October, 1992

This selection of seven plans presents some notions of how our fathers' and forefathers' fruit gardens were laid out. Some of the designs are real, others ideal, most are self-explanatory, all reveal the spirit of their time. They should trigger useful ideas applicable to our own situation, from adding another cultivar, to experimenting with espaliers, to providing for the ultimate ecological involvement. At St. Gall in Switzerland the Benedictine Brothers had a unique way to eternalize their love of fruit trees: Their fruit garden was their burial ground. Each brother chose his last resting place under a pear, medlar, apple, quince, mulberry, plum, or chestnut tree. There are other, less categorical refinements which a careful look at these plans may initiate. One might even study their sources.

Plan One dates to the time of the first Puritans. Even then the dual character of a fruit garden was understood: It was also a pleasure garden. A fountain, a banquet house, or a French style parterre adorned its center.

Plan Two shows a major section of the fruit garden at Versailles, France, about 1690. Blocks of espaliered or bush peaches, figs, plums, apricots, cherries, and pears frame the lower lying vegetable garden. Each block of vegetable beds in turn is bordered by fruit trees. The overall size of the fruit garden is approximately 400 x 500 ft.

Plan Three is a walled garden designed by a fruit loving English clergyman about 1730. He concludes "...I have reduced the Fruit-Garden to less than half an Acre, sufficient to furnish any Gentleman's Table with all the Variety of good Fruits in their several Seasons." The Rev. John Lawrence was the first to experimentally establish the transmission of plant viruses by grafting.

Plan Four exemplifies a French concept of casual living with a fruit garden ("cottage en verger"), about 1810. An area of one to two acres is surrounded with an irregular strip of walnut, cherry, chestnut, or other tall growing trees for fruit and timber. The inner areas are planted in sod with pears, plums, and apples as standards or on size controlling rootstocks. Winding free-form walks turn the whole into a fruit park.

Plan Five is a design by Patrick Barry, the influential nurseryman at Rochester, New York. His book The Fruit Garden; published in 1851, recommends this standard design through all its editions into this Century.

Plan Six is a design of the 1890s for an elaborate estate fruit garden. It requires skilled help. There is room for several hundred cultivars. With forcing houses for potted and tender fruit trees, it provides an immense selection of fruit throughout the year. Measuring 450 x 580 ft. it is a fruit fancier's dream come true, provided he or she has the wherewithal.

Plan Seven also caters to variety on a manageable scale. It offers an intriguing selection of fruits from an enclosed average sized suburban lot. Planting plans can easily be rearranged for a lot of similar overall size but with a smaller frontage. This design appears much more modern than its date of 1926 suggests.

Literature Sources:

(Plan 1) Austen, R.A. 1657. A Treatise of Fruit Trees.

(Plan 2) La Quintinye, J. De. 1690. Instruction pour les jardins fruitiers.

(Plan 3) Lawrence J. 1726. The ClergyMan's Recreation.

(Plan 4) Loudon, J.C. 1826. An Encyclopedia of Gardening.

(Plan 5) Barry, P. 1851. The Fruit Garden.

(Plan 6) Wright, J. 1890. The Fruit Grower's Guide.

(Plan 7) Macself, A.J. 1926. The Fruit Garden.

(This article is a spin-off from my forthcoming book Pomona's Harvest: An Illustrated Chronicle of Antiquarian Fruit Literature, to be published by Timber Press later in 1992.)