"The Secret Garden was what Mary called it when she was thinking of it. She liked the name, and she liked still more the feeling that when its beautiful old walls shut her in no one knew where she was. It seemed almost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place."

I have a secret garden. But unlike Frances Hodgson Burnett's "Secret Garden", mine is enclosed by a wall of plants. A wall that could best be characterized as an informal, irregular, somewhat opaque hedge that shuts the world out of my backyard and just as assuredly contains within, a little bit of magic.

This mixed hedge of towering pine and maple trees; juvenile spruce, juniper, and yew; spreading privet, viburnum, and dogwood forms the enclosure. Scattered around its base is an old rotting log partly hidden by ornamental grasses; clusters of begonias, daylilies, and sedum; and, there in the sunniest spot, a mix of purple and prairie coneflower and bee balm.

That's not all it encloses. A peninsula bed makes its way out into the middle of the yard where a spruce and pear tree vie for the sunlight. Below their boughs grow hostas, coral bell, Japanese anemone, liriope, holly, and tiarella. All this provides the perfect backdrop for the magic that happened this 4^th of July weekend.

It was just after the sun had set but before the darkness of night had taken hold. It was at this uncertain time, with not a leaf stirring, when all was silent except for the soft, mournful cooing of a dove and the distant drumming of a lone cicada, that the fairies awoke. They danced through the grass unseen by me. Their presence only discernible when, overcome with exuberance, one would throw its tiny lantern into the air where it ignited in a flash of golden luminescence that quickly expired. This was repeated again and again while this mystical dimension between day and night lasted.

Now, I know what you will say. I've gone over the top. It was just the up and down flight of lightning bugs signaling for a mate. But, in a child's mind or in the rarefied air of my secret garden, who knows what is possible.

What ever the cause, it was all attained because of a hedge. With Individual plants that I began planting years ago and adding to over time until now, I have an unconventional hedge surrounding my backyard.

Are you thinking of adding a hedge? Well, hedges have been around for a long time. They were used as field boundaries in England during Roman times. By the 13^th century Anglo-Saxons started systematically planting hedges as estate boundaries. Up to 500,000 miles of hedgerows may still exist in England today. These traditional hedgerows were commonly composed of hawthorne, blackthorn, or holly pleated together at an angle as they grew to form a nearly impenetrable fence.

What should you plant for a hedge in your own yard? First, answer a couple of these questions posed by trica Barron of Morton Arboretum. What is the ultimate size you want? What purpose will it serve (privacy, ornamental, wind barrier)? Do you want it to have a formal or informal look? Is the planting site shaded or full sun; dry all the time or soggy?

Here's more from Morton Arboretum. For a formal hedge, plants that naturally stay narrow or columnar and grow not much taller than what you want your hedge to be are the best choice. Tolerance to shearing, slow growth, and small leaves are also desirable qualities. Some suitable plant selections for this application include amur maple (Acer ginnala), Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla var. koreana), common privet (Ligustrum vulgare), ninebark (Physocarpus sp.), alpine currant (Ribes alpinum, yew (taxus sp.), eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), arrow wood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum), and wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana).

To maintain a clean look, the formal hedge should be pruned often. Proper training during the first three years is also important. Purchase plants that are 20" high or less (bare root trees planted during the dormant season work well and are economical). Cutting back when planted will encourage branching near the ground. In the second year, trim off half of the new growth. The third year, trim off half of the new growth again and begin shaping the hedge so that the base is broader than the top.

For an informal hedge first decide how high and wide you want the hedge to grow. Based on that decision, make your selection from some of these possible choices - Korean barberry (Berberis koreana), Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), hedge cotoneaster (Cotoneaster lucida), Flowering quince (Chaenomeles sp.), vernal Witch-Hazel (Hamamelis vernalis), winterberry (Ilex verticillata), Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa), and lilac (Syringa sp.).

A natural hedge if properly selected and sited requires little care. It is a good idea to do a yearly spot pruning of dead or broken branches, and to remove a couple of the older stems from the base of the plants to encourage new growth.