ENTRANCES 83 



gates are charming; or through brick, concrete or any solid sub- 

 stance. They are perfectly suitable and harmonious for use with a 

 hedge boundary indeed, if the latter is trained high and is dense 

 and wall-like in appearance. But they are inappropriate to 

 any open means of enclosure, through which it is possible to look. 



Universally appropriate to every size and style of place are 

 the arches of boughs and of green which are formed by pleaching 

 shrubs, set at either side of the gateway. Pleaching is a process 

 of tying together and interweaving the branches of separate 

 plants so that they hold fast and mature and continue growth 

 across the space between the plants. It is of all forms of arbor 

 the most enchanting, when well done, with the proper kind of 

 shrub for its medium ; but it has never been used in this country 

 to any extent owing to adverse conditions which prevail during 

 our extremes of winter. 



Pleached alleys as they were called, were the glory of many 

 great English gardens, but even in England where they flourish 

 famously and have no difficulties of ice one day and sunny 

 warmth the next to contend with, they seem not to be in as high 

 favor now as they were long ago. There is at least one notable 

 example of this work here in America, an arbor near Boston over 

 one hundred feet long. 



For the long alleys or arbors a framework of iron-hoop arches, 

 placed at regular intervals, is provided for a number of years, 

 until the branches have grown woody and strong and are well 

 gripped together and interlocked. But for pleaching above a 

 gateway such a framework need not be left for any great length 

 of time. The distance spanned is not great, and the plants, being 

 more free of light and space, make their growth faster. There 

 is not so much roof surface exposed to snow, either, in winter, 

 therefore there is less weight to be supported. 



