CHAPTER XVI 



Fences and Hedges 



I have already pointed out how insistently 

 the boundaries of a small garden declare them- 

 selves. Whichever way we turn the vista is 

 closed by a wall or fence, and whatever expe- 

 dients we adoptto render these artificialfrontiers 

 inconspicuous — whether by growing greenery 

 over them or trees and shrubs against them — 

 we cannot entirely keep them out of sight. I 

 have shown, however, that by adopting a 

 rectilinear treatment they can be made to har- 

 monize with the garden lines. But that will not 

 help us much if the fence itself is an eyesore. 

 The gardener who rents the house has to take 

 things as he finds them, but he who builds his 

 house has the matter in his own hands, and 

 for his guidance, therefore, I may offer some 

 suggestions on the subject of fencing. I 

 must make a passing reference to walls. All 

 walls are much alike, but it is worth while to 



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