are fuffcrcd to grow near the 



H 



w 



weeds are permitted to grow among them, they will 

 foon deftroy them, or weaken them fo much, that 

 they will not recover their ftrength in a long time. 

 This fhould be conftantly obferved, by every perfon 

 who is dcfirous to have good Hedges of either fort •, 

 ■ for when the weeds 

 plants, they will not only rob them of a great part of 

 their nourifhment, but alfo prevent their putting out 

 fhoots near the ground, which will occaflon the bot- 

 tom of the Hedge to be thin and naked. 

 ' When thefe Holly Hedges are defigned to be kept 

 very neat, they Ihould be Iheered twice a year, in 

 May and Auguft ; but if they are only defigned as 

 fences, they need not be flicered oftener than once a 

 year, which Ihould be about the latter end of June, 

 or the beginning of July ; and if this is well perform- 

 ed, the Hedges may be kept very beautiful. - 

 The fences which are made to fecure thefe Hedges 

 from cattle while they are young, fliould be contrived 

 fo as to admit as much irt^ air as potTible, which is 

 abfolutely neceffary for the growth of the plants ; for 

 when they are crowded on each fide with dead Hedges, 

 , the plants feldom thrive well. The beft fort offences 

 for this purpofe, are thofe which are made with polls 

 and rails ^ or inftead of rails, three ropes drawn from 

 poft to poft, and holes made in the polls to draw the 

 1-opes through ; this is the cheapcft fence of this 

 kind, and will appear very handfome ; but if flieep 

 are not admitted into the fields, there will be occafion 

 for two ropes only, which will be enough to keep off 

 ■larger catde ; and if the ropes are painted over with a 

 compofition of melted pitch, brown Spanilh colour, 

 ' and oil, mixed well together, they will lall found fe- 

 veral years ; and thefe fort of fences never obftruft 

 the air, and the place, at the fame time being open 

 to view, the weeds will be better difcovered than 

 ■■when the fences* are clole,>.Tn the latter cafe, "the 



Hedges are Sometimes fuffercd to be dver-run with 

 ^^weecrs, by their bang exclud^^ from the fight, fo 

 frequently forgotten, Specially in moTft weather, 

 ■wnerf the weeds grow more iu3curiant. -= 7"^i ^"**- • 'i 

 There are Ibme perfons who ifiterrfnx' Holly with the 

 ^ White 'Thorn in making their Hedges, which if 

 'tightly managed, will have a good effeft, efpecially 

 ^ when young J but when this is draflifed, the Holly 

 . 'fhould be plaritecITb'hear,^ as that the Hedge may be 

 entirely formed of it as it grows up,' when the White 

 Thorn Ihould be quite rooted out;" for as thefe ad- 

 vance, they will not keep pace in their growth 

 will not appeal* beautiful when intermixed. 

 When a Hedge of Holly is intended to be made by 

 ■plants, the ground fhould be well trenched, as was 

 - oefore advifed for the feeds ; and (unlefs the ground 

 •*be very wet) the plants fhould be fetin 0£lober, but, 

 =' \x\ wet ground, March is preferable/i The plants 

 . Ihould not be t?^m from a. better foil than that in 

 which they are to be planted ; for when it fo happens, 

 "the plants are much Ibnger'Before they recover this 

 \change, than thofe are' which' ar^ Taken' from a leaner 

 * foil.^ If the plants have been before removed two or 

 •J three times, they will have better roots, and will be 

 ' in lefs danger of mifcarryinjg ^ fcefides', they may be 

 ^^iretiibved with balls of e^'rth^ to 'their roofs/ ^- When 



H E D 



Laurel, Lauruflinus, Phillyrea, Alaternus, evero-reen 

 Oak, and fome others of lefs note. The HoUy is 

 preferable to any other, for the reafons before o-iv^n 

 Next to this, moll people prefer the Yew, on account 

 of its growing very clofe •, for when thefe Hedges are 

 well kept, they will be fo thick as that a bird cannot 



A 



•-•* 



fo 



>i'n- 



if 



Ich be laid 



the 



*-the froft comes .onjir muicn oe laia upon 



■ ground near the roots of the plants, it will prevent the 



' tender fibres, 'which* may then have lieen put out, 



ffrom being deftroyed by the cold/'' I would never ad- 



■vife the planting of Hedges with Holly plants, of 



labove five or fix years growth from the berries ; for 



^^''when tlie plants are older, if they take to grow, they 



arc longer before they form a' good Hedge, 'than 



'plants -which are much younger-, and if the plants 



/nave 6een twice before tranfplanted, they will more 



certainly grow."* 



I fliall next treat of Hedges for ornaments In gardens : 

 thefe are fonidtimes planted with Evergreens, efpe- 

 cially if they are not intended to grow very high ; in 

 which cafe, they are planted with deciduous trees. 



