WALLS AND HEDGES 85 



every detail into a reposeful whole. Square cut 

 recesses sunk in the thickness of the hedge and 

 spaced evenly along its length form a fine back- 

 ground for a lawn ; others, curved on plan, range 

 from the slightest curvature to deep cusp-like or 

 scolloped recesses almost surrounded by the hedge 

 itself. Broad buttresses of green can be formed on 

 the face of the hedge, and when grown to a great 

 height give an appearance of immense strength to 

 these apparently massive walls. Arches can be 

 formed, imitating a long arcade, as those surrounding 

 the tennis lawn at Killarney (fig. i), a most effec- 

 tive treatment when enclosing a lake or pool of 

 water. Hedges can never be of too great a thickness, 

 for all openings will gain in appearance if they re- 

 veal a depth of feet instead of inches. The broad 

 backs of the hedges can be cut square, sloped like a 

 roof or rounded, or again they may be cut into mas- 

 sive battlements. When it is possible to look down 

 from a height upon the walls and hedges, their 

 thickness and any variety in plan will be grateful to 

 the eye and will give an air of solidity and repose, 

 which is absent from narrower lines. Stone piers 

 with vases or projecting trees cut into shapes, placed 



