Planning a Garden 



By David Miller. 



The site or location for the garden's cold frames and 

 greenhouses should not be selected hurriedly. Should it 

 be a new place, I would advise proceeding with the roads 

 and lawns first, and with these made, you are greatly 

 helped in making your selection of the most suitable situ- 

 ation for tlie gardens. When you have decided ujjon the 

 proper place, go over the topographical survey of the 

 estate carefully, mark from same your grades, then make 

 a drawing to a given scale, say l/16th of an inch to a 

 foot, but should your garden contain over one acre, you 

 will have to still reduce your scale say to l/32nd part of 

 an inch to a foot. This should be a working plan only, and 

 you should show size of proposed breaks or plots, flower 

 borders, drains, gutters, catch basins, walls, fences, 

 hedges, arbors and water supply, with number of faucets 

 marked. The size of this new garden should be in keep- 

 ing with the size of the estate, the number of your em- 

 ployer's family, the number of help he maintains, and 

 lastly, the size of his pocketbook, for a good garden can- 

 not be made properly without first spending a great deal 

 of money. 



You should make still another drawing showing, if 

 possible, the garden vou propose in full growth, attach a 

 list of names and varieties of perennials you intend plant- 

 ing in the borders. If planted in group system, vou 

 should show this on the plan with dotted lines encircling 

 each group, and the groups should be as irregular and 

 natural as pn<;sible. You should also show the various 



kinds of vegetables with the coarser and taller variety in 

 the background, annuals, roses and peonies in beds or 

 borders. This should be a perfect picture of the garden 

 vou propose, and you should have omitted nothing. When 

 completed, .get an approximate figure of the entire cost, 

 submit same to your employer, and when approved, carry 

 out the work in strict accordance with your plans and 

 specifications. 



The level garden is the ideal garden and is the easiest 

 made, but a perfectly level garden is impossible in many 

 parts of this country, and especially in Tuxedo, where 

 our employers invariably select the highest and most 

 barren sites for their residences. Thus, a level garden 

 could not be made without unsightly walls and terraces. 

 I am inclined to favor a 10 to 15 per cent, grade. It has 

 many advantages over a level garden, as it is much ear- 

 lier. Should the garden slope to tlie south, you can plant 

 such a garden two to three weeks earlier, and this means 

 a whole lot to gardener and employer. 



It is presumed, from your early training and thorough 

 practical knowledge, you understand perfectly the con- 

 stituency of the various kinds of soil in relation to their 

 retaining moisture and water, which is most essential in 

 hot dry weatlier. You should also know the amount of 

 natural chemicals present or absent in those various soils 

 and just the proper kinds and quantity of manure to ap- 

 ply to this new garden to bring it to a high state of cul- 

 tivation. The true gardener should know this bv a sort 



JUTIXG OF THE WESTCHESTER AND K.MRFIELI) HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



