104 GARDENS : THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



trenched two feet deep. Small trees, two feet to two and 

 a half feet high, should be put in twenty inches apart. 

 All scraggy pieces are taken off with a sharp knife. The 

 trees at this time will be ten inches thick, or thereabouts. 

 They should be well mulched with half-rotten com- 

 post to keep the frost out, and also to protect them from 

 over-much sun in the summer. Next year they may be 

 cut again to the same ten- inch width, and the top should 

 be clipped to make them level. It is very important that 

 the plants should not be allowed to grow in height until 

 they touch one another. Hedges that have been treated 

 in this way measure three feet high and fifteen inches 

 wide seven years after planting ; others, when twenty- 

 seven years old, measure seven and a half feet in height, 

 and are three feet wide on the top, and densely thick. So 

 often we see what is called a hedge, but any animal can 

 force its way through ; and this proves that the treatment 

 has not been thoroughly satisfactory at the outset. The 

 secret, therefore, is to clip hard each September, and 

 mulch to nourish the roots in August. Should turf be 

 near the hedge upon one side, always put the mulch upon 

 the other side if possible. 



It is curious to note, in some very old gardens, how 

 yews and other trees have outgrown the original design 

 and meaning. In an old Tudor garden some very tall, 

 fine yews completely overshadow a long narrow terrace 

 near the grey stone house. Attention is drawn to it by 

 the way the trees darken the windows. Upon looking 

 closer, we find that when first they were planted they 

 were small narrow sentries placed at the corners of grass- 

 plots. They grew and grew, and each year encroached 

 with their roots upon the grey coping-stones that sur- 

 rounded the small square beds made for them. Now the 

 stems are wide and thick, and in places they have burst 

 asunder the stonework. It lies in some cases broken 

 beside the tree. In Tudor days, when the garden was laid 



