Evergreen covert 93 



The Box is common in shrubberies, but is rarely seen 

 in its natural form of a spreading plumy bush on an open 

 sunny hill-side. I know nothing more beautiful among 

 evergreens than Box-trees fully exposed, as there they 

 have a charm never seen in ' shrubberies '. A great 

 quality, and one which raises it entirely in value above 

 Laurels and the other evergreens commonly used for 

 this purpose, is that rabbits do not touch it, owing to 

 some poisonous property. In the last two years, in the 

 hope of getting some evergreen covert, I tried the 

 hardiest form of the Cherry Laurel, and also (a great 

 favourite of mine) the true Laurel or Sweet Bay ; though 

 accustomed to the depredations of the rabbit, I never 

 saw anything so sad as the disappearance of both, many 

 plants being absolutely bitten to the ground, whilst in 

 the same woods Box of all sizes remains untouched. For 

 this reason above all, as well as for reasons of shelter, 

 pleasant colour, and hardiness, it should take the first 

 place among evergreen covert plants. There is a vast 

 range of our country in which it grows well : and even 

 where compact soils abound which it dislikes it is 

 often possible to find patches of gravel or sand in which 

 it will thrive. It is at home on arid soils and on hill- 

 sides and mountain slopes ; large tracts of forest are 

 covered by it in southern and western France and 

 other parts of southern Europe, northern Africa, and 

 northern and western Asia; it is also found in some 

 of our southern and western counties Kent, Surrey, 

 Sussex, and Gloucester. Long-living and slow-growing 

 as it is, it will, in the best conditions, rise to a height of 

 20 feet or over, and sometimes be as much as 6 feet 

 round the stem. But grand specimens like these are 

 the exception, and most often it is seen as a compact 



