The private garden has long been part of the American domestic ideal. Implicit in the “American dream” of a home with a white picket fence is the green lawn inside that fence. Individual gardens come in all shapes and sizes, from subsistence food production to flower-cutting gardens to manicured topiaries. The centerpiece of the stereotypical garden is the lawn. More varied elements include flowering plants and trees, water features and vegetables. Gardens are both ornamental and functional, often serving as extended living areas complete with outdoor furniture. Rural yards in the South, where weather permits outdoor activity year-round, become outdoor rooms where cooking, washing and social activities take place.

The trends of contemporary architecture have generally been slow to influence gardens and landscape architecture. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a shift towards relaxed planting styles, inspired by regional natural settings and a yearning for the wild, historic American landscape. Shrinking property sizes are another major factor in changing garden design. Container gardens have sprouted in cities, on corporate plazas, small yards, roofs and window boxes. Busy lifestyles that preclude a weekend of lawn mowing, and rising water costs have also led to lower-maintenance gardens.

Plantings and garden styles change drastically from one region to another according to climate. Southwestern gardeners often plant succulents which thrive in arid climates, a water-efficient practice called xeriscaping, though they also grow water-dependent lawns, an imitation of the traditional temperate climate’s yard. The southeast supports more lush, tropical species, and the northern states grow a variety of smaller annual and perennial plant life.

Community gardening in America tends to flourish in times of economic hardship or war. The First World War had Liberty Gardens, the Great Depression necessitated community gardening and, during the Second World War, the Victory Garden program contributed to national vegetable production. Such gardens were not generally popular again until the 1970s, when they were promoted with urban-renewal efforts as a way to heal urban blight.

In many cities, community gardens have been developed in vacant lots where buildings have been torn down and not replaced. Some start as squatters’ gardens, without approval from municipal authorities; others are started by city agencies or special interest groups with community support. They utilize raised planting beds, which conserve water and space, and are often divided into small plots tended by a single individual or family.

Community gardens are often hard to preserve on a long-term basis because of real-estate pressure, and their creation and preservation has been a catalyst for and product of community activism as people work to maintain valuable neighborhood resources. Some municipalities have sponsored work-training programs in community gardens for disadvantaged youth. Such gardens reinforce community ideals, preserve a neighborhood’s green open space and, when well tended, can yield substantial quantities of produce.