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CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENING. 



our opinion by this interval of time, which ought not 

 to he allowed if at all preventihle. Hollies we have 

 found, from several years' experience, to remove in 

 far better condition during the months of May and 

 June than at any other period of the year. We 

 have transplanted numbers during those months, 

 and have invariably found them to succeed. When 

 re-planted in the late autumn and winter months 

 they are very liable to shed the greater portion of 

 then- foliage; this defect in a large garden is bad 

 enough, but in one of limited extent it is rendered 

 even more so, through all the occupants of the 

 garden coming under closer observation. 



In small plots of garden ground another essential 

 point to be studied is the avoidance of a frequent 

 repetition of the same individual kind of shrub. 

 There are an abundance of good and useful kinds 

 from which selection may be made to give as great 

 a diversity as possible. 



Hedges. — In the event of any sub-division in 

 the grounds being necessary, and this being effected 

 by a hedge, we would in every case advise the choice 

 being made from those shrubs of an evergreen 

 ■character. Hollies, Privet (evergreen kinds), Euo- 

 :nymus, Portugal Laurel, and Yews (English), are all 

 :good selections. Instead, however, of following the 

 : generally adopted plan of clipping the same with 

 rshears every season, we would advise the requisite 

 pruning to be done with a knife until the hedge 

 reaches to something like its proper dimensions. In 

 this manner the desired object will be more quickly 

 attained, the stronger shoots not, by that process, 

 ha^dng to share the same fate as the weaker ones, 

 which is next to unavoidable when the hedge is gone 

 over indiscriminately with a pair of garden shears. 

 The side-growths will, as a matter of com'se, need 

 pruning rather more closely in order to avoid an 

 undue amount of garden- space being taken up by 

 the hedge itself. In order, oftentimes, to obtain an 

 immediate effect, the shrubs used in the formation of 

 a hedge are planted far too closely. For the time 

 being this may present a better appearance, but as 

 thinning out afterwards, when becoming too thick, 

 is not an easy matter with shrubs used in the 

 formation of hedges, it is far preferable to plant at a 

 moderate distance from each other in the first 

 instance, and wait with patience for the desired 

 result, which will eventually be far more satisfactory. 

 When crowded together, the natural results of de- 

 crepitude and decay will sooner or later supervene, 

 long ere such would be the case if operations were 

 proceeded with in a more practical manner at the 

 outset. Patching up in the case of failure in some 

 : spots will have to be performed in order to preserve 

 •the general appearance, and this even at the best is 



not an easy matter. During long periods of drought, 

 a thickly-planted hedge will also suffer much -in 

 some soils from lack of moisture. At such times 

 there are always plenty of subjects needing more 

 immediate attention, with the result that commoner 

 things have to be passed over in many instances, 

 unless an unlimited supply of water is at hand. 



The plan of lapng up a narrow ridge of soil 

 whereon to plant the material for forming a hedge 

 should not be practised where it is necessary to gain 

 any height at the outset ; the better way will be to 

 gradually rise to the required height by easy slopes. 

 Other shrubs or plants of an evergreen character 

 should not be planted too closely to any hedge, but 

 ample space allowed for the growth of both, and 

 likewise for a good circulation of air between them. 

 When too closely planted one or the other, or 

 perhajDS both alike, will suffer if removal is not seen 

 to in time. In all kinds of shrub and tree plantin": 

 a considerable amount of foresight is requisite with 

 regard to their future appearance. Some strong- 

 growing kind may gain an undue amount of prepon- 

 derance in such cases, after a season or two ; then 

 the pruning-knife should be used freely, and some of 

 the stronger roots severed with a spade. Rather 

 than let a common plant or shrub that is of no 

 material value outgrow and deprive choicer things 

 of their necessary space for growth and develop- ■ 

 ment, it will be far better to remove the same 

 entirely. 



Planning. — The design in Fig. 3 wiU be found 

 fairly proportionate in arrangement, the space 

 allotted to each subject being regulated in such a 

 way as not to allow of any one essential of a 

 garden about the size of that given predominating 

 above the rest. At the first glance, perhaps, the 

 space marked out for shrubs would appear to be 

 somewhat in excess, taking into consideration the 

 space at disposal. TVTien, however, our suggestions 

 of intermixing a few standard fruit-trees among the 

 other deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs are 

 carried out, this will greatly modify any such ap- 

 parently undue extent of ground. The margins of 

 the shrubs can also be most suitably planted with 

 hardy herbaceous and other dwarf flowering plants, 

 allowing a broader margin for such where the width 

 marked out is proportionately wide. In a small 

 garden we would prefer to allow for these neces- 

 saries in this way, far before cutting up the open 

 spaces into flower-beds, as may very frequently be 

 seen, even where the garden-space is most limited 

 in extent. The la^vTi will then appear of greater 

 dimensions' than it really is, and more facihty will be 

 offered for the arrangement of such garden recrea- 

 tions and amusements as lawn tennis, &c., for 



