EVERGREENS FOR HEDGES. 6$ 



summer if properly trimmed. (3) Have as little of 

 last year's growth as possible left by the shears, 

 because if a hedge gains only one inch on each side 

 each year, it will in twenty 3^ears have gained forty 

 inches or considerably over three feet. In many 

 places this spread of the hedge will not be endurable. 

 It will encroach too much on your drive or on your 

 lawn. (4) There is great danger that your trim- 

 mer, using long shears, will bear his weight a little 

 more heavily as he reaches higher up, and so will 

 valley in a hedge. Insist on it that the contour I 

 have previously described be kept without infringe- 

 ment. If not, your hedge will begin to decay. 

 (5) Do not allow the lower branches to be short- 

 ened in \vith those that lie just above. They must 

 reach out so as to form, from the very ground, a 

 slight inclination all the way up, and leave a solid 

 base for the hedge. If possible these lower branches 

 should lie flat on the ground. (6) If your hedge 

 runs east and west, or nearly so, the north side will 

 be in danger from close pruning. It must have 

 light and air. 



A few things must be borne in mind in the 

 care of evergreen hedges apart from the pruning: 

 (i) That they must not be touched roughly when 

 hard frozen. The branches are then as brittle as glass 

 and will break sharp off, leaving rents and breaches. 

 It is clear, therefore, that careless drivers must not 

 be tolerated among your drives that are bordered 

 with this class of hedges. If the hedge is loaded 

 with snow that needs to be removed, let it be done 

 if possible when the branches are not frozen. (2) 

 Urine kills a hedge, and dogs become a nuisance. 

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