,• 



Evcrgr 



o 



en 



Hedges 



are planted v/ith Holly, YeWj 



but the dead colour of the Yc 



w, 



-i^ 



■ * 



F 1 



get through them 



renders thefe Hedges lefs agreeable. The Laurel is 

 one of the mofh beautiful greens of any of the ever- 

 green trees, but then it Ihoots fo luxuriant, as to 

 render it difficult to keep the Hedges wliich are plant- 

 ed with it, in tolerable fliape -, befides, the leaves be- 

 ing very'large, if the Hedge is clipped with fheers 

 the leaves will be cut through, which gives them a 

 bad appearance ; therefore where there are Hedges 

 of this kind, it will be the beft way to prune them 

 with a knife, cutting the fhoots jufl down to a leaf. 

 And although by this method the Hedge cannot be 

 rendered fo even as when cut with fheers, yet it will 

 have a much better appearance than that of moll of 

 the leaves being cut through and ftubbed, in the man- 

 ner they muft be when flieered. 

 The Lauruftinus is alfo a very fine plant for this pur- 

 pofe, but the fame objection is to be made to this as 

 hath been to the Laurel ; and as one of the great beau- 

 ties of this plant is in its flowers, which are produced 

 in the winter and fpring, fo when thefe are fheered, 

 the flowers are generally cut off, by which their beau- 

 ty is lofl:. Nor can this be avoided, where the Hedge 

 is to be kept in clofe order, therefore this pknt is not 

 fo proper for the purpofe •, but in fuch places where 

 walls or other fences are defigned to be hid, there is 

 not any plant better adapted than this, provided it is 

 • rightly managed -, for the branches of this plant are 

 , flender and pliable, fo may be trained up clofe to the 

 -' fence, whereby it may be entirely covered ; and if, 

 inftead of clipping thefe with fheers, they are pruned 

 with a knife, they ftfay be fo rtianaged, as to have 

 , them full of flowers from the ground upward. This 

 ' may be efFeded by pruning them in April, when the 

 'flowers are going off, cutting out thofe Ihoots that 

 have flowered, or projedl too far from the fence; aU » 

 ways cutting clofe to the leaf, that no flubs may be 

 :' left : but thofe new fhoots of the fame fpring mutt by 

 ' no means be fhoirtexied, becaufe the flowers are always 

 ' jproduced at {he extremity of the fhoOts of the fame 

 year ; therefore when thefe are topped, as they ihuft 

 I ' be by fhcering, there can be few or no flowers upon 

 \ thefe plants, except toward the top, where the Iheers 

 ha^nof pafTed. r By this method of knife pruning, 

 the leaves will alfo be preferved entire, and the Hedge 

 may always be kept enough within compafs • and fo 

 thick, as fully to anfwer the purpofe of covering the 

 fence ; and by the fhoots growing a little irregular, it 



will make a ni'uch better appearance than any fhorn 

 Hedge whatever, tl^i?':^ - - ..j:.,.^,,v,;j. -'{.; - 



The fmall leaved and the rough Jeaved Lauruftinus 

 are the'^' Beft" forts for this purppfe, becaufe their 

 branches grow cldfer together than thofe of the fhin- 

 -:ng leaved ; they' are alfo more hardy, and flower much 

 -'better than the other, when growing in the open ain 

 The True Phillyrea is the next beft plant for Hedges; 

 it is by the gardeners called the True Phillyrea,' to dif- 

 tinguilTi it from the Alaternus, which they fimply call 

 the Phillyrea;. The branches of this are.ftrong, the 

 leaves pretty large, and of a ftrong green colour. 

 And as this is a plant of middling growth, the Hedges 



: planted with this may Se led up to the height often 

 or twelve feet ; and if thefe Hedges are kept narrow 

 at the top, that there may not be too much width for 

 the fnow to lodge upon them, they may be rendered 



■ very* clofe and thick, and being a very good green, 

 will make a fine appearance. •;? r ^ .c ::.: .- '■-/. ■ .: 

 The Alaternus was formerly much more cultivated 

 in the Englifh gardens than at prefent. This was of- 

 ten planted to form Hedges, but the branches of this 

 plant are too pliant for this purpofe, being frequently 

 difplaced by ftrong winds, which render thefe Hedges 



- unfmhtly ; they alio ihoot very irregular and thin, & 



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t '-• 



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