10 



IRISH GARDENING. 



loop round tho neck of it about 2 inches of copper 

 wire. .Make another line of sods in tlie same way 

 along the line of the top of tlu? lowei' width of 

 netting. Now by means of the copjxT wire loops fix 

 the lower edge of netting close to the turf sods. 

 Next bend out the netting and cover it on the 

 inside with mess, damped and pressed flat : fill 

 in prepared soil firmly as you proceed up till the 

 space is filled to the next line of sods : fasten the 

 netting above with one turn of the copper wire, 

 b'aving the ends free. .Make another line of sods 

 at the next level : fix the next widtli of wire at 

 (he bottom with the free ends of the copper wire 

 wliich you have left, and then cut them sliort or 

 double (liem in. Line this width of wire with 

 moss, fill in the soil and fix as before, and so on 

 till the wall is completely covered to the top — ■ 

 there it is not fixed to furf sods, but to nails 

 driven into the wall direct. This requires a con- 

 siderable quantity of soil, but it is worth it, as 

 t he ferns then have a good chance, and will take 

 advantage of it. If, however, soil is a con.sidera- 

 tion and dilTicult to get. tlie space may be con- 

 siderably reduced, and much soil saved, by 

 cutting, with a fine-toothed saw. one-thii'd off the 

 thickness of each turf-sod. This is easily done. 

 The reason of the lines of turf-sods will be 

 obvious. They keep the netting a definite distance 

 from the wall and give it a firm line of fixture ; 

 each layer supports the soil above it, which is 

 then not of such weight as to bulge out the wire 

 netting and fall through it. The half inch sjjace 

 between each sod allows water to trickle through 

 and moisten the lower section, instead of running 

 down the wall and leaving the lower section dry. 

 Besides, the turf when thoroughly wet retains the 

 moisture for a long time and saves the life of 

 many a fern. By doing it in sections from below 

 up, it can be done quite easily, whereas otherwise 

 iti would be almost impossilde. As a matter of 

 fact netting 2 feet or 2 feet (5 inches wide would 

 lie even better, and if desired, further support 

 against luilging can l»e made by fixing here and 

 there along the middle of the space half a sod 

 of turf, by one nail, with a copper wire loop, on 

 (he same principle as the lines were made. 



Next, an arrangenu-nt. must be made for 

 watering this. Clet an ordinary piece of lead gas 

 pi|)e. sui'iiciently long to stretch the wliole lengtli 

 of the house and down from roof to floor. Take 

 a very small piercer, a shoemaker's awl is the 

 best. a(ul having closed one end by beating it up, 

 gently pierce (so as not to dent) the gas pipe, 

 every M inches for the length of the liouse. from 

 1 he closed end. The holes must be very small and 

 (he intervals between them not too close, other- 

 wise the pipe will not be capable of supplying 

 them all, and the far end of the wall will get no 

 water. Care must be taken to get all the holes 

 in line on the pipe, and tlie best way to do this 

 is to coil the pipe in a spiral on a flat surface and 

 then ]>ierce it as it lies. It is then put up in 

 position with loops of copper wire, so that the 

 jets from the holes will be directed into the soil 

 at the top of the wire : this explains why no line 

 of turf sods was made at the top. The water 

 must on no account spurt out into the house, 

 but must be directed right into the wire cutting, 

 lience the necessity of making the lioles in 

 accurate line. The other end can be attached by 

 a piece of rubber tube to the water tap. and so 

 the whole back may be automatically and 

 efficiently watered. 



It is necessary to say something about the 

 stones, or small rocks, which we are going to use. 

 As many ferns do not thrive where lime is present, 

 and others will be killed by even small traces of 

 it, we must exclude limestone in all its forms 

 from our rockery. This is a difficulty, for in many 

 parts of the country it is the only stone to be 

 obtained locally. Quite sufficient lime is dis- 

 solved out of the stones l)y the water we supply 

 to the plants, to poison the surrounding soil 

 which we have so carefully kej)t lime-free, and 

 so kill our plants. Sandstone, ((unrtzite and 

 granite should be used, if all three can be obtained, 

 so much the better : they give a varied appear- 

 ance and colour to the mound. Saiidstone by 

 itself is very excellent, absorbing moisture, it 

 makes a cool damj) nestling place for the roots ; 

 in its moist chinks spores germinalc and cover 

 it with green young growth. Qua-rtzite has not 

 these attractions, bvit. especially if veined with 

 iron stain, the whites and reds make a very 

 attractive ground work an<l background to the 

 ferns. Granite has none of the virtvies of either, 

 yet makes an excellent rock-work. 



(iood large stones should be obtained of slab 

 form rather than rounded, and of very irregular 

 shape — as regularity tends to forniality, which 

 we must endeavour to avoid. The pockets when 

 formed must be quite irregularly disposed, and 

 not made in formal lines all along the rockery. 

 The stones, too. should be ])laced .so that water 

 falling on them is directed back to the soil and 

 plant behind, not to fall in a stream from the 

 front, to wash away the soil from the plant below. 



We may now at last start the rockery. It may 

 either be placed in the centre of the fioor with a 

 path all round, or built up against the wall. \n 

 either case, determine first what height it will be — • 

 i.e., what .slope it will have. \\e will suppose 

 it to be against the wall. A long stick should be 

 cut which will reach from wall to ground giving 

 the slope. Two i-ows of vertical columns sliouhl 

 be made of bricks, or drain pipes set on end, 

 wliich will afterwards serve as fixed and solid 

 steps for climbing up to attend to the ))lants. as, 

 if th(! rockery stones are used for this ])urpose, 

 they will gradually get displaced and sjioil the 

 "jjockets " and injure the ])lants. 



Next, at the middle of the wall space, a good 

 heap of large stones, bricks, &c., shoidd be made. 

 Over these a good layer of smaller stones. &c. ; 

 over this a layer of small cinders aiul gravel which 

 should extend down to the outer edge. It is well 

 to outline the oviter edge of the rock(>ry with 

 large blocks of stone, noi too rcgulai'l) laid, and 

 such as will lie fii-ndy without I'ocking about on 

 (he concrete floor -. they siiould. further, be fixed 

 in position by bits of cement here and there to 

 keep them from shifting. The central heap of 

 stones, &c., serves two very useful purposes — it 

 ensures good drainage, (t sine (/im hoh. and it 

 saves a great deal of soil. 



The rock-work is now built fiom below up, 

 laying a good layer of j)rei)ared soil over the 

 drainage, and th> n setting the rocks so as to 

 make good pockets filled up wilh more soil. 

 Large .stones should be used so as (o leave plenty 

 of room between eachplanl. for i(s future develoji- 

 ment. odierwise they will become crowded .and 

 ineffective, the stronger growing kinds smothering 

 the weaker. 



The upper parts of the rock-work should be 

 occupied by the larger growing ferns, so here the 



