Rose Hedges

Go to Nature 

How much better we should get on in the world if we all used our eyes a little more.  Almost every one has seen rose hedges growing wild in uncultivated beauty in the fields, and yet how rarely do we bring the idea into our own gardens!  Given the right sorts, there is nothing much prettier than a trained hedge of the sweetest flower that blooms.

The soil need not be altered for them unless it is very bad, but just a little manure should be added.

How to start a rose hedge

When we have chosen the spot for our rose hedge, stakes should be placed at intervals and connected by galvanised iron wire, as this will stand any weather, and though some roses do not like it, the hardy sorts, which alone are suitable for a hedge, are quite unaffected by it.  

If the roses are apart from the rest of the garden, a path bounded on each side by a rose hedge makes a pleasant approach, and many of the rose varieties really keep their leaves on so long that they make as good a screen as privet, and of course are a delightful change.

The best sort

Taken all round the Evergreen Roses are the best for this purpose.  Their growth is rampant, indeed you can almost see them grow, and the foliage is of such a lovely color.  All the new shoots, some perhaps four or five feet in length, have stems that are almost crimson, and bronze leaves, and end with a most fascinating finish, every top making a perfect spray for a vase.  The thorns, too, add to their beauty, as they are large and hooked, it is advisable, however, to be careful how we handle the branches.

These arch over in a most attractive manner, much as the wild roses sprays hang, so that they show a pretty little oval of blue sky framed by glossy leaves.  There is a note on the pruning of the Evergreen Roses in the Pruning your Roses Section.

Suitable roses for hedges:

                                     Wretham Rose

                                     Alba

                                     Bonica

                                     Cherry Meidiland

                                     Fire Meidiland

                                     Mystic Meidiland

                                     Pink Meidiland

                                     Ruby Meidiland

                                     White Meidiland