Gardens in the Traditional Houses – A Study on the Garden Elements in the Traditional Houses of Trabzon, Turkey

The purpose of this study is to seek answers, and find solutions, to the following questions: How should the house-garden relationship be reinforced for a healthy and harmonic life? Can some criteria be determined for the design of the gardens? How can outer spaces be created consciously? This study examined the traditional houses and their gardens in Trabzon, the main focus being more on the gardens. Some of the peculiar characteristics of the garden houses were emphasized. The house-garden types were grouped and were shown schematically. Each element (gates, fountains, wells + fountains, wells, fireplaces) in gardens was explained in terms of house-garden relationship. The types of garden houses have been also studied from the point of view of the plants. To this end, this study investigates the garden-house and garden designs in traditional Trabzon houses that have come down to our present day, and presents data for the new present-day garden-house and garden designs to be made.


INTRODUCTION
As a result of the negative effects that started with urbanization and that, in a sense, changed and harmed the urban texture, city clarity has been in a process of diminution and the notion of "continuity from the past to the future" in the cities has been disappearing. Discovering the products of the past and the environments where they were created will make it easy to find a bright way especially for the future.
Utilizing the nature and especially the open green spaces which are part of the nature is a very important need for the modern human being. Buildings that the city, and therefore the human being, needs are not solely buildings, which is a physical fact; they are at the same time different spaces or spatial elements. One such space is the garden of a house as an open green space which meets different needs (Sağsöz & Gedikli 1999).
Today, the conservation and improvement of the open green spaces in the cities are becoming more and more important. Research has shown that human beings who are distressed by the negative conditions created by the the urban haste find physical and psychological peace, become stronger and become filled with a will to live ( Barbosa et al. 2007; Kim et al. 2008;Cavia & Cueto 2009). By providing more sunlight, more clean air and more opportunity for free movement, urban open spaces make human beings, and therefore the society, healthier, and create a more balanced, a more refreshing and a more useful environment (Westover 1989 The character of a city is determined by the spaces and elements in that city. The most important ones of these are our houses and their close vicinities (Yang & Brown 1982 The traditional garden house designs have also been different. The traditional Turkish house is closed to the outside, it is surrounded by walls, and the ornamental plants extend over to the street, which are a reflection of the social structure and which give a definite form to the house.
The conception of garden design that was developed in the traditional Turkish houses under the impact of socio-cultural factors has affected the plant types used, and the formation and originality of the houses. This is so much so that some traditional plants are virtually identified with the people of that area.
For this study, Ortahisar and Pazarkapı neighborhoods, which are two of the protected areas in Trabzon, were chosen as the field of work.
This study attempts to identify the plants which have traditional characteristics and which are about to disappear in the gardens of the traditional houses which have historical and cultural values and which are under protection. It also attempts to find ways of improving the existing states of the existing plants, and of keeping them alive during the restoration works of the buildings, or to identify the plants that are about to disapper and even the ones that have already disappeared. The study makes recommendations to grow, if possible, the same or similar plants in greenhouses. The study also presents data about the restoration works related to the reintroduction of the historical plants in the gardens of the traditional houses. This study attempted to identify some of the peculiar characteristics of the garden houses bearing in mind that this would be useful for the prospective studies in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture.
This study identified the plant types used in the traditional garden houses classified the plants according to their use (aesthetic attractiveness, functionality, etc.), and questioned whether it is possible to use them in the present day.

Field of Work-Sample selection
For this study, the traditional garden houses in two protected areas (Ortahisar and Pazarkapı neighborhoods) in the city of Trabzon ,Turkey in the Eastern Black Sea Region were chosen as the field of work ( Figure  1).

Methods
For the study, the original designs of the traditional garden houses were determined, and based on the existing houses, their general characteristics were identified. The plants with historical-cultural value were classified according to their types; and the reasons for their use were determined ( Figure 2, Figure 3).
Naturally, the houses which were studied have had a transformation process and consequently have been exposed to some changes, both physically and socially. The changing ways of living and the changing users and the accompanying redesigns and additions are reflected in the garden, and therefore the original form of the garden has been changed. Among the available samples, few have come down to the present day intact. Bearing all these in mind, the study tried to expose the original forms of the gardens based mainly on the sources (literature review and the old house owners), and classified the house-garden typologies and plants according to their types.

Typological Works at the Houses
Depending on the locations of the houses on the land, the various house-garden types were identified as follows: (Table 1, Table 2, In general, the house types that were identified are as follows: At the first level (the most common type) .Houses adjacent to the street walls with front and side gardens, .Houses with front and side gardens with two adjacent back walls, At the second level (second most common type) .Houses adjacent to the street walls with front gardens, .Houses adjacent to the back walls with front gardens, At the third level (third most common type) .Houses with gardens on four sides, .Houses with front and back gardens, .Houses adjacent to the street walls, .Houses with back gardens, .Houses with side and back gardens.

Wells Cisterns
According to the data that were obtained, houses with front gardens are the most common, and houses with back gardens and houses with gardens on all sides are the least common (Gedikli R 1992).

