Do you consider gardening to be like art? - Page 2

Not really, for me.   I just plant what I enjoy looking at and growing,  but don't think of it as art.   Most of my garden is open to view by the public passing by, I would like to think it is easy on the eye with a bit of brightness that lights it up, here and there, throughout the seasons.  

I think a garden is like art in some way it can be whatever you want it to be.

Both an art and a craft in the same way as medecine is a science and an art.  Ia you want to see the pinnacle in this country visit Stowe Landscape Gardens in Buvckinghamshire.  But when a visitor comes round a corner in my garden and gasps with delight i get as much pleasure as when I feast my eyes on a painting i have of my favourite plants - broomrapes!  Good art entices you to come back for more.  creating good art is never easy.  A lot of craft skills have to be learned to be a good painter, sculpture, photographer or gardener.

There's a world of difference between "art" and "artistic".  I just don't get "art" from the formulaic religious stuff of centuries to the modern stuff which distorts scale and perspective or is made from so much rubbish though I can appreciate the likes of Vermeer and Constable.

However, I can see that gardening can be artistic in that one takes raw materials such as plants and some objects and makes something pleasing to the eye and the soul - so not modern art.

One thing that does strike me, is just how un artistic many suppossed garden designers are. In a previous career I used to carry out alot of work for different landscape architects and garden designers, some very well known and some not so. One thing that they all have in common is a complete lack of flare and originality. Without fail you could walk from one finished garden to another and sadly know who designed it. They all just follow the same boring trend, and this follows through into education. I've frequently seen students posting questions on forums about trends etc, and to me this is a major flaw within the landscape industry. Teachers should be teaching the students to set trends, not just follow what is already out there.

One designer who does think outside the box and who I've always admired, not least because he isn't afraid of using concrete as a design medium, is Diarmuid Gavin. You can still tell which gardens are his, but at least he tries and isn't afraid to be different.

Thanks so much for the enthusiastic response! It's brilliant to have such a wide-range of responses, its been really helpful. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts about what specifically it is about gardens that makes us value them so much?

Mossy

Lots of things, starting with:-

Excitement and satisfaction when things you've sown and/or planted and nurtured grow or when a plan comes together.   

Enjoying the changing seasons and the transitions of colours and foliage and form through the year.   Harvesting crops in the fruit and veg plot.

Seeing wildlife enjoy it and just calming the soul by looking at it - as long as you can stop twitching at weeds for a sec.

A long hot shower or bath and a glass of wine while you admire your handiwork after a day working the garden.

Sorry about the formatting garbage!

It's art and craft and therapy - plants don't answer back, although I will talk to them.   It is optimistic and life enhancing.  It is creative and also practical and productive - at least one lives in hope that we will get some warmth and sunshine as well as the rain - optimistic you see!

i think it is a form of art.. putting plant together that corodinate in colour and compliment each other... sie and shapes and how you layout your garden.. is all art to a degree.. and being able to stand back and admire your work is the most pleasing part.. just like a fine painting.

only difference is the garden changes colours and shapes and moves and invites you in to have a look all year round..

Gardening can be art the same way anything (a urinal or an unmade bed) can be art if you intend it to be (though just because something is art it doesn't mean it's good art). I don't think of my vegetable patch as art, but I do approach the design and layout of my garden with artistic elements in mind: colour, form, contrast etc. (Yes I did go to art school)

It's art with a touch of craft but also immensly satisfying for body mind and soul.  I think if you have a creative nature and a desire to make something beautiful - even if you do make mistakes you can call it art.  I also feel that with gardening your not alone in your art - the gardens around and the wildlife, flora and forna of the world outside your garden contribute to the 'canvas' within your boundaries.