A good hedge is more beautiful than any wall man can devise—one of Nature’s own bits ot living architecture 
The Essentials of a Good Hedge 
CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL THE PLANTS COMMONLY USED FOR HEDGES—HOW TO START 
THE PLANTS, HOW TO CLIP AND HOW TO MAINTAIN A STURDY, COMPACT GROWTH 
BY J. J. L E v I s O N , M. F. 
Arboriculturist, Brooklyn Park Department 
Photographs by Henry Troth and Nathan R. Graves 
T HERE is no better way of marking the boundaries of a 
lawn, or of a garden, or of securing some privacy to the 
premises surrounding a house, than by means of a hedge, so- 
thoroughly in keeping with landscape effects, only giving place, 
occasionally, to the stone wall, and even then almost always 
requisite to setting off the wall’s advantages. 
The careful selection of a hedge, with consideration from all 
points, and its maintenance concern us here. The ideal hedge 
has much to live up to, but no matter how careful the selection 
of the species may be, if the hedge chosen is not tenderly cared for 
it will really turn out to be no hedge at all, but only a row of thin- 
foliaged sticks. There are the conditions of soil and of climate, 
of exposure, of preservation against insect and fungous diseases 
to think about, longevity to encourage and compact growth to 
coax forth. Many of the hedge plants we see fall short of having 
been encouraged by thought of these matters, and others seem 
bent on evading man’s diligence. The Hawthorn, for instance, is 
constantly menaced by scale, the Lilac by mildew, the Boxwood 
with red-spider, and Spruces continually lose compactness at the 
base of their trunks. To avoid all the natural pitfalls, and the 
stubbornnesses of some of the plants that otherwise might make 
good hedge-growths, one must choose carefully and with anticipa¬ 
tion of the conditions of a plant’s future growth. 
Early spring is the proper time to plant your hedge. The soil 
should then be enriched with additional black loam and the plants 
set in very carefully at a distance of twelve to eighteen inches 
apart for low hedges, and at ten to twelve feet apart for tree hedges. 
Do not plant too close, if you wish your hedge to look compact 
with plenty of lateral shoots. The roots should be cautiously 
protected from exposure to wind and sun and carefully spread 
out when set into the ground. The earth should then be firmly 
trodden in to keep the plants in place. 
. If the plants happen to be of a species like Privet, which will 
stand heavy clipping, cut off the shoots to a distance of three 
inches from the ground immediately after planting. This will 
establish an equilibrium between the supply and demand of sap 
in the plant, and thus enable its diminutive root the better to 
adapt itself to the new soil. This form of cutting will also insure 
the more compact growth of all sides of the hedge. 
The following year the plants should be cut again, a little 
less heavily, and by the third year the permanent shaping of the 
hedge may be commenced. With plants that grow loosely, like 
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