36 



PLAN OF A TOWN GARDEN. 



BY SHIRLEY HIBBEKD. 



Imaginary plans for gardens are, gene- 

 rally speaking, a waste of engraving 

 and printing ; they are of little use to 

 readers, and where they may chance to 

 be useful to one, the may lead a dozen 

 others quite astray. The fact is, every 

 garden has its own peculiarities, and 

 must be laid out in accordance with 

 them ; and though an amateur may 

 find some assistance to his invention in 

 referring to plans designed by men of 

 sound views and correct taste, he must 

 not, therefore, abandon himself to 

 them, but consider carefully how far 

 the outlines that look so pretty on 

 paper are applicable to the garden he 

 wishes to improve, taking into account 

 the nature of the soil, the flatness or 

 diversity of its surface, and the several 

 accessories of the surrounding scenery. 

 Now, the designs here subjoined are 

 not imaginary ones, intended to catch 

 the eye, but actual reductions from 

 the working plans of an amateur, who, 

 in consideration of the health of his 

 wife, has lately abandoned a garden in 

 the country, and taken a villa at 

 Stoke Newington, where the air suits 

 her better than the marshy spot in 

 which he, years ago, pitched his tent. 

 Its general configuration is that of the 

 stereotyped London garden — a long, 

 narrow slip ; and as it combines many 

 features of a desirable character, I have 

 determined to represent its original 

 condition, side by side with the altera- 

 tions now being made in it, feeling 

 assured that the plans of one who has 

 had much experience in the produc- 

 tion of gardening effects, will prove 

 acceptable to many readers of the 

 Floral World, especially, as, at this 

 time of the year, alterations and im- 

 provements demand a good deal of 

 attention everywhere, and nowhere 

 more than in the suburbs of large 

 towns, where, for the most part, the 

 gardens more or less resemble this, 

 both in proportions and extent. 



The situation of this garden is just 

 \inder the shadow of the pretty old 

 church at Stoke Newington, and the 



look out is free and uninterrupted, 

 right away across the meadows, to 

 Muswell Hill, with the Lordship-road 

 Reservoir, like a silvery mirror, in- 

 tervening ; and the view is the pret- 

 tiest and most open of any I know of 

 so near to town. 



The plan, No. 1, represents the 

 garden, as it stood when the tenant 

 took possession lately. Its actual con- 

 dition then it is impossible to describe, 

 for from one end to the other it was a 

 perfect ruin. In length it lies south- 

 cast and north-west, but, to simplify 

 the plan, I have marked the four 

 boundaries S. W. N. E. From the 

 front wall, at S, to the rear fence, at 

 N, the measurement is 280 feet. Its 

 width varies from 35 to 38 feet. The 

 superficial extent may be reckoned at 

 about a quarter of an acre, and the 

 plans are on a scale of 88 J feet to the 

 inch, or thereabouts. Looking at plan 

 No. 1, it will be seen that a large space 

 on the north side of the house is laid out 

 in turf, with a winding walk, and fruit 

 trees. The front of the house is on 

 this side, the entrance being at the 

 back, on the south side from the gate, 

 at S. Beginning, then, from this en- 

 trance-gate, we have, as we enter, a 

 picture of a wilderness in little. The 

 walk up to the house, and on through 

 the extent of the garden, is four feet 

 six inches wide. From the entrance 

 gate, as far as a, adjoining the hall 

 door, it is edged with dwarf box, and 

 the same round the lai'ge bed, as far as 

 b, where there is a cistern, which the 

 previous tenant constructed ; — it is of 

 wood, sunk to the level of the ground, 

 and is supplied direct from the main, 

 with a ball-cock to regulate the flow. 

 This cistern strikes the eye as an ob- 

 ject it would be most desirable to get 

 rid of, and as the box-edging is delapi- 

 dated, and the borders, c, d, are 

 glorious examples of confusion, the 

 entree is lamentably dreary. To make it 

 worse, the narrow space under the win- 

 dow, e, is completely blocked up with 

 delapidated lilacs, laurels, and aucubas, 



