CHAP. IV VILLA GARDENING 29 



the ground ; others may cover arches or be trained to poles, and 

 the tree Ivies may occupy salient points anj^vhere. The Pyra- 

 cantha, the Cotoneaster, and other berry-bearing plants, such as 

 Aucubas, Skimmias, and Pernettyas, may fill prominent positions 

 on rockwork or elsewhere ; and here beautiful large irregular 

 patches of the hardy Heaths will appear growing on the side of 

 the banks or wdierever suitable positions can be found. Having 

 thought of the hardy things that require no special preparation be- 

 yond good soil, the plants that are considered delicate or mifty 

 will come on after, and the wants of these must be specially 

 studied. A good deal of knowledge may be gleaned of the soil 

 and treatment a plant requires, from its appearance and especially 

 from its root structure. All plants with fine hairlike roots do 

 best in peat ; strong, thick-rooted plants reqiure a strong, deep 

 loam to bring out their true characteristics ; whilst the medium- 

 rooted plants should have sandy loam. This will probably be 

 considered a somewhat rough estimate, but it will be found in the 

 main correct. 



In Planting' both the fernery and the alpine garden it will 

 be best to group each family by itself, as this enables us to give 

 each the right treatment ; it will, besides, make the collection more 

 interesting. In the com-se of time some plants will spread out into 

 large masses, and there will always be a danger of the strong 

 growers destroying the weakly plants unless constant watchfidness 

 is exercised. All j^lauts like depth of soil — even the most delicate 

 species, but in the case of these, pieces of rock or rocky debris 

 should be intermixed to secure the porosity required. Road drift — 

 that is, the sandy deposit which accumulates after heavy rains by 

 the sides of the road^will be suitable for mixing with peat or loam 

 or leaf-moidd for many plants. It frequently happens that rare 

 delicate little plants w^hich refuse to grow under the usual treat- 

 ment wall flower in a mixture of earth and charcoal. Again, 

 many of the choicer alpines, though they are not particular as 

 regards food, want full exposure. The plant that in its native 

 habitat grows in the cleft of a rock on some steep mountain side 

 does not take kindly to the confined atmosphere of a place over- 

 hung by trees. All these and many other details will have to be 

 thought out before all the rare choice alpines wiU stay wdth us ; 

 but, though this is so, yet the beginner need not be alarmed, as by 

 far the greater number of alpines will flourish under good ordinary 

 cidtivation such as is given by people wdio love their flowers. 



Select Plants for Fernery. — In making the following short 

 list I have given here and there a few hints as to their treatment, 

 because some like shade and dampness, others do best in a well- 



