Formation aiid Planti7ig of a Siihirban Kitchen- Garden. 125 



Art. V. On the Formation and Planting of a Suburban Kitchen- 

 Garden. By A. Forsyth. 



I HAD almost considered it a waste of laboui* to give even an 

 outline of a garden of this class, since the general practice is to 

 lay out the pleasure-ground first, and afterwards to enclose a 

 part of the paddock for an orchard and vegetable-ground ; 

 forming the walks of any hard rubbish coated with cinder 

 ashes (seldom gravel), with here and there a sprig of box along 

 the margins of the principal walks, and rows of strawberries or 

 parsley, by way of edgings, to the subordinate alleys ; while, 

 in the orchard and against the walls, the fanciful modes of 

 pruning and training really baffle all description ; for they are 

 in every form, from the natural mushroom shape to the tortuous 

 zig-zag. 



This, though it may appear to some a hideous-looking carica- 

 ture, is certainly a true representation of the state of some gar- 

 dens near London, where better things might be expected. 

 However, it is certainly good economy to have useful edgings 

 instead of ornamental ones, where ground is scarce ; and this is 

 pretty often the case in suburban gardens. The scarceness of 

 room is, indeed, one of the greatest causes of complaint among 

 all the proprietors of suburban residences ; and it is one that 

 money cannot remove; since, however wealthy their proprietors 

 may be, they are hemmed in on every side by neighbours 

 equally wealthy with themselves, that would not give them an 

 acre of the land adjoining, perhaps, for several hundred pounds. 

 So much for the present state of suburban gardens in general ; 

 though there are many honourable exceptions, and many gar- 

 dens handsomely laid out, and scientifically conducted, on the 

 state of which I am altogether incompetent to offer a criticism. 

 From observing these defects, and what I believe to be the 

 cause of them, I have drawn up the system of gardening de- 

 tailed below, from which, I think, I may safely guarantee to 

 the proprietor the following results : — The use of one fourth 

 more land; a great deal more fruit of superior quality, and of 

 the sorts most difficult, under present circumstances, to obtain 

 (I mean, particularly, the finer sorts of apples, and the new 

 Flemish pears) ; metamorphosing the walks of the kitchen- 

 garden into bowers, covered, in spring, summer, and autumn 

 with abundance of flowers or fruit. 



Every species of hardy fruit-bearing tree and shrub may be 

 trained on curvilinear trellises {see figs. 35, 36, and 37.) over 

 the walks and thoroughfares of the garden ; which walks, when 

 once properly drained, paved, and trellised with cast-iron 

 arches and wire rods, will, according to the closest calculation 



