Editing Backyard


{{Short description|Residential garden or other land behind a house}}
{{Other uses}}
{{wiktionary|backyard|back yard}}
{{Globalize|date=January 2025}}
[[File:StateLibQld 1 162315 Irene and Cecil Harveyson posing in their backyard in Ashgrove, Brisbane, ca. 1929.jpg|thumb|right|A back yard in [[Brisbane|Brisbane, Queensland, Australia]], in 1929]]
[[File:Back of Iford Manor, from Peto Garden - geograph.org.uk - 1009631.jpg|thumb|right|The back garden of [[Iford Manor]] was designed by [[Harold Peto]].]]

A '''backyard''', or '''back yard''' (known in the United Kingdom as a '''back garden''' or just '''[[garden]]'''), is a [[Yard (land)|yard]] at the back of a [[house]], common in suburban developments in the Western world.<ref name=Hall>{{cite book |title=The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard |author=Tony Hall |publisher=[[CSIRO Publishing]] |year=2010 |isbn=9780643098169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRF1zMXTkukC}}</ref>

It is typically a [[residential garden]] located at the rear of a property, on the other side of the [[house]] from the [[front yard]]. While Western gardens are almost universally based on plants, the "garden" (which etymologically may imply a shorthand of [[botanical garden]]) may use plants sparsely or not at all. Hence, the terms ''yard'' and ''garden'' are for the context of this article interchangeable in most cases.

== History ==
=== United Kingdom ===
In English [[suburban]] and [[gardening]] culture, back gardens have a special place.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=From woollen carpet to grass carpet: bridging house and garden in an English suburb|isbn=0-226-52601-1|title=Material Cultures: Why Some Things Matter|author=S Chevalier|year=1998|quote=Every resident ... has a private garden divided into two areas, the front and the back garden whose social role is ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtiXlOKW4qYC|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref> In [[United Kingdom|Britain]] there are over 10 million back gardens.<ref name=EarthEndures>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/earthonlyendures0000pret|url-access=registration|title=The Earth Only Endures: On Reconnecting With Nature and Our Place in It|year=2007|author=Jules N. Pretty|isbn=978-1-84407-432-7|publisher=Earthscan|pages=[https://archive.org/details/earthonlyendures0000pret/page/36 36]}}</ref>  British planning require minimum distances between the rear faces of adjacent dwellings and so there is usually space for a back garden of some sort.  In other countries, such as Australia, this does not apply and preference for buildings with a large footprint has tended to squeeze out the space at the rear.<ref>{{citation |page=86 |title=The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard |author=Tony Hall |publisher=Csiro Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-643-09816-9}}</ref>

=== Australia ===
In Australia, until the mid-20th century, the back yard of a property would traditionally contain a [[fowl run]], outhouse ("[[Outhouse#Australia_and_New_Zealand|dunny]]"), [[vegetable patch]], and [[woodheap]]. More recently, these have been replaced by outdoor entertainments such as a [[barbecue]] and [[swimming pool]].<ref>{{cite book |pages=127–128 |chapter=The Big Backyard |title=A History of European Housing in Australia |author-link=Patrick Troy |author=Patrick Nicol Troy |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=9780521777339}}</ref> But, since the 1990s, the trend in Australian suburban development has been for back yards to disappear as the dwellings now occupy almost all of the building plot.<ref name=Hall/>

In higher latitudes, it is economical in low [[land value]] regions to use open land surrounding a house for [[vegetable garden]]ing during summers and allow sunlight to enter house windows from a low horizon angle during winters.  As land value increases, houses are built nearer to each other. In order to preserve some of the open land, house owners may choose to allow construction on the side land of their houses, but not build in front of or behind their house in order to preserve some remnants of open surrounding land.  The back area is known as the backyard or [[back garden]].

==Overview==
A back garden arises when the main building divides the surrounding gardens into two.  This happens especially in the high density housing of British cities and towns.  A [[semi-detached house]] typical of the British suburbs of the 20th century will have front gardens which face the road and provide access.  The back gardens in such cases will be more secluded and access will typically be via the dwelling or by a path around the side. A front garden is a formal and semi-public space and so subject to the constraints of convention and law.  However, the back garden is more private and casual,<ref>{{cite book|quote=The back garden is usually more private and casual|title= Feng Shui in the Garden|page=47|author=Richard Webster|year= 1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nM_dmNdgCWMC|isbn=1-56718-793-5|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide}}</ref> and so can be put to more purposes.

If the housing is [[terraced house|terraced]], then no side path is possible and access may be provided by an alley which runs behind the rear of the terrace. While buildings opening directly onto a street may not have a front garden, most will have some space at the back, however small; the exception being [[back-to-back houses]] found in northern industrial towns in England such as [[Architecture of Leeds#Housing|Leeds]], but now mostly demolished. A private back yard with a "privy" (toilet) was a defining feature of the [[byelaw terraced house]], a type of dwelling built to comply with the [[Public Health Act 1875]].

