6CO 



HE D 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL: 



H E D 



faith about ten inches thick : in this place they remain till 

 the following October, and should then be taken up, to be 

 sown wherever the hedge is to be raised. The ground for this 

 hedge ought to be well trenched, and cleared from the roots 

 of all bad weeds, bushes, and trees. Two drills should then 

 be made about a foot distance from each other, and about 

 two inches deep, into which the seeds should be scattered 

 pretty close, lest some should fail ; for it is better to have too 

 many plants come up than to feel a deficiency. When the 

 plants come up they must be carefully weeded, for if the 

 weeds be permitted to grow among them, they will soon 

 destroy or weaken them so much, that they will not recover 

 their strength in a long time. This should be constantly ob- 

 served by every person who is desirous to have good hedges 

 of either sort ; for when the weeds are suffered to grow near 

 the plants, they will not only rob them of a great part of their 

 nourishment, but also prevent them from putting out shoots 

 near the ground, which will cause the bottom of the hedge 

 to be thin and naked. When Holly hedges are intended to 

 be kept very near, they should be sheared twice a year, in 

 May and August; but if they are merely employed as fences, 

 they will not require shearing more than once a year, which 

 should be about the latter end of June, or the beginning of 

 July; and if this he well performed, the hedges may be kept 

 in a very orderly state. The fences which are made to secure 

 these hedges from cattle while they are young, should be 

 contrived to admit as much free air as possible, for that is 

 absolutely necessary for the growth of the plants, which sel- 

 dom thrive well when crowded on each side with dead hedges. 

 The best sort of fences for this purpose, are those which are 

 made with posts and rails ; or, instead of rails, three ropes 

 drawn from post to post, through holes in each post. This 

 is the cheapest fence of this kind, and will appear very hand- 

 some; but where the sheep are not admitted into the fields, 

 only two ropes will be required to keep off larger cattle. If 

 the ropes be well besmeared with a composition of melted 

 pitch, brown Spanish colour, and oil, mixed well together, 

 they will last sound several years; and these sorts of fences 

 never obstruct the air, while the place being at the same 

 time open to view, the weeds will be more easily discovered 

 than where the fences are close. In the latter case, the 

 hedges are sometimes suffered to be overrun with weeds, by 

 their being excluded from sight, and are frequently forgotten, 

 especially in moist weather, when the weeds grow most luxuri- 

 antly. There are some persons who intermix Holly with the 

 White-thorn in making tlie'r hedges, which will have a good 

 effect when rightly managed, especially when young; but 

 when this is practised, the Holly should be planted so near, 

 as that the hedge may be entirely formed of it as it grows up, 

 when the White-thorn should be quite rooted out ; for as they 

 will not keep pare in their growth, they cannot appear to 

 advantage where they remain intermixed. When a hedge 

 of Holly is intended to be made by plants, the ground should 

 toe well branched, as has been already advised for the seeds ; 

 and unless the soil be very wet, the plants should be set in 

 October, but in wet grounds March is preferable. These 

 plants should by no means be hiken from a better soil than 

 that in which they are to be replanted, for then they are 

 often longer before they recover from the change than those 

 which are taken from a leaner soil. If the plants have been 

 removed two orthreo times before, they will have better roots, 

 nnd will be in less dnncccr of miscarrying; besides, they may 

 be removed wit'i b;ills of earth to their roots. When the 

 frost comes on, if mulch !>< l..id upon the ground near the 

 roots of the plants, it will prevent the tender fibres, which 

 way then have been put out, from being destroyed by the 



cold. We would never advise the planting of hedges with 

 Holly plants of above five or six years' growth, from the berries; 

 for when the plants are older, if they take to grow, they are 

 longer before they form a good hedge, than plants which are 

 much younger; and if the plants have been twice before 

 transplanted, they will more certainly grow. Ornamental 

 hedges, such as are used in gardens, are sometimes planted 

 with evergreens, especially if they are not intended to grow 

 very high', for then they are planted with deciduous trees. 

 Evergreen hedges are formed from Holly, Yew, Laurel, Laurus- 

 tmus, Phillyrea, Alaternus, Evergreen Oak, and some others 

 of less note. The Holly is preferable to any other, for the 

 reasons above advanced. Next to this, most persons prefer 

 Yew, on account of its growing very close; for when these 

 hedges are well kept, they will be so thick as that a bird 

 cannot get through them; but the dead colour of the Yew 

 renders these hedges less agreeable to the eye. The Laurel 

 is one of the most beautiful greens of any of the evergreen 

 trees: but then it shoots so luxuriantly as to make it difficult 

 to keep the hedges planted with it in any tolerable shape; be- 

 sides, the leaves being very large, will be often clipped with 

 the shears when the hedge is dressed, which gives them a bad 

 appearance: therefore where there are hedges of this kind, 

 it will be the best way to prune them with a knife, cutting 

 the shoots just down to a leaf; and although by this method 

 the hedge cannot be rendered so even as when cut with shears, 

 yet it will preserve a much better appearance than when most 

 of the leaves are cut through and stubbed by the shears. 

 The Laurustinus is also a very fine plant for this purpose; 

 but the same objection is to be made to this as has bet-n 

 advanced against the Laurel ; and as one of the greatest beau- 

 ties of this plant is in its flowers, which are produced in the 

 winter and spring, so when these are sheared, the flowers are 

 generally cut off, by which their beauty is lost. Nor can 

 this be avoided where the hedge is to be kept in close order, 

 and hence this plant is not so proper for that purpose; but 

 in places where walls and other fences are designed to be hid, 

 there is not any plant better adapted than this, provided it 

 be rightly managed ; for the branches of this plant are slender 

 and pliable, so that they may be trained up close to the fence, 

 so as to cover it entirely; and if, instead of clipping it with 

 shears, a pruning knife be employed, they may be so managed 

 as to have them full of flowers from the ground upward. 

 This may be effected by pruning them in April, when the 

 flowers are going off, cutting out those shoots that have flow- 

 ered, or project too far from the fence, always cutting close 

 to the leaf, that no stubs may be left; but those new shoots 

 of the same spring must by no means be shortened, because 

 the flowers are always produced at the extremity of the shoots 

 of the same year; therefore when these are topped, as they 

 must be by shearing, there can be few or no flowers upon 

 these plants, except towards the top, where the shears hav 

 not passed. By this method of knife-pruning, the leaves will 

 also be preserved entire, and the hedge may always be kept 

 enough within compass, and so thick as fully to answer the 

 purpose of covering the fence ; and if the shoots be suffered 

 to grow rather irregularly, it will make a better appearance 

 than any thorn-hedge whatever. The small-leaved and the 

 rough-leaved l.anrustinus, are the best sorts for this purpose, 

 because their branches grow closer together than those of the 

 shining-leaved ; they are also hardier, and flower much better 

 in the open air. The true Phillyrea is the next best plant 

 for hedges. It is called the true Phillyrea, to distinguish it 

 from the Alaternus, which is simply called the Phillyrea. The 

 branches are strong, the leaves large, and of a deep green 

 colour. It is of middling growth : hedges planted with thi 



