miSH GARDENING 



7 



ti'k'fl, many old ones liave either become 

 fairly estal)lislie(l or ]iave departed from an 

 nncongenial climate, and it may, therefore, be 

 not out of place to record the failures and 

 successes of the interlude. 



In a former note maker's of moraines were 

 advised, by experimentini^- with various mix- 

 tures of stone chips and soil, t(j ascertain de- 

 finitely the mixture and texture suitable for 

 their own particular gardens. That this ad- 

 vice was not unnecessary will be acknowledged 

 when it is realised to what an extent " success- 



moraine was coming into its own, and the 

 established plants bid fair to outshine those in 

 the granite, and this, after all, is as it should 

 be, for, of all materials, granite is the least 

 satisfying to plants; it holds neither moisture 

 nor food, and one has only to seek alpine 

 treasures in nature to discover that the granite 

 foundations are as poor in plants as the lime- 

 stone are rich. My own opinion would be that 

 whereas plants would probably be long-lived in 

 the limestone, from which they would get 

 nourishment, thev would be almost certain to 



ACANTHOLIMON VENtlSTUM (floweVS pillk). 



A good morauTie plant. 



ful mixtures " differ in neighbouring and even 

 adjacent gardens. For example, in the garden 

 of one neighbour the most successful mixture 

 is limestone chips 3 parts, soil 1. In another, 

 a few miles away, it is sandstone 2 parts to 

 soil 1. In my own garden I made no less than 

 five different mixtures, and have definitely 

 ascertained that by far the best results have 

 been achieved in pure limestone chips with no 

 admixture of soil. 



At Glasnevin are two moraines, one of 

 granite ~and one of limestone (I do not know 

 the proportion of soil). For several years the 

 plants in the granite moraine were far 

 healthier, and those in the limestone did not 

 seem able to settle down, but on a recent 

 visit I observed that at last the limestone 



gradually deterioi'ate ni granite, and I should, 

 therefore, prefer to make my moraines from 

 limestone. From the point of view of appear- 

 ance, the most attractive material I have seen 

 is in a small moraine by the water side at 

 Moimt Usher, Co. VVicklow. It is formed of 

 small pieces of a very rich, old red sandstone. 

 I don't know where Mr. Walpole got it, but 

 it is an excellent material for rooting in and an 

 ideal background for plants. I have never 

 seen Oi)iphaJodes LuciJiee and Leivisia HowelJi 

 so fine as in this sandstone bed. 



Another thing we have learnt from the past 

 few years' experience is that, in this climate at 

 any rate, artificial "lUiderground water systems 

 are a luxury and not a necessity. By making 

 our moraines in hills and hollows we can pro- 



