116 



ARTIFICIAL ADAPTATIONS OF 



Fig. 27. 



Fig. ig. 



shaded by trees, it may be well to vary the form so that that side 

 shall present a broader surface to the vertical light to compen- 

 sate for the lesser sunlight, as shown by Figs. 29 

 and 30. The two sides of a hedge are rarely seen 

 at one view, so that its apparent symmetry will not 

 be marred ; and this difference of form may be re- 

 commended as a pleasing variety — giving the beauty 

 of two forms of hedge in one — as well as for the 

 purpose of equalizing the vigor of the two sides. 



Arbor-vitae and hemlock hedges may be made 

 of any height, from three to fifteen feet. Those 

 which are to be kept of the minimum size will re- 

 quire almost as much time to perfect them as the taller ones, 

 as they must be cut back frequently from the start, to force the 

 plants into a dwarf habit, and ought to be grown to the required 

 breadth at the bottom before they are of full height. 

 For a height of three feet, let the hedge be two feet 

 wide at the bottom. As the height is increased the 

 base need not increase proportionally. A hedge six 

 feet high may have a base of three and a half feet, 

 one ten feet high five feet, and so on ; remembering 

 to give the side which is to have the least light the 

 greatest expansion at the bottom. 



We consider the tree box, where hardy, the best of all ever- 

 green trees for low hedges, and though its growth is slow com- 

 pared with that of the trees already named, we would use it in 

 preference to anything else for hedges not designed to be more 

 than three feet high. But it may 

 not be hardy enough to be reliable 

 in a climate more severe than that 

 of the city of New York ; and as it 

 does best in partially shaded places, 

 it is less beautiful in open, dry, and 

 sunny exposures. For such places 

 the arbor-vitae is better. 



For topiary screens of great height the hemlock and Norway 

 spruce, both of which bear cutting well, are very beautiful. More 



Fig. 29. 



Fig. 30. 



