88 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



wherever a vertical or oblique seam occurs, it should be crammed 

 with earth, and the plants put in with the earth will quickly 

 hide the seam. Horizontal fissures should be avoided as much as 

 possible. No vacuum should exist beneath the surface of the soil 

 or surface-stones, and the broken stone and grit should be so 

 disposed that there are no hollows. Myriads of alpine plants have 

 been destroyed from the want of observing this precaution, the 

 open crevices and loose soil allowing the dry air to destroy the alpine 

 plants in a very short time, and so one often sees what was meant 

 for a " rock garden " covered with weeds and brambles. 



No walk with regularly trimmed edges should come near the 

 rock garden. This need not prevent the presence of good walks 

 through or near it, as by allowing the edges of the 

 Walks. walk to be broken and stony, and by encourag- 



ing Stonecrops, Rockfoils, and other little plants 

 to crawl into the walk at will, a pretty margin will result. There 

 is no surface of this kind that may not be thus adorned. Violets, 

 Ferns, Forget-me-nots, will do in the shadier parts, and the Stone- 

 crops and many others will thrive in the full sun. The whole of 

 the surface of the alpine garden should be covered with plants as 

 far as possible, except a few projecting points. In moist districts, 

 Erinus and the Balearic Sandwort will grow on the face of the rocks ; 

 and even upright faces of rock will grow a variety of plants. Regular 

 steps should never be in or near the rock garden. Steps may be made 

 quite picturesque, and even beautiful, with Violets and other small 

 plants jutting from every crevice ; and no cement should be used. 



In cases where the simplest type of rock garden only is attempted, 

 and where there are no steps or rude walks in the rock garden, the 

 very fringes of the gravel walks may be graced by such plants as the 

 dwarfer Stonecrops. The alpine Toadflax is never more beautiful 

 than when self-sown in a gravel walk. A rock garden so made that 

 its miniature cliffs overhang is useless for alpine vegetation, and all 

 but such wall-loving plants as Corydalis lutea soon die on it. The 

 tendency to make it with overhanging " peaks " is often seen in the 

 cement rock gardens now common. 



The great majority of alpine plants thrive best in deep soil. 



In it they can root deeply, and when once rooted they will not 



suffer from drought, from which they would 



Soil. quickly perish if planted in the usual way. 



Three feet deep is not too much for most kinds, 



and in nearly all cases it is a good plan to have plenty of broken 



sandstone or grit mixed with the soil. Any free loam, with plenty 



of sand or broken grit, will suit most alpine plants. But peat is 



required by some, as, for example, various small and brilliant rock- 



