ALPINE PLANTS FOR ROCK GARDENS 21 



valuable plants in painful efforts at reconstruction. It is all a 

 question of considering the roots of the plants. If they are planted 

 on a slope with nothing much to hold the soil, it is bound to wash 

 away in our heavy rains, and then roots will be uncovered, and 

 plants will die. Alpines, though often less then an inch high 

 need deep earth for their roots. Robinson says these tiny plants 

 often have roots a yard long. Nothing is more certainly fatal 

 than to plant them in a pocket with no depth. They may thrive for 

 a time, but after the first drought, they die. 



The pockets or shelves where the plants are to go should not 

 slope down toward the path. They should slope back a little toward 

 the main construction to carry the rain into it. This is hard to 

 achieve, because after the stones are fixed and the soil is in, one 

 adds sand or fertilizer or lime, and, the whole shelf being small, 

 the least addition to the soil will result in the wrong slope. Usually, 

 it occurs in the very beginning, when the soil is being shoveled 

 in. So the builder must not hesitate to take out earth until the 

 levels are perfect. Here are pictures to show the difference: 

 although the quaker ladies looked lovely on the wrong slope, that 

 was only for one year, before the earth had had time to wash away. 

 Also they are the most accommodating of ladies, besides being 

 very lovely. In the second picture, flat shelves can be seen, 

 where the plants can be perfectly happy. This picture shows a 

 well-placed rock in the foreground. It is almost bare, because 

 it has only just been put in, but the shelf or tiny terrace which 

 it holds up, shows well what is meant by a proper level. On 

 the left of the picture, the wrong kind of slope is plainly seen. 

 This has been taken out, and flat pockets put in its place. 



In arranging the rocks, care should be taken that none are allowed 

 to overhang. This would prevent the necessary rain reaching the 

 plants underneath the rock. Every part of the rock garden should 

 be so arranged that all the rain will be absorbed by it. 



Beside the absolute necessity of making the roots of the plants 

 secure against all disturbances, and the length of the roots must be 

 seen to be believed, the general effect is far better and happier if 

 the levels are made right. It is all the difference between a repose- 

 ful picture and a restless one, slipping down, or everlastingly fixed. 

 In this picture, the flat shelves are seen on the left, and on the right 



