BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 69 



up as fast as they have covered the lower wires, 

 to the top one and along this. A little watching 

 and directing will rapidly form the growing mass 

 into almost as even a hedge as one of sheared 

 privet or arborvitse; and as each summer adds 

 the twining branches of its growth to those al- 

 ready established, such a hedge will thicken and 

 become a veritable wall of green which may be 

 trimmed enough with the shears to prevent its 

 being ragged. 



For very high screens or boundary planting 

 on large plots the beech tree offers wonderful 

 possibilities, holding its leaves throughout the 

 winter as it does and adapting itself perfectly 

 to severe shearing and shaping. And as it 

 may be maintained at a width of perhaps only 

 four or five feet when its height is twenty or 

 more, its usefulness as a screen on a place of 

 limited size is apparent; for it takes up actu- 

 ally very little room. 



Second only to the hedge in general suitability 

 and usefulness is the wood fence of one kind or 

 another, built in a manner to conform with the 

 style and the character of the house beyond it. 

 There are of course many fashions for this, 

 ranging all the way from the solid deal or plain 

 board fence of the city or large town back- 

 yard to the palings or picket fence of the trim 



