IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME IX 



No. 106 



Edited by C- F. Ball. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



DECEMBER 

 1914 



The Making and Planting of Rock Gardens. 



By L. B. Meredith. 

 {Coxtinurd). 



It will often be found necessary to make steps 

 in the rock garden ; these should be made of 

 fairly heavy slabs, but not of too formal a shape ; 

 nor should they be laid With mathematical 

 accuracy, the more uneven the better. Make 

 sure these steps are well bedded and do not 

 move when walked on. Space can be left on 

 the sides and face of the steps for planting ; the 

 most suitable species for this purpose are 

 Thymu.ses, mossy Saxifrages ; in fact any plants 

 of a close and compact habit. 



The soil of the rock garden is undoubtedly of 

 the greatest importance : let it, if possible, be a 

 light, friable, <^andy loam. Should it be deficient 

 in grit or small stones these may be added ; 

 broken stones about the size of a walnut may 

 be dug in, as Alpines like to get their roots round 

 stones, which keep them moist and cool. 



It will be easily understood that anything in 

 the nature of a heavy or retentive soil is most 

 unsuitable to the culture of rock plants, as in 

 such soils they are very liable to damp off ; also 

 the difificulty of effective drainage is considerably 

 increased. 



Many plants require special soils, such as peat 

 or lime. These constituents when required can 

 he added. A word of Warning in respect of peat- 

 loving plants; they are, as a rule, not so much 

 ])eat-loving as lime-hating : therefore so long as 

 there is no lime in the soil it will be foini(l such 

 plants as Lithospermum, Ericas, &c., will grow 

 freely in any good fibrous loam. Where soil has 

 to be added do not stint the amount ; make a 

 hole much larger than can reasonably be 

 expected the roots will fill ; better to have too 

 much than too little. 



Biit, important as soil may be, I consider 

 climate has even more effect on Alpines. How 

 often has one heard of the untimely death of 



treasures from some mountain top in Switzer- 

 land, and this despite the greatest care in supply- 

 ing as far as possible the necessary soil and 

 position. Nor can it be Avondered at when one 

 considers for a moment the life history of an 

 Alpine at high altitudes. For many months in 

 the year they are dormant, covered by a deep 

 blanket of snow, which jjrotects them from the 

 extreme cold. When the snow melts they 

 spring into life as if by magic, and into a few 

 short months of almost unnatural vitality is 

 pressed the Whole cycle of growing, flowering 

 and seeding. The air is pure and invigorating, 

 and moisture, owing to the melting snow, is ever 

 present at their roots. 



Compare this with the climate in this country, 

 the penetrating and ever present damj) and 

 uncertainty of an English Winter, during which 

 time the plants have no opportunity of going to 

 sleep and thereby nursing their strength. One 

 Wonders in the face of the.^^e apparently 

 insuperable ditticulties, how Alpines can be 

 grown ; much, however, can be done artificially. 

 During the winter months, say from November 

 to April, protect with a sheet of glass those 

 plants most liable to suffer from damp, such as 

 Androsaces an(l other Woolly- leaved species. 

 These may not add to the appearance of the 

 garden, but they will be found to save many a 

 treasure from an untimely death. 



During dry weather in the sunnner the surface 

 of the ground should never be allowed to get 

 baked ; always keep it Well stirred and loose, it 

 is rather a popular fallacy to imagine that 

 loosening the ground increases evaporation, for, 

 as a matter of fact, it has quite the reverse effect. 

 A\'hen watering is necessary let it be done 

 thoroughly ; one good soaking a week is far more 

 beneficial than a light sprinkling daily, which 



