46 
II o u s e 
& Garden 
The new box-barberry 
is admirably adapted to 
use, as here, for for- 
m a l edgings. 11 re¬ 
quires little pruning to 
keep it low and com¬ 
pact, and is perfectly 
hardy. Courtesy Elm 
City Nursery Co. 
DO YOU KNOW ALL THE HEDGES? 
The Hedge Is the Frame of the Garden Picture , and It Should Be Carefully 
Selected--New Good Hedging Plants 
M OST garden pictures are incomplete with¬ 
out a frame—and the frame is the 
hedge. In landscaping on a large scale, of 
course, trees, or the shrubbery masses, may take 
the place of the hedge, in forming the outside 
framing for the whole planting; but even in 
such cases there are likely to be smaller units, 
pictures within the picture, which are to be 
“tied together” by a hedge of some sort. 
Hedges constitute one of the most important 
features in a planting of any kind, especially 
in limited areas, and yet how frequently one 
sees a garden picture where the frame is an 
absolute misfit! A stiff, formal hedge around 
a planting that in every other respect is along 
naturalistic lines is about as much in keeping 
as a heavy gilt frame about a Japanese print. 
A solid mass of evergreens around a small 
suburban lot planting, or a little low-growing 
border hedge surrounding a life-size place, 
with real trees and roads and gardens inside, 
are equally inappropriate. 
The Sort of Hedge Desired 
The first point to decide about your prospec¬ 
tive hedge is, in most cases, its height. It 
should be in keeping with the rest of the plant¬ 
ing. Furthermore, it may be needed to shut 
out the street or an undesirable view. It is 
often desirable to have a boundary hedge of 
different heights at various points; this may 
call for several different kinds of plants. 
'I'he next consideration is the purpose of the 
hedge. If it is to be purely ornamental, then 
the range of selection is wide. If, in addition 
to being ornamental, it is desirable to serve as 
a protection against dogs and children, or 
effective as a windbreak or screen in the win¬ 
ter as well as summer, the number of things 
that answer your purpose is more limited. 
And then there is the character of the plant¬ 
ing to think of. Do you want something prim, 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
trim and formal, or natural and informal in its 
growth ? 
As a group, the privets probably still come 
first in importance as hedge plants. One of 
the reasons for the wide popularity of the Cali¬ 
fornia variety has undoubtedly been that its 
easy propagation makes it available at a low 
price. But it has many other good qualities. 
It produces a dense, thick growth in a re¬ 
markably short time; it is green clear down 
to the ground; it lends itself readily to train¬ 
ing or shearing, which is often desired; it 
thrives in sun or shade, and the foliage is 
attractive throughout the season. But it is 
not hardy, and this is a vital drawback to its 
making a perfectly satisfactory hedge. While 
it will withstand zero weather, it is not safe 
north of Washington. While it recovers quick¬ 
ly from a freeze that merely kills it back to 
the ground, it will occasionally be killed out¬ 
right north of New York; and in the north and 
northwestern states it is so uncertain that it 
has never come into general use. 
For these reasons hardier forms of privet 
have been coming into more general use dur¬ 
ing the past few years. Three which have 
become quite generally known are Ibota, 
Regel’s and Amoor River. Ibota is similar 
in habit of growth to California privet, but the 
foliage is not so glossy as that of the latter. 
Regel’s is a low growing, spreading form of 
Ibota, equally hardy. It is especially desirable 
where only a low hedge is wanted, and re¬ 
quires little attention in pruning. Incidentally, 
plants raised from cuttings should be procured, 
because seedlings vary greatly from type. 
A New Privet 
The most recent of all, and, so far as I 
know, the result of the only intentional, scien¬ 
tific attempt to produce a really hardy form of 
California privet, is Ibolium. This, as the 
name implies, is a cross between Ibota and 
California (Ovalifolium). Out of some thou¬ 
sand seedlings this was selected, after seven 
years’ experimenting and testing, as the most 
like California in type and habit of growth 
that was absolutely hardy. I saw the stock 
that came through the winter of 1917-18 un¬ 
scathed in Connecticut, where California in 
the same vicinity was killed to the ground and 
below. Fortunately, Ibolium may be pro¬ 
pagated as readily as California, so it should 
soon be generally available. Ibolium was given 
a certificate at the last Convention of the 
American Association of Nurserymen. 
The Barberries 
Next to privet, barberry has been more gen¬ 
erally used as a hedge than any other one 
plant. The Japanese barberry ( Berberis 
Thunbergii) has been rapidly gaining favor 
at the expense of the common barberry. It is 
about ideal as a low, spreading hedge, es¬ 
pecially for the front boundary line where it 
is usually desirable to have a low hedge and 
at the same time one which affords effective 
protection. The dense growth of the Japanese 
form, with its tri-pronged thorns, makes a 
hedge that even a cat will avoid. It may be 
left to take care of itself, being perfectly hardy 
and growing in a graceful, spreading form; or 
you may trim it. It colors up superbly in 
autumn, and its bright scarlet berries make it 
attractive in winter, especially as the dense 
growth often catches and holds the snow with 
a charming effect. The common green or pur¬ 
ple leaved sorts of barberry are host plants 
for the rust disease which attacks wheat, and 
for this reason they are taboo in the western 
grain-growing states. But the Japanese form, 
the Department of Agriculture lias decided, is 
free from this peculiarity. 
(Continued on page 80) 
