THE 



GARDENER'S MAGAZINE, 



JULY, 1838. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. Descriptive Notice of the Villa of Mrs. Lawrence, at Drayton 

 Green. From the " Suburban Gardener." 



The object of the Suburban Gardener being to teach something 

 of gardening to those who have not been regularly brought up 

 to the profession, there are, probably, few professional men (and 

 such, we suppose, are most of the readers of the Gardener's 

 Magazine) who will think of perusing it. On this account, we 

 gave, in a former Number (p. 220.), a descriptive notice of 

 Hendon Rectory ; and we now present a similar account of 

 what we consider to be the very first villa of its class in the 

 neighbourhood of London. Having done this, we do not intend 

 to trouble our readers with any further extracts from the 

 Suburban Gardener, but we leave that book to find its way in 

 the world, feeling confident that it will extend the comforts and 

 enjoyments of gardening more effectually than any other work 

 that we have hitherto produced. 



The instruction which the young gardener may derive from 

 the article on Hendon Rectory and this article is of two kinds : 

 1. the occasional illustration of a principle, such as the advan- 

 tage and disadvantage of different slopes of ground for display- 

 ing flower-beds, as explained in the fifth and sixth pages of the 

 present Article; and, 2., the exemplification of other principles 

 by practice. In the case of Hendon Rectory, the gardenesque 

 manner of culture is illustrated, and its practice exhibited ; and, 

 in the case of the villa about to be described, the advantages of 

 grouping are set forth in a more striking point of view, than they 

 have hitherto been in any garden, or book of gardening, with 

 which we are acquainted. 



The young gardener may also learn from this article, and the 

 one on Hendon Rectory, how little of the real merit of a place 

 depends on its extent, the outline of the ground, the character 

 of the surface, or even the disposition of the house and the 

 domestic offices. Neither Hendon Rectory, nor the Lawren- 

 cian Villa, possesses any advantages in these respects : but skill, 



Vol. XIV. — No. 100. x 



