In a town garden or a shady site box could be pressed into service, but enough, I malign a plant which has done yeoman service. Regular feeding and clipping are essential or the bushes become bare and leggy.

Though a hedge around the outer periphery reduces the garden area still further, the desire for privacy is sufficient reason for most people to plant a screen of some sort. In common with most enthusiasts I love to invite people to see my plants yet I still feel justified in demanding a degree of seclusion to enjoy my flowers and the labour of growing them.

Plant at 18 to 24 in. apart and trim in February. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana is frequently used as a large untrimmed screen and it is especially effective in a large garden which is sheltered from strong winds. For the smaller garden, one of the selected named varieties would be suitable. These give uniform growth up to a correctly anticipated height.

An evergreen hedge will supply the maximum amount of protection because the foliage is retained throughout the full twelve months of the year. A well-tended hedge of chamaecyparis provides excellent shelter and a pleasant relief to the eye in a mainly deciduous landscape. A deciduous hedge will be cheaper to buy initially and in most cases easier to establish.

Unless clipped each year after flowering, however, the lower branches die out-to leave the base embarrassingly naked. This berberis can be planted at anything between 2 and 3 ft. apart. B. x .stenophylla is only suitable where space is available for the shrub to develop in full its long arching branches which are wreathed in April with deep yellow fragrant flowers.

Plant at 21 to 3 ft. apart. If cuttings are required, in my experience these should be taken in February and rooted in a propagating frame. Stake the plants as previously described with a single rail fence 36 in. high.