I. gar ‧ den 1 S1 W1 /ˈɡɑːdn $ ˈɡɑːr-/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ garden , ↑ gardener , ↑ gardening ; verb : ↑ garden ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old North French ; Origin: probably from Vulgar Latin (hortus) gardinus 'enclosed (garden)' ]
1 . [countable] British English the area of land next to a house, where there are flowers, grass, and other plants, and often a place for people to sit SYN yard American English :
He’s outside in the garden.
Grace brought us some flowers from her garden.
back/front garden (=at the back or front of the house)
2 . [countable] a part of the area next to a house, which has plants and flowers in it:
The house has a beautiful herb garden.
3 . gardens [plural] a large area of land where plants and flowers are grown so that the public can go and see them:
the Botanical Gardens at Kew
4 . Gardens British English used in the name of streets:
211 Roland Gardens
⇨ ↑ kitchen garden , ↑ market garden , ⇨ lead somebody up the garden path at ↑ lead 1 (12)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + garden
▪ overgrown (=covered with plants that have grown in an uncontrolled way)
The garden is getting rather overgrown.
▪ well-kept/tidy British English ( also neat American English )
The hotel is set in a well-kept garden.
▪ untidy
There was a small untidy garden behind the house.
▪ the front garden British English (=at the front of a house)
Their house had a small front garden.
▪ the back garden British English (=behind a house)
The children are playing in the back garden.
▪ a flower/rose garden (=a garden planted with flowers/roses)
The cottage was surrounded by a flower garden.
▪ a kitchen garden British English (=where you grow fruit and vegetables)
The kitchen garden supplies vegetables to the manor house.
▪ a vegetable/herb garden (=where vegetables/herbs are grown)
Rows of lettuces had been sown in the vegetable garden.
▪ a rock garden (=a garden with rocks that have plants growing between them)
She helped me choose plants for the rock garden.
■ verbs
▪ water the garden
It hasn’t rained for a week – I should water the garden.
▪ weed the garden (=remove unwanted wild plants)
She was outside weeding the garden.
▪ plant a garden
They planted a beautiful rose garden in her memory.
■ garden + NOUN
▪ a garden shed (=a small building in the garden for storing tools and equipment)
We keep the lawnmower in the garden shed.
▪ garden tools (=tools that you use for digging, planting etc in the garden)
Choose the right garden tool and you’ll do the job properly.
▪ a garden centre British English , a garden center American English (=a shop selling plants and things for the garden)
I bought the plants at the garden centre.
▪ garden furniture (=chairs and tables used in a garden)
Garden furniture sells well when the weather is warm.
▪ a garden hose (=a long rubber tube used for watering a garden)
He accidentally left the garden hose running.
▪ a garden pond (=a small area of water in a garden)
The garden pond was full of fish.
▪ a garden gnome (=a stone or plastic figure in a garden, which looks like a little old man with a pointed hat)
Somebody had stolen one of their garden gnomes.
▪ the garden gate (= the gate between a garden and the street)
Martin was waiting by the garden gate.
▪ a garden path
Elaine walked up the garden path and into the house.
▪ garden waste (=grass, leaves etc that you have cut and do not want)
The brown bin is for garden waste.
■ phrases
▪ the bottom of the garden British English (=the end of the garden, away from the house)
There was a trampoline at the bottom of the garden.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ areas and structures in a garden
▪ lawn [countable] an area of short grass in a garden:
They were sitting on the front lawn of the house.
▪ flowerbed [countable] an area of ground where you grow flowers:
The flowerbeds were well maintained.
▪ rockery [countable] British English an area of a garden where there are rocks with small flowers growing between them
▪ hedge [countable] a row of small bushes or trees growing close together, used for dividing one garden from another:
a beech hedge
▪ vegetable patch/plot [countable] ( also kitchen garden British English ) a part of a garden where you grow vegetables
▪ patio [countable] a flat stone area next to a house, where people sit outside
▪ decking [uncountable] a flat wooden area in a garden, where people can sit
▪ pond [countable] a small area of water in a garden
▪ water feature [countable] a small pool or structure with water running through it, used to make a garden look more attractive
▪ greenhouse [countable] a glass building where you can grow plants that need protection from the weather
▪ shed [countable] a small wooden building in a garden, where you can store things
■ work you do in a garden
▪ cut the grass/mow the lawn to cut grass using a machine:
I need to mow the lawn.
▪ trim a hedge to make a hedge look neater by cutting small pieces off it:
Hedges need to be trimmed regularly in summer.
▪ cut back/prune shrubs to cut pieces off a bush in order to make it grow better:
March is the ideal time for pruning roses.
▪ weed the flowerbeds/do some weeding to remove unwanted plants:
Dad was doing some weeding.
▪ sow seeds to put seeds in the ground:
The children had been sowing sunflower seeds.
▪ plant a plant/tree to put a plant or tree in the ground so that it will grow:
They’d planted a row of cherry trees.
▪ deadhead plants to remove the dead or dying flowers from a plant:
When deadheading roses, make sure you use sharp pruning scissors.
II. garden 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ garden , ↑ gardener , ↑ gardening ; verb : ↑ garden ]
to work in a garden, keeping it clean, growing plants etc