ENCLOSING THE GARDEN 29 



these to cover wire; they may, in a year or two, have served their 

 purpose, and can then be dug out and passed on to a neighbor 

 for his own needy and unclothed barrier. Two imcommonly fine 

 creepers for clothing the wire fence I would recommend here, 

 partly because they are not in general use, partly because of their 

 beauty of leaf, flower, fruit. These are Chinese. Clematis tangvr- 

 tica is a fascinating variant of the usual small-flowered clema^ 

 tises. This has small light yellow flowers, a beautiful leaf, and 

 interesting feathery-taQed seeds. Do not fear that Ampelopsis 

 aconitifolium dissecta, with its painfully long name, is a weird 

 or ugly creeper. On the contrary, this is one of those newer 

 vines from, China, absolutely hardy and quick-growing, whose 

 cut and shining leaf deserves the infrequent adverb, elegant. 

 These two beauties in chmbing things merit more than is said of 

 them; they are perfect as a covering for wire, and form a delight- 

 ful change from the clematises and Japanese ivies in widespread 

 use in our gardens. 



For the formal tall-growing or clipped hedge, there is much 

 material to be had; and here, after such a hedge is well-estab- 

 lished, the wire fence will not be needed. Twigs thickly inter- 

 lacing will be all that is necessary. For the low-clipped hedge. 

 Privet ibota and P. californica are among the best, though the 

 California privet kills back to the ground sometimes, in severe 

 winters in the latitude of Boston. In that of Philadelphia it is 

 the very best possible shrub for the perfect hedge. For colder 

 regions I recommend the hedge of Thunberg's barberry, which 

 cUps beautifully and is practically non-killable by frost. 



Just here, however, the value of Spirea Vanhoutteii for 

 trimmed hedges must be mentioned. This I saw for the first 

 time in a lovely garden at Milton, Massachusetts. The ingenious 

 amateur had there used this popular shrub in a way totally new 

 to me — clipping it from the time it was small, till, in some cases. 



