The Garden Magazine, March, 1929 
25 
It grows three or four feet high and is hardly surpassed for 
an untrimmed, informal flowering boundary hedge. The Rose 
of Sharon also makes a good hedge plant but must be kept cut 
back severely. Otherwise it will soon lose its proportions. 
Even at the best it is likely to become rather open at the bot- 
tom. But it makes a screen up to ten feet high and sometimes 
can be planted to advantage inside of a wooden or iron fence. 
It is by the way, always advisable to transplant this shrub in 
the spring rather than in the fall. 
Occasionally a very good hedge formed by the Japanese 
Quince is seen, and this is a plant which will grow almost any- 
where. Its heavy spines are quite as effective as the Japanese 
Barberry too, in keeping out intruders. Its one drawback is a 
certain susceptibility to attacks of San Jose scale. Another 
flowering and spiny plant in the North is the Cockspur Thorn 
(Crataegus crus-galli), but it must be pruned carefully and 
regularly when young to develop a good habit of growth. 
Roses for Living Fences 
O F LATE years increasing use has been made of Roses for 
living fences, and none is better adapted to this purpose 
than Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. This is a very strong growing 
Rose, reaching four or five feet high in a few years. 1 1 will stand 
considerable trimming, and remains well clothed with leaves 
almost to the ground. During the blooming season in June it 
makes a handsome display, the flowers being pale pink and even 
larger than those of Rosa rugosa. While it is often grown in 
gardens its value as a hedge plant has not been generally realized. 
There are, though, several places in the country where good 
hedges of Conrad Ferdinand Mever exist. 
Even the little Sweet Brier Rose (Rosa rubiginosa) makes a 
good hedge when height is not a desideratum. It has rather a 
loose-growing habit, and its pretty flowers, followed by hand- 
some red hips, make it distinctly ornamental. It will grow al- 
most anywhere except in arid sections. 
Evergreens for All the Year Round 
T HE most perfect hedge material after all is evergreen, and 
fortunately there are plants that will thrive in almost all 
parts of the country, among them the common Arborvitae 
(Thuya occidentalis). This has been used for a great many 
years; nevertheless it must be admitted that it develops 
serious faults in its old age and is not as desirable as its 
popularity would indicate. The common Hemlock (Tsuga cana- 
densis) is a much better hedge plant in many ways. While 
this can be kept low when desired, it can also be used for a 
screen up to thirty or forty feet high. It will thrive in any 
part of the Northern states, wherever there is a fairly moist soil ; 
and what is more, it will stand hard cutting back better than 
most other evergreens. Hedges which have gotten out of 
bounds may often be restored by cutting them back a little at 
a time for three or four years. Some extremely handsome 
Hemlock hedges clothed to the very ground are to 
be found in the Eastern states. 
Another Hemlock which probably would be just as 
useful and used as much if it were not so expensive, is 
the Carolina Hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana.) T his is 
entirely hardy in New England. Then there is the 
White Spruce, which is especially desirable when a 
somewhat formal appearance is sought. It is hard 
to keep low, but makes a fine tall screen. It thrives 
in most parts of the North and is far better than the 
Norway Spruce, all things considered — one of the 
finest evergreen hedges, indeed. 
If you live in the South you have of course a 
much longer list of evergreen plants to choose from; 
and naturally nothing can supplant the beautiful 
free Box (Buxus sempervirens). This plant, famous 
in colonial history and in literature, is of surpassing 
beauty and almost without a fault as a hedge plant 
in sections where it is hardy. So handsome is its 
foliage and so lasting that large quantities are cut 
from Boxwood trees in the South for distribution 
among tlorists all over the country. It grows as far 
north as New York City and southern New York- 
but it is in the South that it reigns supreme. Al- 
though its growth is slow, it sometimes attains a 
height of fifteen or eighteen feet. The dwarf variety, also ever- 
green, is very useful in gardens. This dwarf Box is catalogued 
Buxus suffruticosa. 
In the North there is nothing to approximate this dwarf Box 
THE HARDIEST OF ALL HEDGE POSSIBILITIES 
In many other ways unrivalled too, Buckthorn develops 
a protective barrier of such density and resistance that it 
is like nothing less than an exquisitely neat grten wall 
QUITE UNMINDFUL OF WEATHER OR DROUGHT 
Though its growth is redundant for a hedge, requiring severe cutting 
back annually, this does not count against a plant as fine as the Russian 
Olive (F.leagnus argentea) which makes a thick and beautiful harrier 
