HOW TO MAKE A SMALL ROCK-GARDEN 83 



To sum up then, good hard uncrystalline limestone, or 

 hard close-grained sandstone are the best. 



The size of the stones is a vexed question. Some rock- 

 gardeners tell us that the larger they are the better. My 

 own view is that the size of the stones should be in 

 proportion to the size of the rock-garden. It is to my mind 

 absurd to make up a small rock-garden of blocks weighing 

 2 or 3 cwt., or a large rock-garden of stones not weighing 

 more than 7 or 14 Ibs. In a small rock-garden, stones of 

 various sizes should be used, with a range of 5 X 6 ins. up 

 to 1 8 x 24, or even perhaps a little more. The smallest 

 will weigh only a few pounds each, and even the largest 

 will be fairly easy to lift. The depth of the stones should 

 vary, perhaps from 3-12 ins. is a sufficient margin. 



The stones should be irregular in size and shape, and 

 preferably should not have been " dressed " in any way. 

 There is something too much like building a house in using 

 neatly dressed stone blocks for rock-garden making. It 

 is difficult to arrange them to look natural. 



Many blocks of limestone and sandstone show the lines 

 of bedding more or less clearly. These should be obtained 

 if possible. On the other hand avoid stones which show 

 " false bedding," two or three groups of lines of bedding 

 crossing or joining each other ; they generally weather 

 badly and look ugly. 



The Soil : Too little attention is frequently paid to the 

 soil. " Anything will do " is the popular idea, but nothing 

 is further from the truth. The soil is a most important 

 factor, and a mistake may spoil the whole collection of rock 

 plants. 



Clay soil is, generally speaking, the worst, but the use 

 of it must not be absolutely forbidden on account of its 

 readiness to become caked and hard. In the perennial 

 border it is customary to lighten the clay in one of the 

 manners described in Chapter XXIV, but the soil for rock- 

 gardening cannot be lightened in this way, because it is 

 usually impossible to obtain an intimate enough mixture 

 of the various ingredients. 



