CONIFER AND ROSE HEDGES. 



133 



established on the green have almost a glittering elfect in the sunshine. Leading shoots 

 should be chosen as grafts, not small side branchlets, or free growth cannot be insured. 

 This remark applies with great force to all the conifers, to which the yew is closely allied. 



The growths of yews, particularly when withered, are injurious to animals that eat 

 them, a fact which must not only be kept in mind when planting, but also, and especially, 

 in the disposal of the trimmings from hedges or trees. 



Hedges of conifers make pleasing and effective screens in gardens. Probably the 

 finest display of conifer hedges in Europe is to be seen in the nurseries of Mr. Charles 

 Van Geert, at Calmpthout, near Antwerp. Most kinds are represented in the divisional 

 lines separating the many sheltered enclosures, the hedges being six feet high, and a 

 foot or more in diameter. The hemlock spruce (Abies canadensis) forms a beautiful 

 hedge, where this elegant conifer thrives. Cupressus Lawsoniana is excellent for the 

 purpose, but turns brown in winter ; so also is Thuiopsis borealis, but perhaps the 

 most generally satisfactory of all is Lobb's cypress (Thuia gigantea). When clipped, if 

 needed in April, and particularly at the end of July, this conifer forms a hedge of fern- 

 like elegance, and retains its bright glossy green through the winter. It can be estab- 

 lished, and retained, of any height desired, and grows well in any ordinarily fertile soil. 



Neat hedges for the backs of borders in gardens are formed of the small-leaved ever- 

 green berberises, such as B. dulcis and others of that character, while taller screens can be 

 established with beech and hornbeam, but they are perhaps more useful than ornamental. 



Hedges of roses are desired and dreamed about by many people, but are realised 

 satisfactorily by few. Mixing several varieties to form a continuous line usually 

 ends in patchiness, the strong overgrowing the weak and gradually crowding them 

 out of existence. The close, compact-growing, small-leaved and small-flowered Scotch 

 rose (Eosa spinosissima) makes a neat divisional screen in gardens, while sweet briar, 

 or eglantine hedges (Eosa rubiginosa) are very delightful in appropriate positions, 

 because of the fragrance they dispense all around. 



For securing quick growth of whatever may be planted, it is important to provide a 

 deep, free, fertile, rooting area, not merely cutting out a narrow trench, in hard soil. 

 Planting may be done early in autumn, or during genial weather in spring, keeping the 

 ground free from weeds, subsequently trimming the sides of the hedges till the desired 

 height is attained, and preventing their being injured by animals that in certain 

 positions may have access to them, though this contingency does not arise in the majority 

 of gardens and pleasure grounds. 



