The garden has been the most delightful abode of man ever since his
creation, before and since the fall. One of the most pleasant pastimes,
for ladies and children, is gardening. The flower, vegetable, and fruit
departments are all pleasant and healthful.
_Situation_ of a garden is important. This varies with climates. In a
cold country the warmest exposures are best, and in a hot climate select
the coolest. A garden combining both is the best possible. The warmest
exposure is good for early vegetables, and the cooler and more shady for
the main crop. Much can be done to regulate this by fences and
buildings. They will be warm and early on one side, and cool and late on
the other.
_Soil._--A rich loam is always best. To convert stiff clay, or light
sand and gravel, into a good loam, is an easy matter on so small a plat
as is usually devoted to a garden. Draw an abundance of sand on
clay-ground, plow deep and mix well, and one winter's frost will so
pulverize the whole that it will be in excellent condition. In warm
climates, the incorporation of the sand with the clay is effected by
frequent plowing and rains. On sand and gravel draw plenty of clay and
loam, if it can be easily procured; thus it is easy to form a good
friable, retentive loam, adapted to every variety of soil-culture.
Decayed wood and forest-leaves are excellent for garden-soils. Manure
well; but remember that it is possible to overfeed the soil of a garden,
so as to render it unproductive. Deep plowing or spading is very
important; it is the best possible remedy for excessive drought or
unusual rains. The water will not stand on the surface when it first
falls, and will be retained long in the soil for the use of the plants.
The soil should be very mellow. Plowing or spading too early, in hope of
getting earlier vegetables, is often a failure. The earlier the better,
if you can pulverize the soil; otherwise not. Plowing when covered with
a heavy dew, or when it rains gently, is equal to a good coat of manure.
A garden should be on level land well drained; if much inclined, rains
will wash off the best of the soil, and destroy many seeds and plants.
No weeds should be allowed to grow to any considerable size in a garden.
Early and frequent hoeings are important to success. Directions for the
cultivation of each garden vegetable and fruit are given under each of
those articles respectively. Methods of gardening at the South and the
North vary but little in the main articles. At the North we have to
guard against too much cool weather, and at the South against too much
heat. Some vegetables that need planting on ridges in the North, to
obtain more sun and heat, should be planted on level land at the South,
to guard against too much heat and drought. Besides this, the main
difference is in the time of planting, which varies more or less with
every degree of latitude, or every five hundred feet of elevation. Have
no fruit-trees in your vegetable or fruit garden, unless it may be a few
dwarf-pears on the quince-stock, and these had better be by themselves.
The plan of a garden is a matter of taste, and depends much upon its
size and necessary situation. We prefer ornamental shrubs in front of
the house, the flowers adjoining it and passing the windows of those
rooms that are constantly occupied, and the fruit-department in the
rear of the flowers, while the vegetable-garden should be at the right
or left of the fruit, and in the rear of the kitchen. On the other side
of the house should be the larger fruit-trees, extending back as far as
the fruit and vegetable garden, and in the rear of it, the
carriage-house and other out-buildings. The best fence is of good
wrought iron, sharp and strong enough to exclude all intruders. When
this can not be afforded, a good hedge, made of the plants best adapted
to hedges in your latitude, is preferred; next to this a good tight
board-fence.
All fruit-gardens should have alleys, eight or ten feet wide, within
four rods of each other, to afford space for carting on manures, &c. A
vegetable-garden of one acre should have such an alley through the
centre each way, with a place in the end, opposite the entrance, to turn
around a summer-house, arbor, or tool-house. One rod from the fence, on
all sides, should be an alley four or five feet wide; other small alleys
as convenience or taste may require. The usual way is to sink the alleys
three or four inches below the level of the beds, and cover with gravel,
tanbark, shells, &c. We strongly recommend raising the alleys in their
middle, at least four inches above the surface of the beds. The paths
are always neater, and the moisture is retained for the use of the
plants. Excessive rains can be allowed to pass off. This making alleys
low sluice-ways for water is a great mistake in yards and gardens.