FLOWERING AND OTHER HEDGES 325 



best evergreen plants in their order of merit are 

 Holly, Yew, Arbor-vitae (Thuya occidentalis). Thuya 

 gigantea or Lobbi, Common Box, Cupressus lawson- 

 tana, C. nootkaiensis (Thujopsis borealis), Privet (Ligus- 

 trum), Common Laurel, Portugal Laurel Pyramid 

 Laurel (Prunus lusitanica myrtifolia), Berberis Darwinti, 

 and Osmanthus ilicifolius. 



HOLLY. The Common Holly makes one of the 

 best evergreen hedges. Its growth, though some- 

 what slow, is regular, and it does not mind the 

 shears, but it is costly to use to any extent. It does 

 not move readily, so that for the first year or two 

 there will probably be a few gaps to fill up, but when 

 the hedge is once established it is there practically 

 for ever, and with proper attention will never become 

 rough or unsightly. Before planting the site should 

 be marked out, and the ground trenched 3 feet wide 

 and deep, breaking the subsoil with a fork, and 

 working some well-decayed manure about half-way 

 down. This will tend to draw the roots down, and 

 keep them from running out on either side to the 

 injury of neighbouring plants. Plants should be 

 obtained in the early autumn, as soon as it is safe 

 to move them, and planted at once before the ground 

 gets cool. If this be done they will make fresh roots 

 and get established before winter. Some prefer to 

 move Hollies in May, but much depends on whether 

 artificial watering can be done. If it can, May is 

 quite as good a time as September or October ; if 

 not, then choose the autumn. 



The size of the plants used depends upon taste 



