Since the garden is rectangular, its area is calculated by the product of its dimensions.
If the length is 1 foot longer than the width, and the width is x - 9, so the length is:
x - 9 + 1 = x - 8
Now, calculating the area, we have:
[tex]\begin{gathered} Area=\text{length}\cdot\text{width} \\ \text{Area}=(x-8)(x-9) \\ \text{Area}=x^2-9x-8x+72 \\ \text{Area}=x^2-17x+72 \end{gathered}[/tex]
