_Site._--The site chosen for the mansion will more or less determine
that of the garden, the pleasure grounds and flower garden being placed
so as to surround or lie contiguous to it, while the fruit and vegetable
gardens, either together or separate, should be placed on one side or in
the rear, according to fitness as regards the nature of the soil and
subsoil, the slope of the surface or the general features of the park
scenery. In the case of villa gardens there is usually little choice:
the land to be occupied is cut up into plots, usually rectangular, and
of greater or less breadth, and in laying out these plots there is
generally a smaller space left in the front of the villa residence and a
larger one behind, the front plot being usually devoted to approaches,
shrubbery and plantations, flower beds being added if space permits,
while the back or more private plot has a piece of lawn grass with
flower beds next the house, and a space for vegetables and fruit trees
at the far end, this latter being shut off from the lawn by an
intervening screen of evergreens or other plants. Between these two
classes of gardens there are many gradations, but our remarks will
chiefly apply to those of larger extent.
The almost universal practice is to have the fruit and vegetable gardens
combined; and the flower garden may sometimes be conveniently placed in
juxtaposition with them. When the fruit and vegetable gardens are
combined, the smaller and choicer fruit trees only should be admitted,
such larger-growing hardy fruits as apples, pears, plums, cherries, &c.,
being relegated to the orchard.
Ground possessing a gentle inclination towards the south is desirable
for a garden. On such a slope effectual draining is easily accomplished,
and the greatest possible benefit is derived from the sun's rays. It is
well also to have an open exposure towards the east and west, so that
the garden may enjoy the full benefit of the morning and evening sun,
especially the latter; but shelter is desirable on the north and
north-east, or in any direction in which the particular locality may
happen to be exposed. In some places the south-western gales are so
severe that a belt of trees is useful as a break wind and shelter.
_Soil and Subsoil._--A hazel-coloured loam, moderately light in texture,
is well adapted for most garden crops, whether of fruits or vegetables,
especially a good warm deep loam resting upon chalk; and if such a soil
occurs naturally in the selected site, but little will be required in
the way of preparation. If the soil is not moderately good and of fair
depth, it is not so favourable for gardening purposes. Wherever the soil
is not quite suitable, but is capable of being made so, it is best to
remedy the defect at the outset by trenching it all over to a depth of 2
or 3 ft., incorporating plenty of manure with it. A heavy soil, although
at first requiring more labour, generally gives far better results when
worked than a light soil. The latter is not sufficiently retentive of
moisture and gets too hot in summer and requires large quantities of
organic manures to keep it in good condition. It is advantageous to
possess a variety of soils; and if the garden be on a slope it will
often be practicable to render the upper part light and dry, while the
lower remains of a heavier and damper nature.
Natural soils consist of substances derived from the decomposition of
various kinds of rocks, the bulk consisting of clay, silica and lime, in
various proportions. As regards preparation, draining is of course of
the utmost importance. The ground should also be trenched to the depth
of 3 ft. at least, and the deeper the better so as to bring up the
subsoil--whether it be clay, sand, gravel, marl, &c.--for exposure to
the weather and thus convert it from a sterile mass into a living soil
teeming with bacteria. In this operation all stones larger than a man's
fist must be taken out, and all roots of trees and of perennial weeds
carefully cleared away. When the whole ground has been thus treated, a
moderate liming will, in general, be useful, especially on heavy clay
soils. After this, supposing the work to have occupied most of the
summer, the whole may be laid up in ridges, to expose as great a surface
as possible to the action of the winter's frost.
