HOW TO MAKE A SMALL ROCK-GARDEN 91 



A little of the soil should be scraped out with the fingers, 

 or with a stick ; a small plaut pushed into the hole, and 

 the soil made as firm as possible. If the weather is dry 

 at the time, a good watering will be necessary at once. 

 But a fine rose should be employed, otherwise the soil will 

 be washed away. 



Once planted, the work on the rock-garden is light, 

 and full of interest. First of all, it is important to weed 

 frequently, searching for them and removing them. Dead 

 leaves and flower stems must be cut off at once and some of 

 the more robust plants should be cut back after flowering. 

 If the summer is a dry one, watering should be repeatedly 

 resorted to. But it must be thorough. The same general 

 rules hold good for watering rock-gardens as for watering 

 other parts of the garden ; the subject is discussed at length 

 in Chapter XVIII. 



(' Not until the autumn will any top dressing be necessary, 

 but after that top dressings should be given every six 

 months, especially to plants situated in places where the 

 soil is slowly washed away. The top dressing may consist 

 of equal parts meadow loam and best leaf-mould, and to 

 each two parts of this mixture add one part old hot-bed 

 manure, or very rotten stable dung. The materials should 

 all be mixed together, and rubbed through a |-in. sieve. 

 It should be applied with a trowel round the plants and 

 made firm. 



Some of the rock-plants described in the next chapter 

 require protection in the winter. In these cases small 

 stones should be laid on each side of the plant, and a 

 sheet of glass placed over the top a few inches above it. 

 This will allow access for air and protection from heavy 

 rains. 



Some may like to try to raise rock-plants from seed. 

 There is no real difficulty in this, although some seeds are 

 a bit shy at germinating. A few seeds may be dropped into 

 crannies and niches between the rocks and lightly covered 

 with soil. Or the seed may be sown very thinly in the 

 pockets, and lightly covered with sandy soil. When they 



