174 ROCK GARDENS 



doing this, care should be taken not to 

 disturb the roots of the plants. 



Weeds must, at all costs, be kept down. 

 The secret of success is never to let them 

 seed. The only safe and sure way to remove 

 the weeds is by the hand. The hoe is a 

 dangerous instrument, even in the hands of 

 the skilled, and fatal in the hands of others. 

 Besides, alpines should be encouraged to 

 sow themselves, and the young seedlings 

 would most certainly come to a speedy and 

 untimely end. When feasible, do the weed- 

 ing yourself, unless you are lucky enough to 

 command the services of a man, or boy, who 

 can distinguish the difference between weeds 

 and plants — by no means an easy thing to do 

 when they are in the seedling stage — and who 

 possesses that rare and divine gift of walking 

 over a rock garden without treading on the 

 tufts of one's most precious plants. Personally, 

 I have not yet met this gifted creature, for 

 my experience is that a month's weeds do 

 less harm than an hour of the labours of the 

 garden boy ; but others, perchance, may be 

 more fortunate. 



