HEDGES AND SHELTERS OF HOLLY. 



99 



fruit and protection and line form. 

 Such hedges might be either of Holly 

 alone or mixed with Sloe or Quick. 

 Where from the nature of the soil it is 

 not easy to raise Hollies from seed — as 

 they should have friable open ground in 

 the young state — it is best to buy small 

 plants from the forest nurseries. The 

 worst enemy of the Holly hedge is the 

 rabbit. I have lost thousands of plants in 

 that way, and although many places are 

 not so much infested, still great care 

 must be taken, or in hard winters the 

 Hollies are sure to be destroyed, espe- 

 cially if newly planted. Where Holly 

 comes naturally, as it does in many parts 

 of the country, the destruction is not 

 noticeable except after hard winters, 

 when I have seen even old woods of it de- 

 stroyed. Being a close-growing shrub it 

 forms a shelter for cattle, and as it grows 

 much better than the Hawthorn under 

 hedgerow trees it ought to be more 

 often adopted for enclosing meadows 

 and pastures. It keeps itself almost 

 free from weeds, owing to the close- 

 ness of its branches at the bottom, and 

 it is free from insects. Holly is found 

 flourishing on dry gravelly land as well 

 as on strong clay, but sand and sandy 

 loam are the soils it delights in most. 

 On flat ground the site intended for the 

 Holly hedge should be trenched and 

 manured before the time of planting, 

 but the chief thing is to have the soil 

 open and fertile and nothing can be 

 better as an addition than well-rotted 

 farmyard manure; the same should be 

 used for mulching after planting, but 

 any mulch is better than none, even 

 grass, or weeds, or litter. The ordinary 



raised bank made for fences in many dis- 

 tricts of the south is preparation enough. 

 The distance between the plants should 

 be at least a foot, and, if they are very 

 bushy, 15 inches apart will be close 

 enough. In order that they may stand 

 firm and upright they should be trod 

 gently immediately after the roots are 

 covered. For the first two seasons the 

 hedge will require no pruning, but after 

 the third year such parts of the sides as 

 become broad and irregular had better 

 be clipped uniformly. I say clipped, 

 meaning by the hedge shears, for the 

 Holly is too thick and its leaves too nu- 

 merous to allow of its being trimmed 

 with a hedge-bill. The clipped Holly 

 hedge should be perfectly straigh t,broad 

 at bottom,and gradually taper to the top. 

 The time for clipping is in October, and 

 it is not necessary that it should be done 

 more than once a year. In many cases 

 this clipping may be necessary, but by far 

 the finest hedge is the naturally-grown, 

 undipped one. 



A Lawn Garden. — If fate plants us on one 

 of those natural lawns that border our rivers 

 why not accept the gift instead of cutting up 

 the space into some semblance of a " style " ? 

 If asked to choose among all the kinds of gar- 

 den I should prefer an open lawn flowing down 

 to a river with good river-borne soil. We have 

 no trouble in arranging or plan ting suchground, 

 far easier in these ways than diversified ground. 

 To be able to stand at ease and work on the slop- 

 ing hill was only one of the reasons for the ter- 

 raced ground ; another important one was to 

 gather the often sparse soil of the hill-slope and 

 to keep it. In our river lawns we have all this 

 done for us in the noblest way,and simple lawns 

 may be at once the most refreshing and beauti- 

 ful of all gardens : and around them we may 

 have free place for everything from Cedars to 

 Roses without needlessly limiting the breadth 

 and airiness of the lawn. 



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