Pervasive Interest of Gardens in Europe

                Since the dawn of mankind, humans have been growing more and more organized, staving off the forces that pull us apart, and fighting back. We started with the formation of groups and clans to protect ourselves from the dangers of our ancestors, and continued on to hunting and gathering food. Eventually, societies moved toward cultivating their own crops, and so gardening took roots in the history of humankind. It was a method of taking away the task of gathering food and bringing the natural world to them. This early cultivation was a way for us to tame nature and bend it to our own will.

                Gardening in Europe has become so popular because it displays the power of mankind over the unknown wilderness. What we once feared, we now seek to control. Use of control for human purposes can be seen in many examples of garden elements (http://www.shadefxcanopies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/chinese-jasmin-vine-pergola.jpg). The pergola can be put in place to guide the growth of vines. With this element, the vines follow the lead of human intent, and are used to create shade for our own purposes. It raises humans to a subtle position of power over nature through a cruel and ironic joke.

                   Gardening aims to organize that which should not be in order. Human fascination with the ordering of natural elements can be found in gardens across the world. Gaining fame in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ period of garden art, designers and gardeners organized flowers by colors and textures to make patterns(http://www.jsllandscape.com/images/spiral%20colorful%20flower%20garden.jpg). It can also be seen in the shaping of hedges to form topiaries. Men take the natural and wild form of the tree and transform it into something pleasing to them (http://fortikur.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Beautiful-Design-of-Small-Garden-Pics-with-Topiary.jpg). They seek to tame what is often thought of as uncontrollable.

                   The European interest in gardening can be traced back to the power struggle between man and nature. Now that humans have the ability to fight back the wilds, we choose to do more than just that. We make the wilderness our pet, domesticate it, and dress it up. Over time, the human race has learned to flaunt their ability to control the natural world around them, and display it for all those around them.