244 Landscape Gardening 



When the form of a kitchen garden is ^ parallelogram the 

 longest sides should be those from east to west that a greater 

 length of south wall may be obtained. And if there be a 

 secondary slope in the ground as well as one to the south it 

 should be to the west in preference to the east ; for crops that 

 are growing on an easterly bank sufifer most from spring 

 frosts, in consequence of their catching the sun so much 

 earlier in the morning. 



Either within the kitchen garden or not far from it, there 

 should be a moderately large cistern, basin, or pool of water, 

 or a pump with an open cistern attached. A good deal of 

 watering is sometimes required, and water is always so much 

 better for plants when it has been well exposed to the action 

 of the air in an open cistern or vessel. 



Somewhere at the back of the kitchen garden, one or more 

 sheds will be wanted for a variety of uses, together with a 

 yard for rubbish, manure, compost, etc., and which last 

 should be accessible at some point with a horse and cart. 



Perfect drainage is particularly essential for a kitchen 

 garden, also a rather deep alluvial soil. Beyond the depth 

 of two feet, however, any ground or border will be unfit for 

 fruit trees, and for the better kinds it will be prudent to put 

 a layer of stones and rubbish below the border at that depth 

 to prevent the roots from passing away too far from light 

 and air. If a kitchen garden be on a slope towards any point 

 near the south it will be drier and warmer, both of which 

 would be advantageous. 



A kitchen garden may sometimes be made to embrace an 

 ornamental strip of ground down the center, for the display 

 of flowers, and this may take .the form of a border on either 

 side of a grass path, or of a series of flower beds cut out of 

 grass, on the sides of a gravel walk. In both instances the 

 dressed portion should be well defined and separated from 