Argillaceous or clay soils are those which contain a large percentage
(45-50) of clay, and a small percentage (5 or less) of lime. These are
unfitted for garden purposes until improved by draining, liming,
trenching and the addition of porous materials, such as ashes, burnt
ballast or sand, but when thoroughly improved they are very fertile
and less liable to become exhausted than most other soils. Loamy soils
contain a considerable quantity (30-45%) of clay, and smaller
quantities of lime, humus and sand. Such soils properly drained and
prepared are very suitable for orchards, and when the proportion of
clay is smaller (20-30%) they form excellent garden soils, in which
the better sort of fruit trees luxuriate. Marly soils are those which
contain a considerable percentage (10-20) of lime, and are called clay
marls, loamy marls and sandy marls, according as these several
ingredients preponderate. The clay marls are, like clay soils, too
stiff for garden purposes until well worked and heavily manured; but
loamy marls are fertile and well suited to fruit trees, and sandy
marls are adapted for producing early crops. Calcareous soils, which
may also be heavy, intermediate or light, are those which contain more
than 20% of lime, their fertility depending on the proportions of clay
and sand which enter into their composition; they are generally cold
and wet. Vegetable soils or moulds, or humus soils, contain a
considerable percentage (more than 5) of humus, and embrace both the
rich productive garden moulds and those known as peaty soils.
The nature of the subsoil is of scarcely less importance than that of
the surface soil. Many gardeners are still afraid to disturb an
unsuitable subsoil, but experienced growers have proved that by bringing
it up to the surface and placing plenty of manure in the bottoms of the
various trenches, the very best results are attained in the course of a
season or so. An uneven subsoil, especially if retentive, is most
undesirable, as water is apt to collect in the hollows, and thus affect
the upper soil. The remedy is to make the plane of its surface agree
with that of the ground. When there is a hard pan this should be broken
up with the spade or the fork, and have plenty of manure mixed with it.
When there is an injurious preponderance of metallic oxides or other
deleterious substances, the roots of trees would be affected by them,
and they must therefore be removed. When the subsoil is too compact to
be pervious to water, effectual drainage must be resorted to; when it is
very loose, so that it drains away the fertile ingredients of the soil
as well as those which are artificially supplied, the compactness of the
stratum should be increased by the addition of clay, marl or loam. The
best of all subsoils is a dry bed of clay overlying sandstone.
_Plan._--In laying out the garden, the plan should be prepared in minute
detail before commencing operations. The form of the kitchen and fruit
garden should be square or oblong, rather than curvilinear, since the
working and cropping of the ground can thus be more easily carried out.
The whole should be compactly arranged, so as to facilitate working, and
to afford convenient access for the carting of the heavy materials. This
access is especially desirable as regards the store-yards and framing
ground, where fermenting manures and tree leaves for making up hot beds,
coals or wood for fuel and ingredients for composts, together with
flower-pots and the many necessaries of garden culture, have to be
accommodated. In the case of villas or picturesque residences, gardens
of irregular form may be permitted; when adapted to the conditions of
the locality, they associate better with surrounding objects, but in
such gardens wall space is usually limited.
The distribution of paths must be governed by circumstances. Generally
speaking, the main paths for cartage should be 8 ft. wide, made up of 9
in. hard core covered by 4 in. of gravel or ash, with a gentle rise to
centre to throw off surface water. The smaller paths, not intended for
cartage, should be 4 ft. to 6 ft. wide, according to circumstances, made
up of 6 in. hard core and 3 in. of gravel or ash, and should be slightly
raised at centre.
A considerable portion of the north wall is usually covered in front
with the glazed structures called forcing-houses, and to these the
houses for ornamental plants are sometimes attached; but a more
appropriate site for the latter is the flower garden, when that forms a
separate department. It is well, however, that everything connected with
the forcing of fruits or flowers should be concentrated in one place.
The frame ground, including melon and pine pits, should occupy some
well-sheltered spot in the slips, or on one side of the garden, and
adjoining to this may be found a suitable site for the compost ground,
in which the various kinds of soils are kept in store, and in which also
composts may be prepared.
As walls afford valuable space for the growth of the choicer kinds of
hardy fruits, the direction in which they are built is of considerable
importance. In the warmer parts of the country the wall on the north
side of the garden should be so placed as to face the sun at about an
hour before noon, or a little to the east of south; in less favoured
localities it should be made to face direct south, and in still more
unfavourable districts it should face the sun an hour after noon, or a
little west of south. The east and west walls should run parallel to
each other, and at right angles to that on the north side, in all the
most favoured localities; but in colder or later ones, though parallel,
they should be so far removed from a right angle as to get the sun by
eleven o'clock. On the whole, the form of a parallelogram with its
longest sides in the proportion of about five to three of the shorter,
and running east and west, may be considered the best form, since it
affords a greater extent of south wall than any other.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Plan of Garden an acre in area.]