==Usage==
Because of weather constraints, it is usual to use a garden more in the summer than in the winter, although some usages are traditional, such as for a bonfire on [[Bonfire Night]], 5 November.  Similarly, [[daytime (astronomy)|daytime]] usage is more common than nighttime.

[[File:View to NW from Bell Harry Tower of Canterbury Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 139263.jpg|thumb|right|The back garden of the [[archdeacon of Canterbury]] contains a [[mulberry]] which is said to have been planted by [[Erasmus]].]]
Functionally, it may be used for:

* Growing food<ref name=EarthEndures/>
* Playing games
* Relaxing and [[sunbathing]]
* Raising plants
* Housing pets
* Drying clothes
* Making a [[compost heap]]
* Hobbies
* Locating a [[greenhouse]], [[Conservatory (greenhouse)|conservatory]], [[shed]], [[workshop]], [[outhouse]], or [[Garage (residential)|garage]] (if access to  a [[road]] is possible)
* [[Party]]ing
* [[Wildlife refuge]] 
* Safe area for children
* Location of an [[air raid shelter]] such as the [[Anderson shelter]] of World War II<ref name=PoH>{{citation |pages=176–199 |chapter=Gardens and External Space |title=The Place of Home: English domestic environments, 1914-2000 |author=Alison Ravetz, Richard Turkington |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-419-17980-1}}</ref>

In fact, its functional and [[recreational]] use is so varied, that it cannot be easily categorised. Many of the freedoms of the use of the back garden come from the restrictions, social or legal of what are not done in the front.

Usually, clothes are not dried, vegetables are not grown, and sunbathing is not carried out in a front garden. All these can happen in the privacy of the back garden.

Traditionally, people treat a back garden as private to themselves, and not those they are neighbours to. The social etiquette of how one can greet and interact one's neighbours may be complex and defined by many informal social rules.

In some areas, talking to one's neighbours over the back wall (the side wall following the property boundary line) is usual, and is a welcome form of neighbourliness, while in other places it is not.

==Contents==
[[File:Backyard in Tampere, Finland.jpg|thumb|right|A backyard of house in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]]]
Depending on the size of the backyard, it may have any number of items (or none), such as:

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Barbecue]]
* [[Building]]s such as: [[barn]],<ref name=BBS>{{cite book |title=Building Backyard Structures: Sheds, Barns, Bins, Gazebos & Other Outdoor Construction |author=Paul Levine |author2=Tom Begnal |author3=Dan Thornton |year=1997 |publisher=[[Sterling Publishers]] Pvt. Limited |isbn=0806942169}}</ref> [[chicken coop]], [[doghouse]], [[garage (residential)|garage]], [[gazebo]],<ref name=BBS/> [[accessory dwelling unit]], [[outhouse]], [[Wendy house|playhouse]],<ref name=BBS/> [[sauna]], [[shed]],<ref name=BBS/> [[smokehouse]], [[workshop]], etc.
* [[Compost bin]]<ref name=BBS/>
* [[Deck (building)|Decking]]
* [[fence|Fencing]]
* [[Garden]]
* [[Garden furniture]] (bench, patio table and chairs, umbrella, etc.)
* [[Landscaping]] with or without a [[lawn]] or just [[dirt]]
* [[Playground equipment]] ([[Sandpit|sandbox]], [[Playground slide|slide]], [[Swing (seat)|swing set]], etc.)
* [[Renewable energy generator]] ([[solar panel]]s, [[windmill]]s, etc.)
* [[Sandpit]] also known as a sandbox (US and Canada)
* [[Storage tank]]
* [[Swimming pool]] and/or [[hot tub]]
* [[Swing_(seat)]]
* [[Hammock]]
* [[Vehicle]]
* [[Waste container]]
* [[Landscape lighting]]
}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Harvey LA back yard 2.jpg|Back yard of a house in [[Harvey, Louisiana]], United States
File:Building a swingset.jpg|A playground being built for a homeowner's backyard as part of a handyman project
File:BackyardParty.jpg|People posing at a backyard party in Canada
File:Dunraven house, Glamorganshire.jpeg|The backyard of Dunraven House, Wales, 1776
File:Backyard Las Vegas Pool.jpg|Backyard with [[swimming pool|pool]] in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Gardens}}
* [[America's Backyard]]
* [[Backyard breeder]]
* [[Backyard compost]]
* [[Backyard chickens]]
* [[Backyard furnace]]
* [[Backyard pond]]
* [[Front yard]]
* [[List of garden types]]
* [[Yard (land)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons cat inline|Backyards}}

{{Horticulture and gardening|state=expanded}}
{{Room}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Types of garden]]