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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



of the many beautiful plants which tind a congenial 

 home among rocks. Hence a rockery is made with the 

 idea of accommodating; them. 



A\'e have used the caption "Rock Gardens and Rock- 

 eries" : the former may be of any extent, a distinct gar- 

 den — in the same way that one would form a rose 

 garden, for instance — in which one can create all kinds 

 of situations suited to the needs of rock plants which 

 distinctly differ in different species, whether from 

 arid Arizona or from the mountains above the tree line 

 close to perpetual snow. A rockery may cover only a few 

 square yards devoted to a small collection of those choice 

 gems of the floral world known as Alpines. 



Whatever the extent of "rockwork" we propose to 

 luidertake, the underlying principles of construction 



ful subjects \\'hich are to be fovmd upon the mountains 

 we must give them a home wdiich reproduces to the 

 greatest possible extent that from which they are re- 

 moved, and at the same time protect them from the ad- 

 verse effects which niav arise from the great difference in 

 climate. 



The mistake is often made of thinking that these 

 plants grow upon rocks : it is true that a mere pass- 

 ing glance might lead one to su])pose such to be the 

 case,. but if closely examined it will be found that their 

 roots go down into the fissures of the rocks and in 

 cases where these fissures have been opened up the 

 roots have been found to be many feet in length and 

 are thus safe from cold and drought. 



This ajiparent ]irevailing idea that rock plants grow 



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are the same. There are few matters connected with 

 horticulture wherein there have been more failures 

 and ridiculous results than in the furmation of 

 rockeries. 



The use of rocks in connectiim with growing plants 

 is to create conditions similar to their native habitat 

 and also to counteract the adverse circumstances 

 brought about by a distinct change in that habitat. 

 One of the principles of naturalizing is to produce as 

 far as possible the environment in which the plant has 

 been in the habit of living. The fact that a plant has 

 been growing under certain conditions for a thousand 

 or more years and is found in no other, is prima facie 

 evidence that those conditions are best for its constitu- 

 tion. Therefore, if we wish to grow the man}' beauti- 



uj)on rtjcks and therefore they require little or no soil, 

 no doubt accounts for the method frequently employed 

 in making rockeries, which is to dump a few loads of 

 rocks on the top of hard ground, form them into a 

 sort of pyramid, poke a few spoonfuls of soil between 

 each, and ram in the plant with a stick. There are, 

 it is true, a few species, such as Sedum acre, Semper- 

 virum tectorum, that will survive this treatment, but 

 one does not go to the trouble and exjiense of con- 

 structing a rockery for the purpose of growing sub- 

 I'ects like these which will thrive in any poor, 

 droughty situation. 



The first point to be considered in making a 

 rockery is the site. This should not be near trees or 

 shrubs with extensive root action on account of their 



