ROSE HEDGE^ 127 



Stewart Clark might be planted. The Austrian Briers 

 and the lovely little Scotch roses form attractive hedges, 

 though their flower display is fleeting. For a low hedge 

 there is nothing to surpass the China or Monthly roses, 

 especially the pink and crimson varieties. In sheltered 

 southern gardens the vigorous Tea roses are suitable 

 for a hedge, such, for instance, as Marie Van Houtte, 

 Sombreuil, Souvenir d'un Ami. Delightful low hedges 

 are formed by the dwarf Polyantha roses. The plants 

 are naturally of bushy growth, and they blossom through- 

 out the summer months. 



In preparing to plant a hedge of roses, a piece of 

 ground three feet wide ought to be dug two feet deep 

 in late summer, manure being freely intermixed. Planting 

 is carried out early in autumn. The bushes should be 

 in a double row, each plant in the row being about four 

 :;feet apart in the case of the climbers, two feet for the 

 ordinary dwarfs such as Caroline Testout, and fifteen 

 inches or so for the China and dwarf Polyantha roses. 

 As one naturally wishes to have the base of the hedge 

 as well furnished with leafy stems as possible, it is advis- 

 able, in the March following planting, to cut down aU the 

 roses to whithin six inches or so of the base, though 

 this is not absolutely necessary in dealing with the 

 wichuraiana sorts. Supports are necessary for high 

 hedges, and are best afforded by stotit oak posts placed 

 six or eight feet apart, four or five rows of thick wire being 

 stretched between them. In a very windy garden, such 

 as one near the sea, for instance, the supports need to 

 be strengthened by stays at the base. Much may be 



