HEATH HEDGES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 109, 11 May 1939, Page 21

HEATH HEDGES

No ornamental hedge can give' greater satisfaction the year round than one of Erica Stricta, the. Corsican heath, says a writer in a. Home magazine. "With this shrub one may have a dense" and evergreen hedge of anything from a foot or so in height up to eight feet. The fine and peculiarly plumose foliage is a soft moss green, tKe habit of growth is erect without being stiff, and the only pruning required consists of cutting back with knife or secateurs the more prominent shoots. This may be done immediately after flowering in the spring. Erica Stricta is not one of the most showy, of heaths as a flowering shrub, but its shell-pink clusters are by no means ineffective against its delightful green. Further, the faded flowers, which are retained until the following year, develop a bright foxy-red which is charming throughout the winter months. In spite of the general belief to the contrary this fine heath is quite hardy in a free soil. It stands drought remarkably well, but resents :bbth a heavy, waterlogged soil and top much shade. The spacing for a singleirow hedge of small to medium height should be about 15 inches, every alternate plant being removed as the line thickens. Planting should be done -in the early autumn or spring.