29 
January, 1917 
THE GENT I. E ART 
OF HEDGING 
The Best Shrubs and Trees From 
Which to Build a Growing Wall 
GRACE TABOR 
T O “hedge” always has meant to pro¬ 
tect one’s self, though not always to 
protect one’s self in just the same manner. 
Be that as it may, anything to which the 
term “hedge” may be applied is primarily a 
protection. And so the hedges with which 
we are here concerned, protect—maybe 
from intrusion, actual or optical: maybe 
from the elements; or maybe just from 
the obviousness of the street and its noisy, 
dusty activity. Indeed there are many 
things from which a hedge guards the home, 
as well as many purposes within home 
grounds which it may serve. 
Commonly we speak of utilitarian hedges 
and ornamental hedges; but as a matter of 
fact a utilitarian hedge may be ornamental 
as well-—and as trimly ornamental as the 
most precise fancy dictates, or as riotously 
ornamental as the most impatient of re¬ 
straint can desire. There is a hedge to fit 
not only any place and any taste, but also 
any pocket-book you may name. 
Beauty or Utility 
Certain kinds of hedges, I will admit, are 
more definitely utilitarian than they are 
ornamental; as, for example, the barriers 
of hawthorn that girdle English meadows, 
or the Osage orange and buckthorn which 
serve similarly in certain parts of our own 
country. Hedges of this character owe 
their existence only to their usefulness in 
restricting the herds that graze behind 
them; yet there are few things in the world 
lovelier than the hedgerows of England. It 
is evident, therefore, even though we are 
not able to say the same of our own, that 
there is no reason for even the most purely 
utilitarian hedge not being beautiful as well 
as useful from the protection standpoint. 
Let us therefore give over thinking of 
hedges under this double classification, and 
distinguish between them only as they are 
or are not definitely planned for utility. In 
other words, let us establish that all hedges 
shall be beautiful; and that some shall be 
useful as well. 
It is true that there is nothing that serves 
us here in America as the hawthorn serves in 
England; and, unhappily, the English plant 
is subject to a fungous disease when planted 
here, which, of course, makes it undesir¬ 
able to use in this country. But we have 
native thorns of much beauty, perfectly 
adapted to hedges—if we only thought so— 
as well as other native plants that rival in 
sweetness and loveliness the famous haw 
that is such a feature in England. 
One of the most showy of all hawthorns 
is our awn Crataegus crus-galli, the cockspur 
thorn of our folk tongue, which is so cath¬ 
olic in its tastes as to grow from as far 
north as Montreal to as Mr south as North 
Carolina, and all the way west to the lower 
end of Michigan. Then there is the red 
haw, Crataegus mollis, which is native to 
that section lying generally between the 
northern part of Ohio and the eastern parts 
of Dakota, Nevada and Kansas, a beautiful 
For the irregular, 
informal hedge 
where precision of 
line would he out 
of place, perhaps 
nothing can sur¬ 
pass the graceful 
lohit e sprays 0 f 
Spira'a Van Houttei 
For a sunny winter 
day when the winds 
are abroad — can 
you imagine a 
pleasanter place 
outdoors than the 
shelter of this thick 
arhorvitce hedge? 
Among the flower¬ 
ing shrubs which 
are well adapted to 
ornamental hedg¬ 
ing, the althea or 
Rose of Sharon 
ranks high. Thick 
planting should be 
the rule in setting it 
The dense and bril¬ 
liantly green foli¬ 
age of the buck¬ 
thorn gives it a pe¬ 
culiar attractive¬ 
ness. It is one of 
the best shrubs for 
a protecting hedge 
