Are You a Gardener?

Homeowners everywhere face a common dilemma: do you become a gardener, hire a gardener, or hand your yard over to the first person who claims to be a gardener? And where do landscapers fit into the picture?

Before diving into the weeds of what a gardener is, it might be a good idea to clarify what a garden is.

A Garden Is More Than a Few Shrubs

Let’s set the record straight: a true garden is far more than a smattering of shrubs around a property. If your “garden” consists of three boxwoods, a tree with a mulch volcano, and a lawn so chemically treated it glows at night, you’re not fooling anyone calling that a garden. A real garden is a living, evolving ecosystem, thoughtfully planned and managed to produce an effect (and achieve a purpose) that the gardener intended it to achieve.

Dreaming of a tree to pee on. Photo by Giorgio Trovato.

A garden is defined as a planned, typically defined outdoor space dedicated to the cultivation and enjoyment of plants and nature. Unlike agriculture, which focuses on mass production, gardening is characterized by a "human-scale" level of control, artistry, and the pursuit of psychological or aesthetic fulfillment. It is a living system that reflects seasonal cycles over the course of a year.

Gardening is “human-scale” control, artistry, and fulfillment. Photo by Giorgio Trovato.

Elements of a true garden include:

• Purposeful design and plant selection 

• Diversity of plants (not just one species repeated ad nauseam)

• Consideration of soil, light, and climate

• Ongoing care and adaptation

• Integration with the home and landscape

• Functionality

Rose gardens are an example of a “single-species” garden. Photo by Mio Ito.

Traditionally, the definition of a garden was restricted to what was planted in a garden bed, i.e., a specific, prepared area of soil - either at ground level or elevated - dedicated to plant display and cultivation. Over the last few decades, that definition has broadened to encompass approaches that include naturalized areas, which in no way, shape, or form utilize garden ‘beds’.

Naturalized areas are not confined to garden beds. Photo by Erda Estremera.

Types of Gardens: A World of Styles

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and very much a personal preference. If a twig out of place drives you crazy, a cottage garden is probably not a good idea for you. If you prefer so much space between plants, you could take a taxi from one to the other; a herbaceous border is not your cup of tea. If one of the results you wanted to achieve was more privacy, knee-high herbaceous perennials are not going to tick that box. If you want to see butterflies flitting about, rows of boxwoods aren’t going to hit the mark. 

There are many different types of gardens, and for those who have more than a pocket handkerchief-sized yard, it is quite viable to have different types of gardens coexisting on the same property. It requires some planning, but as with interior decorating, a harmonious flow from one garden ‘room’ to the next is achievable. 

Different garden areas may have a different focus, e.g., a foundation garden in the front yard may be more formal than the potager in the back yard. Combinations – perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, foliage, textures, and scents – may differ significantly from one aspect to another but still achieve an effect that meets the needs of the homeowner.

Following is a list of many (but not all) common garden styles.

• Cottage Garden: Romantic, informal, overflowing with mixed flowers and herbs.

• Formal Garden: Symmetrical, structured, with clipped hedges and geometric layouts.

• Moonlight Garden: Features white and night-blooming plants for evening enjoyment.

• Herbaceous Border: Perennial-rich beds designed for seasonal interest and color.

A herbaceous border full of seasonal interest and color. Photo by Aniston Grace.

• Pollinator/Butterfly Garden: Focused on attracting bees, butterflies, and birds with nectar-rich plants.

• Wildlife Garden: Designed to provide food and shelter for local fauna, often featuring native plants.

• Vegetable Garden/Orchard: Dedicated to growing plants that produce edibles, e.g., apple trees, blueberries, raspberries, potatoes, okra, tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce.

• Potager: A French-style kitchen garden that mixes vegetables, herbs, and flowers, often artistically arranged.

• Herb Garden: Primarily for culinary and medicinal herbs, either in beds or containers.

• Prairie/Meadow Garden: Mimics wild landscapes with grasses and wildflowers.

