How Can We Interpret Gardens?

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 8—“How Can We Interpret Gardens?”—continues the conversation begun in Chapter 7. After exploring a range of theories of how works of art may be interpreted and their application to interpreting gardens, the chapter focuses on how to “read” a garden’s formal aspects as the basis of creating a data set that may form the basis of an interpretation. This “form-focused” approach includes a detailed exploration of “garden form,” which is expressed in eleven categories: path, structure, artifactual elements, space, water, light, topography, ecology, setting, plant palette, and plant character. The chapter offers examples of the application of garden form to interpreting gardens, and concludes by discussing a set of unique aspects of garden interpretation.