668 



NOTES ON SOUTH CAROLINA HEDGES. 



your flowers. No cultivated ones, however pretty, 

 should have a resting place on it. It is a bit of the 

 woods, and should have wood flowers. There are 

 plenty of them — stone crop, Indian pinks, wild 

 geranium, which loves a rockery ; the dainty hepa- 



tica, and, above all, ferns. When these conditions 

 have all been fulfilled, a rockery is produced that is 

 beautiful in itself, and is in harmony with its sur- 

 roundings ; it will be a constant pleasure. 



Bellevui\ Pa. Margaret D. Brown. 



NOTES ON SOUTH CAROLINA HEDGES. 



HE finest cedar hedge I have 

 ^ ever seen (in this country or 



in Europe) is on one of the old 

 plantations. It is not ante 

 bellum, though, having been 

 planted about twenty years 

 ago. The soil in which it 

 grows is unusually poor, and 

 was prepared as follows : a circular ditch two feet 

 deep and three wide was dug ; into this was put 

 dead leaf mould and the displaced soil in alternate 

 layers. In this the little cedars, taken up with a 

 cake of earth, were planted in a double row, and 

 watered regularly for a month or so. During the 

 summer some of the plants died and these were 

 replaced. Twice a year the hedge was carefully 

 clipped, and at the end of ten years had obtained 

 the perfection of its beauty, and "stood dressed in 



sometimes called ' ' mock orange, " and a gardenia. The 

 former is very old, nearly a century, but it seems as 

 vigorous and healthy as ever, and stands constant trim- 

 ming. The tree when left to itself is symmetrical, and 

 reaches a height of thirty or forty feet ; one blown 

 down by the cyclone of 1886 measured sixty-five feet. 

 It had sprung up in a cluster of oaks, and had to reach 

 up to the sunlight. It had no branches, only a head. 

 The other hedge, the gardenia, or cape jessamine (so 

 called because introduced by Commissary Garden from 

 the Cape of Good Hope) flourishes in those parts of the 

 shrubberies which lie on the edges of the rice fields, 

 where it is valuable as being a handsome ever-green 

 shrub which can stand water. During the spring 

 freshets the family take to the canoes and are paddled 

 between the rows of gardenias, which hedge in a favor- 

 ite walk, and which will emerge as green as ever from 

 their bath of several weeks duration. Even the smaller 

 plants and cuttings do not object to a submersion which 

 would kill the magnolia and other native plants. The 



Cherokee Roses. 



living green." The constant clipping has kept the 

 foliage delicate and prevented it from getting the 

 somber hue of old cedar trees. Most justly does 

 it excite the admiration of all visitors. The sides 

 are not perpendicular, but after reaching the height 

 of four or five feet, slope inwards, so that the flat 

 surface on the top is only a foot wide. 



Alarming signs of decay in certain branches or plants 

 have several times appeared, but generally stimulating 

 liquid manure has proved a cure. 



On the same plantation are two other hedges worthy 

 of mention ; a " wild orange " [Lcuirocerasits Cai-o/hiiana), 



flower resembles a white camellia, and is very fragrant. 

 On a neighboring place are some fine box hedges ; 

 the grandmother of the present "oldest inhabitant" 

 could not remember when they were planted. Other 

 favorite hedges are : The cassena (Youpon holly), 

 which is very tough and of compact growth, but does 

 not produce its beautiful berries, or only sparingly, when 

 kept clipped ; the euonymus, which grows vigorously 

 and is valuable on account of its fine glossy foliage and 

 berry ; the Cherokee rose, which must be allowed to fol- 

 low its own sweet will — most fortunately this is generally 

 in a right direction ! The finest growth seems usually 

 attained by allowing it to over run a native growth of 