Garden Elements
Garden elements were studied as: gates, fountains, wells+fountains, wells, fireplaces and plants.

Gates
The gates were grouped according to their locations and then they were classified as follows: (Table 3). .
Gates that directly open from the street to the house, .Gates that open to the patios (in houses with exterior sofas), .
Gates that directly open from the street to the garden, .Gates that face the second gates under the oriels in the center axes of the houses, .Gates that open from the street wall to the garden and that are parallel to the house, .Gates adjacent to the house.
Gates are usually two-leafed and are made of wood. The ornamental elements on the gates are wrought nails, door handles, and knockers, which all have separate functions.

Fountains
Like other element, fountains were classified according to their locations (Table 3); .Fountains adjacent to the house, .Fountains adjacent to the front walls of the oriels in the middle axis of the house, .Fountains adjacent to the side walls of the oriels in the middle axis of the house (Such fountains were usually found in traditional Greek house gardens), .Fountains separate from the house, .Fountains in the patio, .Fountains adjacent to the street wall (such fountains open to both the street and garden) (Fountains that are not adjacent to the houses are usually seen in the gardens of traditional Turkish houses and in the gardens of hybrid houses).

Wells + fountains
According to their locations, wells+fountains were found to have the following types: .Wells+fountains separate from the house, .wells+fountains in the patios, .wells+fountains adjacent to the garden walls (Table 3).

Wells
Like other elements, wells were also classified according to their locations. .Wells in the patios in front of the houses, .Wells both in the patios and courtyard (Table 3).
All house gardens contain mostly a combination of fountain, cistern, well, fireplace, laundry, and depot.

Plants
In general, Trabzon and its vicinities are a closed coastal strip. This coastal strip which is surrounded by mountains has a year-long mild and rainy climate. Due to the climatic conditions, the city and its environs have a rich flora.
It was found that the gardens are formed according to personal likes. The gardens contain various fruit trees and ornamental plants that are peculiar to the region. Of the fruit trees, cherry-laurel prunus laurocerasus L. which is peculiar to the Eastern Black Sea Region and which is very popular among the people in the region is identified with the region. In addition, Japanese persimmon is very popular in the region and is commonly used in the traditional houses (and therefore is called as 'Trabzon persimmon' in the region); however, it began to disappear and it is one of the vegetal elements that must be preserved.
Various vegetables are raised under the trees to meet the needs of the households. Purple wisteria and oleanders, etc. extend over to the streets from the garden walls. Various types of ivy complement the green of the streets. Gardens are more of utility gardens, and the trees are usually chosen from among the types whose fruits, flowers and leaves can be utilized.
As seen above, rosa ssp (rose) is the most common plant of bush type. The reasons for the use of the trees and shrubs in the gardens of the traditional houses are classified in Table 4: .Utility (from fruits) 65,5%, .Aesthetic attractiveness .Fruit attractiveness 44,8%, .Flower attractiveness 34,5%. The plant types that have functional uses in the gardens are rather few. There are no utilitarian purposes for the use of bushes and perennial plants. The main characteristic that is sought in such plants is flower attractiveness (87,5%) ( Table 4).
In the front gardens or in the immediate vicinities of the houses, aesthetic plants, especially types of bush with beautiful flowers are preferred. It was found that the back and side gardens are more of utility gardens, that they contain trees which yield fruits, and that vegetables are raised under the trees to meet the needs of the households (Tablo 5). The basic design principles (size, form, color, texture, balance, etc.) and the relationships between the plants and architectural elements were not taken into consideration when using different plants together.  10,3 * The percentages of the use of plants in the gardens are weighted

DISCUSSION
The concept of garden is disappearing day by day. However, the benefits that gardens bring to both the users of the houses and external users cannot be ignored.
For This study investigated the houses-gardens-garden designs and the relationships among them in the traditional Trabzon houses, and presented data that can be used for new houses-gardens-garden designs.
It is necessary that the house-garden and house-street relationships be investigated and exposed. House and garden should be dealt with not individually but together bearing in mind the way of living of the society. This can only be achieved if house planning and garden planning are dealt with together.
The green and natural beauties should not be sacrificed unconsciously; monotonous spaces should be enlivened with green; and the inclusion of green designs in the spaces to be created should not be forgotten for both aesthetical concerns and for the harmonization of human beings with the environment.
The increase in the number of such studies which are more of an exploratory character is important in that they give us an opportunity to investigate and interpret what to make use of. The plant types which were once present in Trabzon but which are about to disappear today must be determined and used in the present-day designs.
Our traditional plants have started to disappear. However, in terms of the concerns of both culture and city health, their benefits cannot be underestimated. For this reason, it is apparent that the examples that provide us with data about the garden house designs both in the past and present should be investigated and preserved.
The plant types which were once present in Trabzon but which are very few today can be determined and used in the present-day designs.
It is important that the number of such studies that are more of an exploratory character be increased in that they give us an opportunity to investigate and interpret what to make use of.