Holly, Yew and Box 



Holly to the Romans as a proper fence for 

 gardens. In his tenth book he says, 



"And let such grounds with walls or prickly Hedge 

 Thick set, surrounded be and well secured, 

 Not pervious to the cattle nor the thieves." 



On October i5th, 1662, Mr John Evelyn 

 lectured before the Royal Society on Forest 

 Trees, and this lecture was afterwards published 

 in book form entitled A Silva, or Discourse on 

 Forest Trees. In this work he dwells at some 

 considerable length upon the beauty and virtues 

 of the Holly for various purposes, giving particular 

 attention to its value as a hedge plant. In one 

 place he says " Of this might there living pales 

 and enclosures be made, such as the Right 

 Honourable, my Lord Dacres, somewhere in 

 Sussex, has a park almost environed with, able 

 to keep in any game as I am credibly informed ; 

 and cut into square hedges it is impenetrable, and 

 will thrive in hottest and coldest places." 



Growing in his own garden was a Holly hedge 

 of which he was inordinately proud, and of this he 

 writes, "Is there under heaven a more glorious 

 and refreshing object of the kind than an 

 impregnable hedge of about 400 feet in length, 

 9 feet high, and 5 feet in diameter, which I can 

 show in my own ruined garden at Say's Court at 

 any time of the year, glittering with its armed 

 and varnished leaves, the taller standards at 

 orderly distances, blushing with their natural 



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