HED 
weeds are permitted to grow among them, they will 
foon deftroy them, or weaken them fo much, that 
they will not recover their ftrength in a long time. 
This fhould be conftantly obferved, by every perfon 
who is deli rous to have good Hedges of either fort *, 
for when the weeds are fuffered to grow near the 
plants, they will not only rob them ot a great part of 
their nourifhment, but alfo prevent their putting out 
fhoots near the ground, which will occafion the bot- 
tom of the Hedge to be thin and naked. 
When thefe Holly Hedges are defigned to be kept 
very neat, they Ihould be fheered twice a year, in 
May and Auguft •, but if they are only defigned as 
fences, they need not be fheered oftener than once a 
year, which ihould be about the latter end of June, 
or the beginning of July ; and if this is well perform- 
ed, the Hedges may be kept very beautiful. 
The fences which are made to fecure thefe Hedges 
from cattle while they are young, fhould be contrived 
fo as to admit as much free air as poffible, which is 
abfolutely neceffary for the growth of the plants •, for 
when they are crowded on each fide with dead Hedges, 
the plants feldom thrive well. The beft fort offences 
for this purpofe, are thofe which are made with pofts 
and rails ; or inftead of rails, three ropes drawn from 
poft to poft, and holes made in the pofts to draw the 
ropes through - 5 this is the cheapeft fence of this 
kind, and will appear very handfome ; but if fheep 
are not admitted into the fields, there will be occafion 
for two ropes only, which will be enough to keep off 
larger cattle •, and if the ropes are painted over with a 
compofition of melted pitch, brown Spanifh colour, 
and oil, mixed well together, they will iaft found fe- 
veral years •, and thefe fort of fences never obftrud 
the air, and the place, at the fame time being open 
to view, the weeds will be better difcovered than 
when the fences are clofe. In the latter cafe, the 
Hedges are fometimes fuffered to be over-run with 
weeds, by their being excluded from the fight, fo 
are frequently forgotten, efpecially in moift weather, 
when the weeds grow more luxuriant. 
There are fome perfons who intermix Holly with the 
White Thorn in making their Hedges, which if 
rightly managed, will have a good effed, efpecially 
when young * but when this is pradifed, the Holly 
fhould be planted fo near, as that the Hedge may be 
entirely formed of it as it grows up, when the White 
Thorn ihould be quite rooted out ; for as thefe ad- 
vance, they will not keep pace in their growth, fo 
will not appear beautiful when intermixed. 
When a Hedge of Holly is intended to be made by 
plants, the ground fhould be well trenched, as was 
before advifed for the feeds ; and (unlefs the ground 
be very wet) the plants ihould be fet in Odober, but, 
in wet ground, March is preferable. The plants 
ihould not be taken from a better foil than that in 
•which they are to be planted ; for when it fo happens, 
the plants' are much longer before they recover this 
change, than thofe are which are taken from a leaner 
foil. If the plants have been before removed two or 
three times, they will have better roots, and will be 
in lefs danger of mifcarrying ; befides, they may be 
removed with balls of earth to their roots. When 
the froft comes on, if mulch be laid upon the 
ground near the roots of the plants, it will prevent the 
tender fibres, which may then have been put out, 
from being deftroyed by the cold. I would never ad- 
vife the planting of Hedges with Holly plants, of 
above five or fix years growth from the berries ; for 
when the plants are x older, if they take to grow, they 
are longer before they form a good Hedge, than 
plants which are much younger •, and if the plants 
have been twice before tranfplanted, they will more 
certainly grow. 
I fhali next treat of Hedges for ornaments in gardens : 
thefe are fometimes planted with Evergreens, efpe- 
cially if they are riot intended to grow very high * in 
•which cafe, they are planted with deciduous trees. 
Evergreen Hedges are planted with Holly, Yew, 
HED 
Laurel, Lauruftinus, Phillyrea, Alaternus, evergreen 
Oak, and fome others of lefs note. The Holly is 
preferable to any other, for the reafons before given. 
