FENCING, WALLING, HEDGING. 69 



sendee in general nurseries ; for many of the tender plants 

 that have to be turned out of the houses would be destroyed 

 if exposed to the sun and wiad, however carefully and fre- 

 quently they might be attended to. 



Hedges, when grown old and open at bottom, long upon 

 their stems and straggling, can only be renewed by what is 

 called plashing. The thorn, if cut half-way through and laid 

 along the bottom, will live just as well as if it had been left 

 towering aloft. Therefore, those who go in earnest to mend 

 a hedge will first clear out all the w^eeds and intruders from 

 the bottom, and then cut away the uncouth pollard-like 

 heads that have been formed by old and repeated headings, 

 and save all the shoots that go up from the bottom of any 

 manageable si^e ; then, by cutting these pretty nearly half- 

 way through, and bending them down, they can be backed in 

 among the stumps at the bottom and pretty close down j and 

 independently of their forming a sort of rail, they break out 

 into shoots the whole length, and erect a new hedge. It is 

 not one shoot, but all the strong shoots that are of the least 

 use that are served this way ; so that a new hedge is formed 

 as thick as we would wish in a single season ; and the 

 vigorous growing shoots only require to be cut in to continue 

 thickening. The hedge is thus completely renewed. But 

 the yew, holly, and others will not bear this. If they get 

 out of condition, hollow, or bare, it is of no use trying to 

 remedy the evil; other plants must be placed to make up 

 vacancies, if the place be clear enough, but, in a general way, 

 it is better to level everything ; grub up all that are not per- 

 fectly healthy, trench and dress the ground all along, and 

 plant, at the right season, new trees or other shrubs to 

 complete the hedge — new in all parts but where the beauty 

 of an old specimen may have tempted us to spare it. It is 

 but labour in vain to half mend a hedge, or to plant new 

 young plants without thoroughly trenching, dressing, and 

 preparing the ground, taking out all the old stumps and 

 roots, and commencing anew. One might be tempted, if we 

 could get them, to use larger stuff than a new hedge is gene- 

 rally planted with, but that is aU we should do. 