• Woodland Garden: A designed landscape that mimics a natural forest ecosystem, featuring a layered, shady, and serene environment.

• Rain Garden: A shallow, landscaped depression planted with native, deep-rooted flowers and grasses, designed to capture and absorb stormwater runoff from surfaces like roofs, driveways, and lawns.

• Shade Garden: Planted under trees or in low-light areas, featuring hosta, ferns, and shade-tolerant blooms.

• Vertical Garden/Living Wall: A wall or vertical structure that is fully or partially covered with vegetation. Some hydroponic systems are suitable for becoming a vertical produce garden, and this could also be considered a vertical garden.

• Sensory Garden/Cutting Garden: Any garden where the emphasis is on plants for smelling and touching. Often contains elements involving sound, e.g., wind chimes or the clonk/drip of a bamboo waterspout.

• Desert/Xeriscape: Uses little or no water and often features plants such as cacti and succulents.

• Container Garden: For locations where it is not feasible to plant “in-ground” and is often used by people between properties or those who only have balconies or sealed patios and courtyards.

A container garden on a porch adds charm. Photo by Getty Images.

• Zen Garden (Kare Sansui): A dry landscape with raked gravel and stones for meditation.

• Contemporary, Modern, & Minimalist: Clean lines, limited color palettes, and structured designs.

A tropical contemporary theme with a structured yet still organic feel to it. Photo by Look Up Down Photography.

The list goes on … There are also rooftop gardens, gardens for commercial landscapes, community gardens, and single-species gardens that only contain one type of plant, e.g., roses, or cypress, or tropicals, or herbs, or alpine plants (rock garden), etc.

What is a Gardener?

Now that we have established what a garden is and mentioned some of the many different types of gardens, it’s easier to explain what a gardener is.

In a nutshell, it’s the person who designs, installs, and maintains a garden. A gardener is an individual - whether hobbyist or professional - who intentionally cultivates and manages plants in a specific outdoor or indoor space for whatever reason (or reasons) that makes sense to them.

Both a hobby gardener and a professional gardener are likely to be well-informed about the science of gardening and not at all bothered about the physical effort involved. Formal education relevant to gardening may vary from some to none, but a self-educated gardener whose gardens are a visual symphony and who can effectively (and accurately) communicate what they do and why is not to be sneered at.

While both share a love of nature, their motivations and roles often differ. Professional gardeners are often employed by estates, parks, or private clients. They possess specialized knowledge in subjects such as horticulture, plant pathology, and irrigation, all or some of which may have originated from tertiary training. Their activities are increasingly data-driven, using tech like soil sensors and weather-tracking technology for large-scale and precision gardening.

A beautifully designed and maintained display garden no doubt curated by an army of professional gardeners. Photo by Jan Canty.

On the other end of the spectrum are hobby gardeners, who are motivated by personal achievements within their own environments. Their practical experience may be limited to the properties they have owned, and they are less likely to be commercially involved in the industry. Gardening is their ‘escape’, not necessarily a source of income, and the tech they use to forecast the weather is more likely to be a throbbing knee than a weather radar.  

Unlike a landscaper with a focus on installation as opposed to stewardship, a gardener is characterized by a "hands-on" approach and meeting personal goals (or work-related goals if employed as a gardener).

The Low or No-Maintenance Gardener

Let’s blow the “no maintenance garden” myth out of the water. There is no such thing as a no-maintenance garden. Every garden needs some sort of maintenance. It’s unavoidable, and if the plan is to hire a gardener, that makes you a garden owner, not a gardener.

There are low-maintenance gardens. A xeriscape in Arizona may only need to be checked occasionally for weed removal, and the odd plant here and there trimmed. That would be a low-maintenance garden. So would a dwarf Japanese Maple and complementary dwarf Conifers in a small foundation garden. All they would need is occasional trimming to balance the plants, a few bags of compost with a fresh layer of mulch once a year, and weed patrol every month, possibly less if pre-emergent weed control is also used.

