[Tagging] difference of park and garden

[John Willis]

> On Apr 30, 2017, at 5:47 AM, Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdreist at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> What is the difference of a park and a garden in OSM?

TL;DR: to me - 

- A garden is a spectacle to enjoy.
- a park is where you enjoy yourself & your own activities. 

~~~~~

A garden is where you enjoy the spectacle of the plants planted there. You are there to visit the plants and/or their arrangement. 

A park is where you can enjoy yourself and your activities. Decorative flourishes may make an entrance pretty or a fountain nice, but the space is for you to enjoy your own activities in a calm setting.

 A park may also be used as an open space for a civic event (the end of a marathon, a summer festival), whereas a garden's events are almost always geared around the spectacle of the garden (illumination, dinner in the garden, or hosting formal events where the event matches the spectacle of the flowers (a wedding). A Japanese rock garden (which is maintained to an extreme level) is solely there to use the spectacle of the stones to contemplate the meaning of life and wisdom.  Nobody is playing on the raked gravel. No kids are sitting on the rocks eating lunch. It is solely for enjoying the spectacle, not for helping you to do your own activities. 

There may be pretty trees in a park, and once a year they have a big event to view the blossoms, but a garden is like a zoo. In a few days, I am going to the Ashikaga Flower Park (a garden) to enjoy viewing the largest and oldest wisteria plants in Japan. They have tons of different plants for you to enjoy at different times of they year, and illumination in the winter. Perhaps a more formal garden is about the spectacle of the maintained space - but it is all about appreciating the spectacle - no one marvels over a soccer pitch or a row of maple trees nor considers paying an admission fee to admire the boring hedges along a walkway. It is there for you to use, like a sidewalk or a drinking fountain - not a spectacle, like a zoo, an art museum, a theatre performance, or a manicured garden. 

Javbw