walled garden

walled garden (plural walled gardens)

1. A garden enclosed by walls for purposes of shelter or decoration.
   • 1912, Joseph Conrad, A Smile of Fortune:

     The walled garden full of shadows blazed with colour as if the flowers were giving up the light absorbed during the day.

2. (Internet, media) A closed set of information services provided to members only.
   • 2007, Wes Simpson & Howard Greenfield, IPTV and Internet video, →ISBN, page 39:

     AOL tried to provide a walled garden for all their subscribers in the early 1990s.

3. (Internet) A set of webpages or other resources that are richly interlinked and share a common focus, but have little or no linkage to or from the larger network.
   • 2007, Michael A. Banks, Blogging Heroes, →ISBN, page 52:

     Link love is reciprocal; if you provide it liberally, it comes back to you. If you don't, you'll turn into your own walled garden.