The first thing for a lady “head” to do is to have a good look round. She must see what crops are still on the ground, what preparation has been made for winter and spring crops, and the state the houses and frames are in. Everything under her care must be clean and in good order.
Her aim is to fulfil all requirements of the family which she serves, and, in order to succeed, she must ascertain their wants. These vary with each family, and it is not possible to lay down any fixed rules. Many questions that will need answering should be noted down, and an interview should be requested of the lady of the house, or whoever is most interested in the garden.
I will only draw attention to a few points which need consideration, and these can either be decided by the gardener herself, should she be given a free hand, or settled by the employer.
(1) The hours of work and holidays for the garden staff. Arrangements should be made also for power to dismiss any subordinate who is lazy or misbehaves; and this should be acted upon without hesitation upon the first proof of neglect.
(2) The payment of men, and the number of extra ones allowed for additional work. In large gardens, this matter comes under the estate department, but in small gardens the head gardener deals with it.
THE COUNTESS BATHURST’S GARDEN, PINBURY, NEAR CIRENCESTER
Photograph by Pictorial Agency.
(3) The days and hours that will be most convenient for the despatch of routine work, such as mowing, tidying, etc. Some ladies have weekend parties, and require the place to look especially neat on Sundays. There may be small but necessary rules about sweeping and tidying the carriage drive, cleaning and washing garden steps or benches, the position of seats, tents, croquet hoops, marking tennis courts, etc. The employer’s wishes should be ascertained, orders given accordingly, and it should be seen that these are carried out.
(4) The days and hours for picking flowers for the house. If it is the gardener’s duty to arrange the cut flowers, this must be gone into carefully, as it is probably one of the most important matters in the eyes of the lady of the house. Should the family be in London, there will be fixed days for sending flowers, vegetables, and fruit to them; all these matters have to be carefully noted. The amount of green foliage required for mixing with cut flowers also varies with different people’s taste. It must be ascertained whether many pot plants are required in the sitting-rooms, or if cut flowers are chiefly used; and if so, which are the favourite kinds and colours. It will then be easy to decide which plot of ground should be used as a reserve garden for cut flowers, and what proportion of mignonette, violets, lilies of the valley, etc., will be needed for decoration.