IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME V. 



No. 50 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



APRIL 

 igio 



Walls for Rock Plants 



By R. Llovd Praeger, B.A. 



IN building' a wall for the growing- of rock- 

 plants one of two plans may be adopted, 

 according as we propose to use the top only 

 for horticultural purposes or to decorate the 

 sides with growing plants. 



Yor the former purpose any existing wall 

 of stone or brick, with vertical sides, may be 

 utilised. If the wall is high a bold treatment 

 is necessary, 

 as the top is 

 above and 

 far removed 

 from the eye ; 

 and the most 

 s u i t a b 1 e 

 p 1 a n t s are 

 bold-growing 

 things that 

 like a dry sit- 

 uation, such 

 as irises, red 

 \- a 1 e r i a n , 

 wall-flower, 

 1 a \- e n d e r , 

 liehchrysuni, 

 and so o\\, 

 with pinks, 

 aub r e t ias, 

 arabis, &c., 



planted on the edges, to fall over and drape tlie 

 vertical side of the wall. To prepare the wall for 

 tlie reception of the plants we must remove the 

 coping, and rebuild it, using rugged, picturesque 

 blocks of stone, arranged so as to form a series 

 of deep pockets which can be filled with a rich 

 humus soil and stony cement mortar to prevent 

 disintegration. The full width of the wall-top 

 should be utilised, and a little extra space may 

 be stolen by allowing the edging stones to 



overhang the edge of the wall a few inches. 

 Smaller stones pressed down on the surface 

 of the pockets after planting will help to retain 

 the moisture in the soil, and will tend to keep 

 the plants warm in winter and cool in summer. 

 A wall-top of this kind will, in our moist climate, 

 want watering only during dry spells. Drainage 

 of the pockets is unnecessary unless the wall 



is exception- 

 a 1 1 y well 

 built, the 

 .s u p erfluous 

 water finding 

 its way down 

 into the heart 

 of the wall. 



The second 

 method dif- 

 fers essenti- 

 allv from the 



n 



A t)KV \\"A1 



1^ 



I s - 

 much as the 

 wall must be 

 liuilt fresh 

 f r o m t h e 

 bottom ; no 

 mortar is re- 

 quired, and 

 the sides 

 must slope towards each other, both to 

 ensure stability and to allow the plants the 

 necessary amount of light and rain. The 

 main problem to be faced in constructing a wall 

 of this kind — apart from stability — is to supply 

 a sufficient core of moist earth for the roots of 

 the plants, and to direct the water which falls 

 as rain into this core ; in other words, to avoid 

 the danger of too much drying up. For this 

 reason the wall should not bo built too narrow ; 