Next to this, moil: people prefer the Yew, on account 
of its growing very clofe •> for when thefe Hedges are 
well kept, they will be fo thick as that a bird cannot 
get through them •, but the dead colour of the Yew, 
renders thefe Hedges lefs agreeable. The Laurel is 
one of the moft beautiful greens of any of the ever- 
green trees, but then it (hoots fo luxuriant, as to 
render it difficult to keep the Hedges which are plant- 
ed with it, in tolerable fhape , befides* the leaves be- 
, ing very large, if the Hedge is clipped with (beers, 
the leaves will be cut through, which gives them a 
bad appearance ; therefore where there are Hedges 
of this kind, it will be the beft way to prune them 
with a knife, cutting the ihoots juft down to, a leaf. 
And although by this method the Hedge cannot be 
rendered fo even as when cut with fheers, yet it will 
bave a much better appearance than that of moft of 
the leaves being cut through and (tubbed, in the man- 
ner they muft be when fheered. 
The Lauruftinus is alfo a very fine plant for this pur- 
pofe, but the fame objection is to be made to this as 
hath been to the Laurel •, and as one of the great beau- 
ties of this plant is in its flowers, which are produced 
in the winter and fpring, fo when thefe are fheered, 
the flowers are generally cut off, by which their beau- 
ty is loft. Nor can this be avoided, where the Hedge 
is to be kept in clofe order, therefore this plant is not 
fo proper for the purpofe •, but in fuch places where 
walls or other fences are defigned to be hid, there is 
not any plant better adapted than this, provided it is 
rightly managed ; for the branches of this plant are 
(lender and pliable, fo may be trained up clofe to the 
fence, whereby it may be entirely covered ; and if, 
inftead of clipping thefe with fheers, they are pruned 
with a knife, they may be fo managed, as to have 
them full of flowers from the ground upward. This 
may be effefted by pruning them in April, when the 
flowers are going off, cutting out thofe fhoots that 
have flowered, or project too far from the fence j al- 
ways cutting clofe to the leaf, that no ftubs may be 
left : but thofe new fhoots of the fame fpring muft by 
no means be fhortened, becaufe the flowers are always 
produced at the extremity of the fhoots of the fame 
year ; therefore when thefe are topped, as they muft 
be by fheering, there can be few or no flowers upon 
thefe plants, except toward the top, where the fheers 
have not paffed. By this method of knife pruning, 
the leaves will alfo be preferved entire, and the Hedge 
may always be kept enough within compafs ; and fo 
thick, as fully to anfwer the purpofe of covering the 
fence ; and by the fhoots growing a little irregular, it 
will make a much better appearance than any fhorn 
Hedge whatever. 
The fmall leaved and the rough leaved Lauruftinus- 
are the beft forts for this purpofe, becaufe their 
branches grow clofer together than thofe of the fhin- 
ng leaved * they are alfo more hardy, and flower much 
'better than the other, when growing in the open air. 
The True Phillyrea is the next beft plant for Hedges £ 
it is by the gardeners called the True Phillyrea, to dif- 
tinguiih it from the Alaternus, which they limply call 
the Phillyrea. The branches of this are ftrong, the 
leaves pretty large, and of a ftrong green colour. 
And as this is a plant of middling growth, the Hedges 
planted with this may be led up to the height of ten 
or twelve feet * and if thefe Hedges are kept narrow 
at the top, that there may not be too much width for 
the fnow to lodge upon them, they may be rendered 
very clofe and thick, and being a very good green, 
will make a fine appearance. 
The Alaternus was formerly much more cultivated 
in the Englifti gardens than at prefent. This was of- 
ten planted to form Hedges, but the branches, of this 
plant are too pliant for this purpofe, being frequently 
difplaced by ftrong winds, which render thefe Hedges 
unfightly ; they alfo (hoot very irregular and thin, fo 
