Chapter 3. On The Size Of Gardens

The temptation to have too large a garden is much greater than to have too small a one. By a process of reasoning that is not quite convincing, a man frequently persuades himself that he must have a small house in order to keep down expenses, but will "make up for it with a nice large garden."

It is with this leading principle before them that many people quit town for country life. The "nice large garden" can certainly be maintained at a small cost, but one has to know how to do it. As much money can be wasted over a garden as over a yacht or a motor-car.

Disillusion has followed in the footsteps of many a townsman over this matter of the garden. He has perhaps planned to do the light work himself, as a pleasant hobby, and to get a man in occasionally "to do the rough jobs." In this way he has intimated that he can manage two acres easily, apart from a meadow and a poultry run. He has proposed to himself to have a greenhouse too. He will have an orchard, and grow Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherries, Currants, Gooseberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries. A Quince or two would be useful for jelly, and a Mulberry would be interesting. He will likewise have a kitchen garden, because it is such a splendid thing to have fresh green Peas, and Lettuces, and new Potatoes, and other delectable things. Big herbaceous borders are indispensable, a Rose garden cannot be done without, Carnations and Sweet Peas must be included, and a pretty pool with Water Lilies and Sedges would be charming in hot weather. Of course there will be a good stretch of lawn, with tennis and croquét courts.

The principal difficulties in the way may be summarised as follows: (1) the relative proportions of light and rough work become changed; (2) the odd man of the right sort is rarely to be had when he is wanted; (3) fruit trees will not plant and prune themselves, vegetables will not sow themselves, flowers will not grow themselves, and lawns will not mow themselves.

But for these drawbacks the two-acre scheme might answer; with them it fails. The owner finds that if he tries to carry out his original plan he becomes a galley-slave. He endeavours to save the situation by engaging a permanent man, who, being of the cheap and nasty class, muddles and domineers to his heart's content.

The end of it all is that the unhappy townsman pronounces country life in general, and gardening in particular, to be a delusion and a snare. He quits the village a saddened man, one more happy illusion - perhaps the last - dispelled forever.

The remarkable thing about these cases is that they often occur with men who have had a business training, and might be expected to know better. A merchant in a large way of business knows that he cannot simultaneously work his own typewriter, keep his own books, pack his own boxes, and deliver his own goods. He has to employ typists, clerks, warehousemen, and carmen. Yet the same trained mind will contemplate the two-acre garden, meadow, and poultry run, without a doubt or tremor.

A man with two acres of garden that is to contain fruit, vegetables and flowers, not to speak of glass, is in a large way of business. He cannot have the garden trim and well furnished without the full services of an expert gardener, who will need extra help at certain periods of the year. Let that fact be grasped first. Pope's five acres were not worked by the "little, pale, crooked, sickly, bright-eyed poet" in his leisure hours with no more help than that of a Twickenham amphibian one day a week.

Obviously, where cost of upkeep is a primary object, the garden must be greatly reduced in size, but to this the objection may be raised that sufficient privacy or seclusion cannot be secured. There is a way out of the difficulty. Procure a fairly large piece of ground by all means, but instead of making most of it garden lay the greater part down to pasture, and feed it off with sheep, taking an occasional crop of hay. Make part of it orchard, if the soil is good enough, by planting some standard Apples, and twist wire netting round the base to prevent the stock from nibbling the bark, or fence off the trees altogether. If it is not suitable for fruit trees, a semi-garden or park-like aspect can be imparted by planting clumps of shrubs here and there, and fencing them, also by naturalising Daffodils in the grass.

Where ample means exist for providing abundance of skilled labour the objection to a large garden passes away, but in all cases where economy has to be considered a prudent and practical view should be taken. Immense pleasure can be derived from a garden of only an acre. A good supply of vegetables, plenty of delicious fruit (if the soil and aspect are suitable), and large supplies of beautiful flowers can be got from a garden of this size. Nay, half an acre will yield all if it is judiciously laid out and cropped. The great point to remember is that it is not area alone which settles the question of success or failure, but good judgment, good taste, and wise planning. The illustrations have been chosen with a view to proving that equally pretty and artistic effects can be got in small as in large gardens. The seeker for beautiful gardens must not confine his search to large places, where the flower gardening is often of a most commonplace character, and greatly in need of the bold and informal treatment recommended in these pages.

Fig. A small garden at bournville.

Fig. This is a pretty corner in a suburban garden.