Fig. 1 represents a garden of one acre and admits of nearly double the
number of trees on the south aspect as compared with the east and
west; it allows a greater number of espalier or pyramid trees to face
the south; and it admits of being divided into equal principal
compartments, each of which forms nearly a square. The size of course
can be increased to any requisite extent. That of the royal gardens at
Frogmore, 760 ft. from east to west and 440 ft. from north to south,
is nearly of the same proportions.
The spaces between the walls and the outer fence are called "slips." A
considerable extent is sometimes thus enclosed, and utilized for the
growth of such vegetables as potatoes, winter greens and sea-kale, for
the small bush fruits, and for strawberries. The slips are also
convenient as affording a variety of aspects, and thus helping to
prolong the season of particular vegetable crops.
_Shelter._--A screen of some kind to temper the fury of the blast is
absolutely necessary. If the situation is not naturally well sheltered,
the defect may be remedied by masses of forest trees disposed at a
considerable distance so as not to shade the walls or fruit trees. They
should not be nearer than, say, 50 yds., and may vary from that to 100
or 150 yds. distance according to circumstances, regard being had
especially to peculiarities occasioned by the configuration of the
country, as for instance to aerial currents from adjacent eminences.
Care should be taken, however, not to hem in the garden by crowded
plantations, shelter from the prevailing strong winds being all that is
required, while the more open it is in other directions the better. The
trees employed for screens should include both those of deciduous and of
evergreen habit, and should suit the peculiarities of local soil and
climate. Of deciduous trees the sycamore, wych-elm, horse-chestnut,
beech, lime, plane and poplar may be used,--the abele or white poplar,
_Populus alba_, being one of the most rapid-growing of all trees, and,
like other poplars, well suited for nursing other choicer subjects;
while of evergreens, the holm oak, holly, laurel (both common and
Portugal), and such conifers as the Scotch, Weymouth and Austrian pines,
with spruce and silver firs and yews, are suitable. The conifers make
the most effective screens.
Extensive gardens in exposed situations are often divided into
compartments by hedges, so disposed as to break the force of high winds.
Where these are required to be narrow as well as lofty, holly, yew or
beech is to be preferred; but, if there is sufficient space, the
beautiful laurel and the bay may be employed where they will thrive.
Smaller hedges may be formed of evergreen privet or of tree-box. These
subordinate divisions furnish, not only shelter but also shade, which,
at certain seasons, is peculiarly valuable.
Belts of shrubbery may be placed round the slips outside the walls; and
these may in many cases, or in certain parts, be of sufficient breadth
to furnish pleasant retired promenades, at the same time that they serve
to mask the formality of the walled gardens, and are made to harmonize
with the picturesque scenery of the pleasure ground.
_Water Supply._--Although water is one of the most important elements in
plant life, we do not find one garden in twenty where even ordinary
precautions have been taken to secure a competent supply. Rain-water is
the best, next to that river or pond water, and last of all that from
springs; but a chemical analysis should be made of the last before
introducing it, as some spring waters contain mineral ingredients
injurious to vegetation. Iron pipes are the best conductors; they should
lead to a capacious open reservoir placed outside the garden, and at the
highest convenient level, in order to secure sufficient pressure for
effective distribution, and so that the wall trees also may be
effectually washed. Stand-pipes should be placed at intervals beside the
walks and in other convenient places, from which water may at all times
be drawn; and to which a garden hose can be attached, so as to permit of
the whole garden being readily watered. The mains should be placed under
the walks for safety, and also that they may be easily reached when
repairs are required. Pipes should also be laid having a connexion with
all the various greenhouses and forcing-houses, each of which should be
provided with a cistern for aerating the daily supplies. In fact, every
part of the garden, including the working sheds and offices, should have
water supplied without stint.
