56 Fences, Walls and Hedges 



jectionable features. They may be links 

 between the formal and the purely natural 

 and mark a dividing line with softness but 

 decision. 



Yet even such a glorious creature as a 

 hedge has same disadvantages. It just 

 welcomes all sorts of woody and creepy 

 vines, among which the poison-ivy is a 

 leader. The only successful way out, is 

 to remove these intruders by hand when 

 they are small, or otherwise the task will 

 become a titanic one. Then there are the 

 insects, but these can be treated with the 

 same methods and amount of work as for 

 shrubs and trees. Cultivation is often 

 necessary and makes another act of labor 

 with pruning and spraying. Yes, a hedge 

 must have care while a brick or stone wall 

 once in place needs little further attention. 



Do not get the idea that hedge growing 

 is a life long affair. It is true that box 

 and a few other varieties are very slow 

 growing but privet and laurel makes in two 

 or three years a very respectable appear- 

 ance and the majority of others very little 

 longer. 



