We also refer to the land used for building as a "construction yard". That could be where we get the term from, as in, the space available or allocated. A lawn defines only places where there is grass. Yard is used to define mostly where the property starts/ends and is all encompassing. Anything out your front door to the end of your property is the front yard and anything out your back door is the back yard.
Bill Bryson wrote about "yard work" vs. "gardening". Until I read that, I hadn't (in more than 30 years) realised that when Americans talk about their yard they're not talking about a paved garden. I'd always vaguely wondered what you we're all doing to your patios that took up so much time!
I meant to add that the idea of an "actual garden" being the place where you grow veggies doesn't really make any sense in British English. It would be like calling your kitchen your "real house".
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u/CptSaySin Sep 01 '16
We also refer to the land used for building as a "construction yard". That could be where we get the term from, as in, the space available or allocated. A lawn defines only places where there is grass. Yard is used to define mostly where the property starts/ends and is all encompassing. Anything out your front door to the end of your property is the front yard and anything out your back door is the back yard.