The Cheapest Gardens for the Smallest Lots, II— By f. c. Leibie, 



FIVE PLANS FOR 25x30 FT. BACK- YARDS —THE MOST DIFFICULT GARDENING PROBLEM IN THE 

 WORLD AND ONE WHICH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE VAINLY TRIED TO SOLVE 



New 

 York 



HERE are five complete planting plans 

 for 25 x 30 ft. backyard gardens, 

 costing twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, and 

 one hundred dollars for the plants. I have 

 purposely selected the very hardest possible 

 conditions, namely those of New York. City, 

 where the unit lot is only 25 x 100 ft., the 

 smallest city lot I know. These backyards 

 are almost invariably surrounded by fences, 

 seven feet high to keep out thieves and, con- 



degree of exposure to the sunlight possible 

 in a large city. It is possible to distinguish 

 sixteen kinds but these may all be grouped 

 in four classes, according as they receive 

 one, three, five, or seven hours of sunlight 

 on an average between the months of April 

 and September. 



The yard which receives only one or two 

 hours of direct sunlight during the day can- 

 not have flowers except at great expense, 



' 



S 1 -O E. W /=? L K 





< 



W///////4 



1 



1 



I 



1 



I 



I 



f 

 § 



1 



i 



1 



f 



1 



1 



W/////////s 





W/////A 



/ 





#g#gg 



W/M/M 



/ 



r^#2 



3 





5 



5 



5 







1 



/ 





v///////\ 2 



T /, ■■;■ 



W///A 



3 



3 



3 



3 



3 





1 



4 







I 



1 

 1 



Va 





/ 



^%^ 



W//M 





1 

 I 



1 





I 



1 



I 



s 





m^ 



W/////A 







^%% 



W0///M. 





#?*. 





■5 1 P £■ u//=> i-K 





Diagram of a block in New York City. The unshaded portions are the yards and the figures indicate the 

 number of hours of sunlight each yard has. Top of diagram is north 



sequently, receive much less sunlight than 

 lots of the same size in smaller cities. 



As a result of much experience in planting 

 these back-yards, I have drawn diagram 

 number one, which shows everv kind and 



for nothing will live more than one season 

 and bloom freely under such conditions. 

 Nothing but ferns or other foliage plants 

 may be employed in a garden so densely 

 shaded as this. 



1. English ivy (17)* 



2. Royal fern (30) 



3. Goldie's fern (20) 



4. Cinnamon fern (i2 



5. Lady fern (5) 



T-Tedera Helix 

 Osmunda regalis 

 Dryoplens Goldieana 

 Osmunda cinnamomea 

 A splcnium Filix-fcemina 



6. Maidenhair fern (50) Adiantum pedatum 



7. Chain fern (30) W oodwardia anguslijolia 



8. Christmas fern (60) Polystichiim acrostichoides 



9. Clayton's fern (26) Osmunda Clayloniana 



Price of plants, $50.00 



*The figures in parenthesis indicate the number of plants which the plan calls for 



Plan 1. A shaded garden which has only one hour of sunlight each day. The top of each plan, with the 

 exception of No. 4, which is east, is the west side 



222 



Three hours a day is the largest amount 

 of sunlight received by lots having a northern 

 exposure and this is the minimum for flower- 

 ing plants, and there is only a very short 

 list of flowers that will do well for several 

 years with as little light as this. 



Five hours of sunlight is received by all 

 the backyards that have a southern exposure, 

 provided there is a similar lot on either side, 

 but if there is a six-story tenement on either 

 side it becomes reduced to the three-hour 

 basis. 



The only New York City backyards I 

 know that receive seven hours of sunlight 

 are those in some parts of Harlem, from 

 110th Street to 135th Street, and this is 

 because the buildings are only three or four 

 stories high. They get full sunlight a month 

 or more earlier in the season and also later 

 in autumn' 



It is commonly believed that you cannot 

 grow flowers in a big city like New York, 

 because of illuminating gas leaking from the 

 mains and from the poisonous gases in the 

 air which come from factories, etc., but I 

 believe that too much importance is attached 

 to these things and that nobody ought to 

 allow these considerations to prevent him 

 from making a garden. The commonest 

 source of failure, I believe, comes from the 

 sourness of the soil, for we know that soil 

 that is densely shaded for months at a time 

 is almost certain to become sour, but reflected 

 heat from buildings, and the poor circulation 

 of air and the dust in the atmosphere have 

 a deal to do with it also. 



If the soil is heavy as well as sour, the only 

 thing to do is to remove enough for the flower 

 beds that you want and have it replaced by 

 good soil, which is necessarily very expensive 

 in New York, because earth has to be hauled 

 seven or eight miles. The florist charges 

 about seven dollars a load for an ordinary 

 wagon-load of soil, which contains about 

 one cubic yard. Possibly you can get a 

 contractor to bring you one of his wagon- 

 loads, which, is twice as large, for about the 

 same money and he ought not to charge 

 more than two dollars for carting away the 

 soil you do not want. 



A cheaper way is to throw out the soil 

 to a depth of three feet and put stones, a foot 

 deep, at the bottom, in order to secure good 

 drainage. Then replace the soil and, better 

 still, mixing with it some lime — about half 

 a bushel for one yard. Even in this case 

 it is usually best to buy some sandy loam 

 and mix it with what you have. 



Wealthy people who own their own houses 

 can afford to buy plants from a florist for 

 temporary decoration, and throw them away 

 when they have passed out of flower. Any- 

 body can afford to have a bulb show in April 

 or May, chiefly by the use of crocuses, 

 daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips. 



Even if conditions are so bad that the bulbs 



