Are gardens in the British Isles and North America really that different?

Are gardens in the British Isles and North America really that different?

Or are we just interpreting similar spaces in different ways?

Long-term observation in UK gardens shows something quite grounded—gardens support a wide range of life, much of it generalist, making use of whatever is available.

In North America, the story often begins with specific plant–insect relationships and builds outward from there.

Both are rooted in ecology. But they lead to very different expectations.

Perhaps the more useful question is not what a garden is supposed to do—but what it actually does, here and now.