We're given:
To find the area of the garden alone, we can subtract the area of the garden from the combined area of the garden and walkway:
[tex]4.5(8x + 4)-4(5.5x + 1.5)[/tex]
Open up the parentheses:
[tex]= 36x +18 -22x - 6[/tex]
Combine like terms:
[tex]= 36x +18 -22x - 6\\= 14x +18 - 6\\= 14x +12[/tex]
The area of the walkway around the garden is 14x + 12.