68 



IRISH GARDENING 



vide wetter and ilnor situations for particular 

 plants, and an occasional large rock partly 

 sunk in the nioi-aine provides half sliadc and a 

 convenient stej)j)ing stcjne. 



Lastly, wc have learnt to avoid tlu' "■ sunk 

 bed ■■ moraine. At first all were iiiadf per- 

 fectly fiat, with theii- surface level with the 

 j)ath, and, no douht, on the supposition tliat 

 otherwise tlie rain water would drain away too 

 quickly, but such is not found to be the case. 

 1 have a moraine sloping down in a winding 

 track from an upper to a lower portion of the 

 garden; its highest portion is a.bout five feet 

 above the level of its lowest, but throughout 

 its length there is no appreciable difference in 

 the amount of moisture when it is examined a 

 few inches beneath its surface. Sudden hills 

 and hollows undoubtedly give corresponding 

 decreases and increases, but a long, gradual 

 slope seems to give a practically uniform 

 amount of moisture throughout. 



As to plants, wdiile it may be assumed that 

 most plants will live in a moraine, for some it 

 is unnecessary and for others inexpedient. 

 Plants that do not damp off in open 

 soil are just as well left out. Slug-beloved 

 plants, as a rule, are safer in the moraine. 

 Slugs do not like the surface they have to 

 cross; that portion of their anatomy is not 

 built for it and they must feel like a woman 

 attempting to walk miles of shingly beach in 

 satin slippers. 



Miffy plants with single top roots shouM l>e 

 included; they are then less likely to rot away. 

 All jdants that run underground nuist be ad- 

 mitted with caution ; the moraine conditions 

 suit them sometimes too well. 



Of failures, Gcntiana vcnia is one; CiDt'- 

 panuJd alpestris (C. aUioni) is another; it lives, 

 but decreases from year to year. The Kabscliia 

 Saxifrages, with the exception of S. coesia, 

 seem happier in stony soil; likewise the 

 Drabas, though D. imhricaia in one spot has 

 made a huge cushion. The high alpine Violas, 

 such as V . conwUii. have been tried and lost, 

 and the alpine Primulas of the Auricula family 

 — except possibly P. marglnata — do better 

 elsewhere. The red Engleria Saxifrages like 

 it but prefer about two parts of soil to five of 

 chips; in such an old plant of <S. Sfrihnriii 

 var. Frederic] augni<ii bore over thiity heads 

 of blossom last season. 



Of successes, all the Acantholimons do well, 

 and A. ghimaceuni, A. accrusiu)t, A. lejdiir- 

 oides and A. venustum are well established. 



In a limestone moraine the silvery foliaged 

 plants do and look particularly well. Of these 

 Asperula atliua, (U))iv<)lvuhis incauus and 

 nitidus; Androsace Chunihiji, cJianKejasiiir 



and viJIusa; Pdiciitilhi nitida, cuhibrica and 

 Fenzlii; /Ftliiani'iiia irarJeijensis and jucunda; 

 dwarf Anthemises and Artemisias and lutoulia 

 (tu.sfraJis are the best. 



Of Alyssums, .1. ol ijiii iiiciiDi , A. (nxanion, 

 A. spiuosinit and \ar. ro.sciini. 



Small Hypericums such as H. cuncatnm, 

 11. creniiiatiiHi and H. Coris. Spircea ctCKpi- 

 to.sii vai'. (trgi'ulca. 



Dianthus has many representatives, but 

 only those of the small cushion type can find 

 room; of these D. micrulej)is, D. suhacaidis, 

 D. pijrldicola, D. hitc<jcr, J), arverncnsis are 

 the pick. 



Of Campanulas, C. Haiiwri and C. p.sciidu- 

 liaineri are ever-increasing joys. C. liaddeaiui 

 loves it too well. The miffy southerners, C. 

 rupentris and ('. vcJutina are at home so long 

 as they live (which is not long). 



Douglasia vitaliana and pra'tuiiiuKi make 

 mats and flower in moraine but nowhere else. 



HeJiantlioHion polifoVium and scrptjlli- 

 fulium, Leoutopodiu))! alj)inii)n — the Edel- 

 weiss — is perennial and increasing slowly. 

 Pctr<)C(dIis pyrenaica is now a large cushion, 

 and Silenes, like S. hitea and S. Weinniaiuii- 

 ana are well established. Arenaria ictraqucira; 

 FAlraiaiitJtus puniilio is particidarly fine. The 

 (rlobularias — especially (i. iiicanescen):! and 

 Stachijs Corsica, Celniisias, and the half-hardy 

 Agave ittaliensis have passed four Minters un- 

 scathed. 



Space does not permit recording all the 

 plants grown, but from those mentioned it 

 may be gathered that most plants succeed 

 when once established, and to establish them 

 it is preferable to plant them out of pots, in 

 the spring shaking most of the soil from the 

 roots. Tlie fibrous imbroken roots from the 

 pot soon establish themselves and enable the 

 plant tr) withstand the drought of its first 

 summer, for it must be realized that moraine 

 treatment is primarilj^ a preventative of winter 

 " damping off," and a plant has little chance 

 of seeking the necessary moisture in the sum- 

 mer months among the stone chips with muti- 

 lated roots. But plants not potted but heeled 

 in in a sand bed often transplant excellently, 

 for the roots they form in coarse sand are 

 similar to those they form in the moraine. 



In late spring — May-June — when we get an 

 annual spell of dry east wind and slight night 

 frost, the moraine must be watered occasion- 

 ally and thoroughly, without a rose; a rose 

 in such weather usually means burnt foliage, 

 the growth having commenced and not fully 

 hardened. Later in the summer, although the 

 sun heat be greater, growth has hardened and 

 there are heavy night dews, and I have never 



