property, to have a safe playing area or to have fresh, home-grown fruit and vegetables, but without wanting to be more involved with the plants than necessary. Again the emphasis is likely to be on minimizing the occupants’ input, with a person bought in considered a good solution to dealing with the time required and complications to keep it in good order. In contrast, gardeners consider their garden to be where they fulfi l their wish to work with plants and seek to create their ‘paradise on earth’ ( Figure 1.2 ).
