178 



IRISH GARDENING 



Building a Small Rock Garden. 



By Rec;inai,ii A. .M.m.b\. 



FORTLINATEIA' the idea, once so preva- 

 lent, thai a rockery could be made in any 

 odd corner — usually where nothing else 

 would grow — is rapidly passing awa_v, and 

 it is now becoming quite "the thing" lor 

 even the small villa garden to have its 

 rockery, while not a few gardeners are enthusi- 

 astically in favour of this delightful branch ot 

 horticulture, and in such cases we are becoming 

 lamiliar with gardens which, even it small, can 

 be appropriately called Rock or Alpine gardens. 

 A brief description of the formation of such a 

 garden in a space some seventy feet by thirty 

 feet may be o( interest, especially as it had to 

 be economically carried out. 



In the lirst place, time and opportunity 

 would not allow of the whole site being dealt 

 with at once, but a general design was drawn 

 up and operations commenced on half of it. As 

 the ground was unfortunately of a heavy, soapy 

 nature, the whole site was so arranged as to 

 fall roughly to one point, where a pool was 

 formed by digging out the soil, thereby tapping 

 a small \ein of gravel which gave a permanent 

 supply of water. The same plan would hold 

 good, however, if a cemented basin of irregular 

 shape had to be built, with an overflow to 

 some drain. Having arranged the levels so 

 that the surplus moisture falling on the garden 

 would find its way towards the pool, the pre- 

 pared ground was covered with a layer some 

 four to six inches in thickness, consisting of 

 hard core— viz., broken brick, clinkers, &c. — 

 the object of this drainage vein being to 

 prevent the soil (which was to be placed on the 

 top of it and into which the Alpine plants were 

 subsequently to root) from becoming water- 

 logged during the rainy season. 



The building proper now commenced. .Assum- 

 ing, as in the case under discussion, that a path 

 would run round the outer edge of the garden, 

 it was found best to start the building from the 

 edge of the path. Bearing in mind that the 

 outline should on no account be formal or 

 irregular, the pieces of stone were care- 

 fully placed along the edg-e o( the path in 

 such a way as to fall into indents or bays, with 

 promontories between them, thus affording 

 secluded spots for plants of dwarf habit, while 

 the more protruding portions could be clothed 

 with bolder masses of plants such as .\rabis. 

 Aubrietia, Helianthemum, Iberis, &c. liach 

 stone was placed firmly on its most substantial 

 base, the ground having been prepared for its 

 reception by inclining slightl)' inward, the result 

 being that the stone would slope somewhat 

 away from the path and towards the soil 

 behind il. 



towards the centre ot the garden, and inside 

 this edging of stone lumps, a large quantity oi 

 soil has been accumulated roughly in the shape 

 of the desired rockerv, and consisting largely 

 ot the earth from the pool excavations, well 

 mixed with a large amount of sharp road grit, 

 broken bricks or Hower pots, old mortar and leaf- 

 mould. I cannot too strongly ad\ ocate the 

 use ot such material as broken bricks, if the 

 ideal sandstone chippings are unobtainable, and 

 t feel sure that either could be used to a much 

 greater extent than is usually done. I^ersonally 

 I believe tift\' per cent, of the soil in .\lpini.' 

 gardens could with great advantage consist ol 

 such chips, which retain so large a percentage 

 of moisture, while at the same time keeping 

 the ground opened and well drained. 



.Vs the stones were put into position this 

 gritty soil was brought down behind them and 

 well rammed, so that all was made quite firm 

 and solid up to the level of the top ot the lump. 

 When the whole (or at least a large portion) 

 of the outer edge has risen to this height, a 

 further tier of rocks was placed on this con- 

 solidated soil, but further from the path, and of 

 such a varied height and outline as to cause 

 the building to assume a natural, terrace-like 

 formation, rising as it recedes from the path 

 and yet broken up into large and small 

 pockets inc/i coniicc/cii with the main bodv ol 

 soil. In every case the stones were placed so 

 as to be as tirm as possible, the ver\' oppcisilc 

 to those tooth-like projections we used so 

 frequently to see sticking out ol the old- 

 fashioned rocker}-, reminding us strongly of 

 almonds in a cake, tireat care was also taken 

 to select the most suitable and decorati\ e look- 

 ing pieces of rock for the more prominent 

 positions, it being borne in mind the whole 

 time that the stone was employed solely to 

 irttiiii the soil and prevent it being washed down 

 during moist weather. 



With this end in view all crannies weic lirmK 

 wedged with splinters ol rock to prevent the 

 soil from leaking out, except in certain places 

 where Primulas, Sax. longifolia, and other 

 suitable plants for a crevice or fissure were 

 placed at the time ^'i building. In such cases 

 the plants were packed into the cracks, and, 

 aided by stone chips, prevented any soil from 

 getting out. If after al! was tinisned there 

 remained an\ small opening which seemed 

 likelv to be troublesome, .some clay and nniss 

 well rammetl into them sealed them very iiiceh . 

 Here and thereat convenient spots somewhal 

 slab-like pieces of stone or llal-toppcd lumps 

 were employed to act as stepping-stones so as 

 to enable the gardener to readily examine and 

 attend to the pl.ants without in any way 

 tiamaging them by inadvertently stepping on 

 them. 



