ROCK GARDENS 201 



towards a rational plan. The delight of the creep- 

 ing plant and the thousand species of alpine and 

 other close-growing and gaily-coloured flowers, has 

 led almost every type of gardener to strew some 

 part of his ground with formless debris and trust 

 to its being covered in time with the glory of the 

 flowers. The " grotto " of the late eighteenth 

 century became the " rockery " of the nineteenth, 

 and we have not yet grown out of this pertinacious 

 habit which creeps in at inopportune moments and 

 ruins an otherwise good scheme. 



First, then, we would suggest that a rock garden 

 is so beautiful a thing that it is worth doing well. 

 It should take its place as one of the definite 

 divisions of the garden, and should have a worthy 

 approach and a fitting setting. Second, let the 

 stones of which it is to be composed resemble in 

 some degree the natural stratification of the quarry, 

 for Nature seldom tosses her material in a confused 

 heap, save in her angry and volcanic moods. And 

 third, there is no reason why the rock garden 

 should not possess a certain regularity of lay-out, and 

 conform to the general principles of our plan. The 

 flowers themselves require no restraint, they will 



