| Residential gardens are ubiquitous in the contemporary American landscape. Many gardeners{09}appear{09}to expend considerable time,{09}money, and effort to{09}surround their homes with trees,{09}flowers, fruits, and vegetables. My research asks, “Why do people garden?” Through the elicitation of gardeners' life histories, I discover the significant events in their lives that explain why gardening became a major symbol of their identities. I also uncover their motivations for choosing particular kinds of gardens, the ways they see or interpret themselves in relation to their gardens, and the meaning gardens hold for them.; I examined a total of seventeen gardens belonging to twenty-two gardeners during the summers of 1999 and 2000. Each garden was classified into one of four types: natural landscape, beauty, organic, or modal. The typology was based on preliminary observations of gardens and participation in gardening clubs and organizations in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. This typology represents the range of vernacular garden types found within the research area.; I interviewed each of the twenty-two gardeners with respect to their life history as a gardener. I collected life history information during one or two, two-to-four hour interviews conducted in the informant's garden. I conducted a total of twenty-six interviews, nineteen of which were taped.; Field notes and transcripts were then analyzed to discern commonalities in life histories that might account for or explain gardeners' motivations to create similar types of gardens. The meanings gardeners ascribe to their gardens were compared to the six categories of garden meaning derived from cross-cultural research conducted by Francis and Hester (1990): faith, power, order, cultural expression, personal expression, and healing.; Results indicate that avid gardeners find significant meaning in the act of gardening and by appreciating their gardens. The garden as a meaning system exists in parallel to other social institutions, such as organized religion and civic associations, that traditionally provided individuals with social connections and an experience of something greater than themselves. In the last fifty years, gardens and gardening have become a means to revitalize both gardeners and the society in which they live. |
