The Savannah morning news., 1901-06-10


Hedges.
In the August Strand, Mr. Allen Blair
gives photographs of a Beech hedge near
ly half a mile in length and 100 feet high.
planted in 1745 near Mickeour, Scotland,
showing how it is still trimmed about
every ten years and to all appearance in
perfect health, lone of the arboreal won
ders of the world" says American Gar
dening.
Fine hedges are quite scarce In Ameri-
ca, and one of the principal reasons for
II is that Americans expect a perfect
hedge the day it is planted ''or no pay"
so the gardener does the best he can un-
der the circumstances, plants trees of the
size demanded, and a make-shift hedge is
the result. No amount Of money or skill
can ever after bring such a hedge into
| good form. To start right the plants
should not be over a foot high, nursery
grown, twice tranSplanted, and the an
nual growth kept down to from three to
six inches by trimming in June and Sep
| TENDER. This would tax the patience of
most men, but if we take into considera-
| ton the life of a good hedge we will in
| time find, as in most other things, that
| 1t pays to start right
! For a farm hedge that will turn cattle
| Gust. 1t is of rank growth and requires
much trimming to keep it in bounds. The
| pillow should not be allowed to cut it's
| roots or 1t may sucker Usage orange
| comes next, but is not quite hardy. Our
| common wild thorn can be tanned. into
| quite a fair hedge and the grated varie-
! ties are beautiful when in bloom. Japan
| ounce does finely as a garden fence. and
| like the thorn, is very fine in bloom. Both
| lose their leaves early.
For tall hedges the Norway Spruse is
| unsurpassed. vertical wall IL feet
! high can be grown in six years, planted
four feet apart and not cut back until
the desired hight is obtained. Many gar
deners are reluctant to trim the spruce,
| but it stands trimming as well as any
hardy plant does, and forms a very dense
! hedge.
Our common Hemlock is by far the
most beautiful and graceful of all ever
green hedge plants. 1t should be al
| lowed to grow very wide at the base so
as to provide shade for its own roots.
Hight can be grown later. 1t stands
shearing like sheep.
The Arbor Vitae are very useful hedge
| plants. requiring Ness shearing than the
| preceding to make them thick and busny,
Red spider often makes them look rusty
| in dry seasons, but this can be overcome
if there is plenty of water availabl for
| sprinkling the foliage. The list of ever
| green's suitable for hedges is quite long
and the gardener may avail himself of
| the many different shades to bring out
| color effects
OF the decduous plants the Privet comes
next to being evergreen, usually re-
naming green till Christmas, often later
The California Privet is of wonderful
| growth, not perfectly hardy, but nearly
so, and for an aI-around hedge plan
has many points in it's favor. 1t is be-
coming very popular in cities, and de-
| servedly so, as there are few bad things
to be said against it. Planted in single
or double rows. six to nine inches apart,
| and not allowed to grow upwards until
a good broad bushy base has been OBJ
| tained a perfect hedge may be hoped
for.
And this is the vital point in grow
| ing this and most other hedges A bushy
base can never after be obtained If the
natural tendency of the plant to shoot
upwards is not severely checked in the
first years. Such hedges as can be seen
| at Newport. r. l., and at few of the
fashionable resorts in New Jersey, with
foliage from the ground to the top, so
! dense that a sparrow can with difficulty
enter, can only be grown in this way
after years of patient labor.
A low hedge is preferable to any other
fence for dividing the rear of city lots
used gardens or lawns. but is in bad
| taste for the front yard.
The form a hedge should be given so
as to please the eye and insure success
is of vital Importance. If Spruce or
| Hemlock sprouts and grows in the open
| and is not touched by the pruning knife
it will have a perfect pyramidal FORM
| with all its lower branches extending
trife further out than those just above
so as to have a share of the direct light
from the sky. If this light is denied it
by other trees the branches not receiv-
ing direct skylight or sunlight will lose
! their leaves and sooner or later die. Why?
| Simply because the green in plants can
not assimilate plant food without the aid
of light, sunlight, if possible, but direct
skylight in any event. If this simple fact
were kept in mind there would not be so
many failures.
hedge or single specimen trees for the
reason just given, and ii is following Ma
ture. our best teacher. The square top
! is the worst form, as the leaves at the
! base cannot receive any direct skylght
but must live on the little sunlight they
! get early or later in the day or by reflec-
| ton An average of twenty minutes sun
light a day would be sufficient, but as a
rule these hedges soon look uncomfort-
able The snow also lodges in them and
| breaks them down.
The stiff lines of a broad pyramid can
be modified by cutting the top to a six
! inch square the same at the base. with
a graceful concave line between the
square top and the six-inch vertical side.
! l have seen very pretty hedges egg shap-
ed. A hedge running east and west will
be benefited by having wider base on
tn north side than on the south side
For small hedges. from the Dwarf Box
| up. there are number OF small ever
| greens very suitable. but there are few
places where they can be plantd to inn
prove the landscape or to serve any pur-
| pose except perhaps in initiating ancient
gardens. The Dwarf jumpers will suit
then.
| Very pretty make believe hedges can be
! had by putting up galvanized poultry
netting in any form desired and covering
| by climbing plants.
] |
| Notice.
J Wa solicit articles for this denartrnep.