Are gardens a recent invention?
The modern garden has a history going back many thousands of years. Early humans were hunters and gatherers, and didn't usually stay in one place for a long time. Instead, they travelled from place to place following the food (plants and animals) according to the seasons. During the Neolithic period (over 10,000 years ago) this slowly began to change; humans started to domesticate certain plants, which meant they could remain in one place and grow their own food. The first ‘garden', was a vegetable-garden, where early humans cultivated different types of plants for food.

What plants did people grow?
Evidence of early agriculture in Europe includes edible plants such as wheat or lentils, but also includes more ornamental plants for other purposes. Plants for medicine were grown (such as sage), as were herbs and spices for flavouring or preserving food. Certain plants also had religious or spiritual value and were not only grown because they were useful or edible. Growing of plants not only for food was the beginning of gardening.

Why did people plant gardens?
Gardens today are beautiful places to go and relax, but have had many purposes over the years. In the past they were planted to honour the gods, or used in religious ceremonies such as funerals and weddings. Certain trees were also sacred in some cultures; Yew trees were important for Celts, as were Sycamores in Egypt. The ancient Greeks planted groves for their Gods, and many cultures believed gardens were holy.

They were also a way to show that their owners were rich or powerful. Ancient rulers created huge gardens to display their wealth, in the same way that large palaces were symbols of prosperity. In Roman times the garden became an extension of the house, representing the owner's status in society, rather than a holy place.

What does paradise mean?
Sir Francis Bacon described gardens as "the purest of human pleasures." Pleasure and happiness are ideas linked with gardens. The ancient Greeks believed growing food was a job for the poor, but gardens were places for enjoyment and contemplation. The English word paradise comes from the ancient Persian word Pairidaeza - meaning a walled space, a garden. The gardens of the Middle East, described in The Arabian Nights, were places of great beauty and splendour where people enjoyed the pleasures of life.

What was the most famous garden?
One of the most famous early gardens was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was created around 2600 years ago near the river Euphrates and contained many plants, flowers, fruit trees, stone columns and waterfalls. It was designed so the river could continually irrigate it and as a result was green all year round.

Are gardens artistic?
As gardens have developed over the years, design and beauty have become more and more important. Humans have learnt to control nature and to design gardens precisely, like a work of art or a building. The Gardens of Versailles in France are an excellent example of ‘garden architecture', everything is symmetrical and even the trees are pruned to fit in with the design.

Carefully planned or not, gardens are still beautiful and relaxing places to visit. On a fine day you might even find a little part of paradise, if you look hard enough...

Vocabulary

5 words/phrases from the text:

1. ornamental: used or grown as decoration
2. funeral: a ceremony for a dead person
3. wealth: a great quantity of money
4. irrigate: to supply land with water by artificial means
5. prune: to remove branches or leaves from a plant

Exercise one.

Vocabulary gap fill. Now use the 5 words/phrases to fill the gaps in the sentences below:

1. Everybody was crying at the prince's ............... , they could not believe he had died.
2. Lord Granger though women were only attracted to him because of his ................
3. They diverted the course of the river in order to..................... the farmland.
4. I don't like ......................... bowls, I prefer practical things.
5. You'll have to .............. the apple tree soon, it's branches have grown too big.

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Exercise two.

Comprehension: true or false. Decide whether these sentences are TRUE or FALSE according to the text.

1. The first humans did not keep gardens
2. The first plant growers did not grow non-edible plants
3. Ancient kings used their gardens to show people how rich they were
4. The Greeks thought that only rich people could grow edible plants
5. These days gardens are much less controlled than before

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Grammar.

Comparing and contrasting - modifying comparatives

When we want to talk about similarities and differences we can use adjectives in their comparative forms ...

Max is taller than Judy.
You're more intelligent than me.

or we can use (not) as (adjective) as

Her hair is as long as mine.
This one's not as interesting as his first book. Remember that ‘not as interesting as' means ‘less interesting than.

We can also use expressions like different from, similar to and the same as.

She's very different from her sister. They're very different.
Sri Lankan food is similar to Indian food. They're similar.
Andrew is the same age as Lily. Their ages are the same. We use same with nouns.

Modifying comparisons

A big difference - much, a lot, far

We can modify comparative adjectives to show that there is a big difference between things.

Sales in July were much higher than sales in June.
She's a lot taller than you.
This one's far more expensive than the blue one.

We can also say that things are completely or totally different from each other.

They may be twins but they're completely different from each other.

A small difference - slightly, a little, a bit, not much

We can show there is a small difference.

Sales in August were slightly lower than sales in July.
You're a bit younger than me.
These are not much more expensive than those.

No difference - exactly, more or less, roughly

We can show that there is no difference or almost no difference.

He's exactly the same age as me. ( No difference.)
The figures for December are more or less the same as the figures for November (a tiny difference)

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Exercise

Use the information and the word in brackets to make a comparative sentence.

1 Ferrari - £120,000. Skoda £20,000 (expensive)
2 Peter - 186cm. Mark - 186cm. (height)
3 Vienna 11°C. Venice 13°C (warm)
4 Casino Royale (148 mins). Pirates of the Caribbean (140 mins) (long)
5 Gerlachovsky - 2655m. Krivan 2494m (high)

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Quiz Question 14

Surname of musician associated with Blur and Gorillaz.

Gardens - key

Vocabulary

1. funeral
2. wealth
3. irrigate
4. ornamental
5. prune
   

Comprehension

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. False
   

Grammar

1. A Ferrari is much/a lot/far more expensive than a Skoda.
2. Peter and Mark are exactly the same height. Peter is exactly the same height as Mark.
3. Venice is slightly/a little/a bit warmer than Vienna.
4. Casino Royale is slightly/a little/a bit/not much longer than Pirates of the Caribbean.
5. Gerlachovsky is a bit/a little/slightly higher than Krivan.