Consider there are four rows of houses, A to D. A and B stand face-to-face and a road runs between them. C and D face each other as well, with a road in between.
The rows B and C hence stand back-to-back, and between the two rows there is a kind of green area covered in grass along with several flowering shrubs, trees and vines. This is a public area – it doesn't belong to any of the houses in rows B and C. Is there a single word I can use to describe this?
Some words that crossed my mind –
ground – seems too broad in meaning to convey what I want to
garden – seems to be either a piece of personal land, or a public garden (which doesn't fit this context according to the definition here)
meadow – more suited to a larger area, possibly referring to a farmland
backyard – will almost always be assumed to be personal property
Any suggestions will be appreciated. If any of the four above words seem suitable and I'm being unnecessarily fastidious, some example sentences/contexts with the word would be helpful
Best Answer
If the houses don't have their own private gardens (backyards to Americans) and the area is planted up with ornamental shrubs for the occupants to enjoy, I (as a British English speaker) would probably call it a communal or shared garden.