Take our personal natural surroundings, for instance. Man (as designer and self-designated caretaker) throughout history has attempted to lion-tame Mother Nature. As a matter of fact, I’m sure even Adam grew frustrated trying to weed the Garden of Eden.

When we are able to shrink the landscape down to an understandable size, we humble gardeners (with limited time and energies) can suddenly face the daunting tasks of sculpting nature. As an architectural feature, the courtyard creates such spaces. Sort of like an outdoor terrarium, surrounding walls tenderly hold and tame the environment. Vacuumed carpets of lawns are bordered. Specimen plants are arranged like treasured furnishings. The overwhelming world then becomes contained and miniaturized into a realm of manageable control. Canvases usually reserved for the artistic hand of God suddenly become available to the creativity of the mere mortals.

Box up your verdant dreams, pilot your wheelbarrow and head to the caressing confines of a courtyard.

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