Hedges, Windbreaks, Shelters And Live Fences (e-book) (used book) | bookbook.eu

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Excerpt: CHAPTER III. HEDGES FOR SMALL LAWNS, OR FOR DIVIDING LAWNS) AND WITHOUT SPECIAL REGARD TO UTILITY. The distinction which I here draw between hedges strictly ornamental and those which are both ornamental and useful, is one that cannot be strictly carried out, for every hedge is useful and every hedge ought to be ornamental. Yet there is a distinction which owners of landscape gardens thoroughly appreciate. SECTION I MATERIAL. In the line of deciduous ornamental hedges I do not believe that anything can surpass the Tartarian honeysuckles. These occur in several shades of color, and are somewhat varied in vigor of growth. The pink-flowering is the most robust, sending up strong shoots with great rapidity, and when these are injured, renewing them quickly. The red-flowering is very handsome, and hardly inferior to the pink for hedging. The white-flowering is several degrees feebler in shoots, and it is less vigorous every way. Whichever color is selected, if you wish for an even growing hedge, do not select but one color. In May the flowering is astonishingly profuse, filling the whole air with sweetness. I should like to know where one can find a more charming sight than such a hedge in full bloom, unless it be the same hedge when loaded with berries in July and August. These are of different shades of color, according to the color of the flowers. The pink-flowering produces a fine carmine berry. Of the value of these berries as bird food 1 shall speak in another place. The lilac has some valueas a hedge plant, but easily grows ugly with age, while the intense suck- ering tendency of the plant decreases the blossoming power of the bushes. The Persian lilacs will do much the best, provided you have room for them; but a good Persian lilac hedge will require from ten...