THE SMALL SUBURBAN GARDEN 6^ 



curiosity as to the back premises arises within me. Here- 

 in are opportunities for the most dreadful mistakes and 

 the most wonderful successes ; all depends on the pre- 

 siding genius. 



Corner houses are the luckiest ; they get more room, and 

 the gardens are of quainter shapes. But we will begin 

 by considering the ordinary strip. It may be long, it is 

 almost sure to be narrow — anyhow, no expansion is pos- 

 sible ; we must make the best of what we have. A general 

 consensus of opinion has decided on having a border for 

 flowers all round the edge against the outer wall or paling, 

 fronting this a gravel path ; and the centre is turfed over 

 and called the "lawn." In very small gardens it is diffi- 

 cult to improve on this plan, though other suggestions 

 are made — such as gravelling the garden entirely, and 

 having a large bed for flowers in the middle, and a 

 bank at the end. In practice, this does not make a 

 garden so comfortable to sit and to walk about in. One 

 does want pathways, and to be able to get at the flowers 

 easily. 



If the garden is long enough, it is a very good plan to 

 turf quite up to the wall or paling, on the shady side, and 

 have a bank raised across the middle of the garden about 

 halfway down it. A path may then be carried all round 

 the remainder of the plot where we can walk on firm, 

 dry ground. Behind the bank we can revel in Currant 

 and Gooseberry bushes and fruit trees, and grow Violets 

 and Crocusses underneath them, and Parsley and all 

 manner of herbs that love the partial shelter of the bush. 

 Near where the bank comes, a Willow tree may be 

 planted. The common Weeping-willow grows faster 

 than anything, and will soon give enough shelter for enjoy- 

 ment. I much prefer the loose growth of the common 

 Willow to the tight little tents made by some Willow 

 trees that are considered more choice. Under the shadow 

 of a simple tree like this, father, mother, and little ones 



