Suburban Gardener and Villa Companion - Budding's Mower Mentioned

The Expense of keeping a Garden so laid out and planted, even if it were 200 ft. long and 50 ft. wide, would not cost, in the neighbourhood of London, 20s. a year; and yet it would at all times look neat. The ivy would grow up against the walls, and cling to them, without any expense of nailing or pruning, except when it infringed too much on the lawn in the front garden, or on the walk in the back garden, which it would not do for ten or twelve years, when it might require to be trimmed a little at the roots once a year. In consequence of there being no box or other planted edgings, there would be no expense of keeping them in order, and occasionally renewing them; and the margin of the lawn would only require to be prevented from spreading over the flagstones, by clipping the grass with a pair of shears every time the surface was mown. Neither the trees, nor the shrubs in the front garden, would need any pruning whatever for ten or twelve years, except the cutting out of such dead wood as might appear among the branches. We do not say that the fruit trees would not be improved by pruning, but merely that, as far as neatness of appearance is concerned, it would be quite unnecessary. The walks would be cleaned by every shower of rain, and would not even require sweeping, except when the edges of the grass were clipped. The sole expense would thus be that of mowing the lawns and clipping their edges, which might be done six or eight times in the course of the year, at 2s. or 2s. 6d. a time; or the occupier might cut the grass himself with Budding's mowing-machine, and the edges with a pair of small hedge shears.