THE COUNTRY HOME [chaptek 



of neglect. Most of our blossoming shrubs have 

 an individuality of their own, and this must not be 

 stripped away by the shears. To trim them all in 

 straight lines would ruin the meaning of the plant. 

 If you want a shrub that will stand either neglect 

 or shearing, take Tartarian honeysuckle. Always 

 mulch your hedges as soon as planted, and renew 

 this mulch every year till the plants are thoroughly 

 established. A convenient and excellent material 

 is ashes from anthracite coal — that from bitumin- 

 ous coal contains too much sulphur to be used 

 freely. 



Hedge growers, while learning to abhor the mon- 

 strous and misplaced, may make hedge-growing 

 contribute to the general beauty of a place by such 

 contrivances as living arbors, bowered seats, and 

 arched walks. One of my living arbors, slightly 

 dissociated from the hedge row, lifts its peak about 

 twenty-five feet high, and inside is a cool, shaded 

 inclosure of eighteen feet in diameter. Origin- 

 ally intended to be a place to conceal refuse, I have 

 found it more useful as a retreat. With seats and a 

 hammock it is delightful in the hottest days. The 

 roots of the arbor-vitse create a dry mat inside, like 

 the floor of evergreen woods. If left to arch over 



[124] 



