The Livable Ho u s e 



Screen planting, the fourth kind of general planting, may con- 

 sist of irregular borders of shrubs and trees, or of hedges. The 

 latter arc usually regarded as the logical means of screening a 

 service drive, or laundry vard, or unneighborly nuisance. They 

 are the most obvious form of screen, the form most often used, 

 and in some ways the least effective, for their purpose is generally 

 as apparent as that of a trellis (jr wall would be. Like these 

 thev need planting outside to tie them into the general land- 

 scape. 



Any kind of clipped hedge is, of course, slower in attaining 

 height than plants which are allowed to grow unchecked by the 

 pruning shears. It follows that a free-growing border will screen 

 faster and more effecti\ely than a hedge. But tlie m(«t valid 

 reason for giving any irregular planting preference is that it 

 can be made a part of the landscape. \^'hen a hedge is used either 

 for a screen or as the boundary of a garden it should have some- 

 thing in the way of transition planting outside it — a few groups 

 of shrubs and trees to break the definite form and regular line of 

 the hedge, and to "ease" it into its surroundings. 



Of the deciduous hedges, probably privet is the most common 

 and the most useful. It is obligingly adaptable, grows quickly, 

 and has a dignified appearance. Barberry makes a somewhat 

 smaller hedge, nc\'er growing over four or live feet high, and is 

 more spreading in charatter. Some eftOrt has been made to in- 

 troduce hornbeam and beech as hedges. These are both good, 

 dignified hedges, and along with our native hawthorns could 

 be utilizA-d delightfully around gardens; but their slow growth 



[CS] 