_Fence._--Gardens of large extent should be encircled by an outer
boundary, which is often formed by a sunk wall or ha-ha surrounded by an
invisible wire fence to exclude ground game, or consists of a hedge with
low wire fence on its inner side. Occasionally this sunk wall is placed
on the exterior of the screen plantations, and walks lead through the
trees, so that views are obtained of the adjacent country. Although the
interior garden receives its form from the walls, the ring fence and
plantations may be adapted to the shape and surface of the ground. In
smaller country gardens the enclosure or outer fence is often a hedge,
and there is possibly no space enclosed by walls, but some divisional
wall having a suitable aspect is utilized for the growth of peaches,
apricots, &c., and the hedge merely separates the garden from a paddock
used for grazing. The still smaller gardens of villas are generally
bounded by a wall or wood fence, the inner side of which is appropriated
to fruit trees. For the latter walls are much more convenient and
suitable than a boarded fence, but in general these are too low to be of
much value as aids to cultivation, and they are best covered with bush
fruits or with ornamental plants of limited growth.
_Walks._--The best material for the construction of garden walks is good
binding gravel. The ground should be excavated to the depth of a foot or
more--the bottom being made firm and slightly concave, so that it may
slope to the centre, where a drain should be introduced; or the bottom
may be made convex and the water allowed to drain away at the sides. The
bottom 9 in. should be filled in compactly with hard, coarse materials,
such as stones, brickbats, clinkers, burned clay, &c., on which should
be laid 2 or 3 in. of coarse gravel, and then 1 or 2 in. of firm binding
gravel on the surface. The surface of the walks should be kept well
rolled, for nothing contributes more to their elegance and durability.
All the principal lines of walk should be broad enough to allow at least
three persons to walk abreast; the others may be narrower, but a
multitude of narrow walks has a puny effect. Much of the neatness of
walks depends upon the material of which they are made. Gravel from an
inland pit is to be preferred; though occasionally very excellent
varieties are found upon the sea-coast. Gravel walks must be kept free
from weeds, either by hand weeding, or by the use of one of the many
weed killers now on the market. In some parts of the country the
available material does not bind to form a close, even surface, and such
walks are kept clean by hoeing.
Grass walks were common in English gardens during the prevalence of the
Dutch taste, but, owing to the frequent humidity of the climate, they
have in a great measure been discarded. Grass walks are made in the same
way as grass lawns. When the space to be thus occupied is prepared, a
thin layer of sand or poor earth is laid upon the surface and over this
a similar layer of good soil. This arrangement is adopted in order to
prevent excessive luxuriance in the grass. In many modern gardens
pathways made of old paving stones lead from the house to different
parts. They give an old-fashioned and restful appearance to a garden,
and in the interstices charming little plants like thyme, _Ionopsidium
acaule_, &c., are allowed to grow.
_Edgings._--Walks are separated from the adjoining beds and borders in a
variety of ways. If a living edging is adopted, by far the best is
afforded by the dwarf box planted closely in line. It is of extremely
neat growth, and when annually clipped will remain in good order for
many years. Very good edgings, but of a less durable character, are
formed by thrift (_Armeria vulgaris_), double daisy (_Bellis perennis_),
gentianella (_Gentiana acaulis_) and London pride (_Saxifraga umbrosa_),
_Cerastium tomentosum_, _Stachys lavata_ and the beautiful evergreen
_Veronica rupestris_ with sheets of bright blue flowers close to the
ground, or by some of the finer grasses very carefully selected, such as
the sheep's fescue (_Festuca ovina_) or its glaucous-leaved variety.
Indeed, any low-growing herbaceous plant, susceptible of minute
division, is suitable for an edging. Amongst shrubby plants suitable for
edgings are the evergreen candytuft (_Iberis sempervirens_), _Euonymus
radicans variegata_, ivy, and _Euonymus microphyllus_--a charming little
evergreen with small serrated leaves. Edgings may also be formed of
narrow slips of sandstone flag, slate, tiles or bricks. One advantage of
using edgings of this kind, especially in kitchen gardens, is that they
do not harbour slugs and similar vermin, which all live edgings do, and
often to a serious extent, if they are left to grow large. In
shrubberies and large flower-plots, verges of grass-turf, from 1 to 3
ft. in breadth, according to the size of the border and width of the
walk, make a very handsome edging, but they should not be allowed to
rise more than an inch and a half above the gravel, the grass being kept
short by repeated mowings, and the edges kept trim and well-defined by
frequently clipping with shears and cutting once or twice a year with an
edging iron.