Meadow and woodland gardens are often described as being low-maintenance, but looks can be deceiving, and they can involve significant effort to get them established and then maintained in an appealing state. Just because the work is seasonal rather than weekly, and they don’t look ‘groomed’, doesn't mean a lot of time and effort hasn’t been invested.

A local lawn maintenance person with “landscaper” on his vehicle once told me that hollies and buxus were the way to go because they were low maintenance. I looked at him as if he’d grown a second head. The only way those evergreens look good is if they are clipped two or three times a year. As we were talking at the time about privacy hedging encompassing the rear of our property, the work involved in trimming 300 linear feet of hedging at least twice a year could not, in any universe, be considered low maintenance.

And that’s my point – a lawn maintenance person or hedge trimmer may not be a gardener. He or she may be excellent at mowing lawns and trimming hedges, but absolutely useless as an all-around gardener who can design, install, and maintain a garden that will not only flourish but also achieve objectives, both implied and expressed.

The Reluctant Gardener

Strange as it may seem, I have known some excellent gardeners who absolutely loathed gardening. They may not have had any desire to acquire a wide knowledge of plants or gardens, but they had done their research, knew their own (and their property’s) capabilities and limitations, and still designed, installed, and maintained an aesthetically pleasing outdoor environment that suited their needs.

Regardless of technical skill and personal levels of enthusiasm, a gardener is defined by several distinct psychological and behavioral traits that collectively form a common theme: 

• Patience and Temporal Awareness: Gardeners operate on "nature’s clock," understanding that growth cannot be rushed and that success often requires months or even years of waiting for a single bloom or harvest.

• Keen Observational Skills: A successful gardener is a "student of the obvious”, who knows what normal looks like, notices differences from the norm, and intervenes if that is necessary.

• Adaptive Problem-Solving: Gardeners will adjust their plans to account for unanticipated challenges. If a particular area is too wet for the plant intended for that location, they will research more suitable plants and select one that will thrive in those conditions.

• Ecological Stewardship: Modern gardeners see themselves as belonging to a larger ecosystem and take personal responsibility for managing their part of it. For example, they may prioritize native plants to support native pollinators and use regenerative practices like no-till gardening and composting to improve soil health.

• Resilience and "Optimism through Failure": Gardeners accept that some plants will inevitably die. They view these "mistakes" as learning opportunities and, rather than being discouraged, look forward to the challenge of finding a plant better suited to that location.

• Physical and Mental Wellbeing: Most gardeners will acknowledge the benefits of gardening activities. Even if some aspects are less appealing than others, they recognize that the process contributes to improved physical fitness, reduced stress, and a sense of self-worth from what they achieve.

The Secret Sauce: Persistence

In short, a gardener is not necessarily someone who shrieks with delight at the sight of a large compost pile or speaks Latin to their tomatoes. Instead, a gardener is that curious soul who persists in attempts to improve the appearance of their yard, irrespective of whether they are motivated by love, stubbornness, or a Nastygram from their HOA. They may not know every plant name, but they know when something looks suspiciously dead, and they’ll keep tinkering until it’s alive (or replaced). So, what is a gardener? Part scientist, part optimist, part dirt-covered philosopher - and someone who is not afraid to fail spectacularly, laugh about it, and try again next season.

Gardeners will fail spectacularly and try again! Photo by Amie Roussel.

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Article by Judith Paul.

Hi, I'm Judith Paul, with a gardening style best described as “Oooo, there’s a gap over here!” My work history is equally unpredictable (possibly even quirky) and ranges from pulling eel-infested cow carcasses out of creeks to managing multi-million-dollar projects across various industries. I’m a Kiwi (referring to the iconic flightless bird of NZ, not the fruit) who has also lived in Australia. Currently, I run a licensed and inspected plant propagation nursery in North Carolina (USA) when I’m not teaching, writing, or editing.

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