54 ORNAMENTAL GARDENING 



the stranger sees here. Nevertheless the owner gets an ax, 

 or has some one else get it, and slaughters every tree. Then he 

 digs a trench with infinite labor and builds a cement or rock 

 wall which the next severe hurricane is almost certain to demolish. 

 When he builds a hideous house the vegetation that he has 

 planted is pretty sure to cover it up and in a few years hides 

 much of its ugliness, but in the case of a sea wall it is different. 

 As it is exposed to storms, the salt spray or heavy seas, it is 

 rare, indeed, that anything can be got to cover and hide it in the 

 way of vegetation. 



One of the things of which the average home builder almost 

 makes a fetish is what is called a rockery. This consists usually 

 of a rather regular pile of stones, often smooth and rounded; 

 sometimes broken pieces 6f plaster images or crockeryware are 

 introduced and mingled with the pile to add to the effect. The 

 whole is generally built on level ground and is often surmounted 

 with a vase containing plants ; sometimes a few plants are grown 

 on the sides of the pile. It is hard to say what the thing is 

 intended for; perhaps there is a sort of idea in the mind of the 

 builder that it resembles a natural stack of rocks. 



Rockwork should always appear as though it was a natural 

 ledge or formation, a part of the landscape: it should never have 

 any crockeryware or artificial stone or plaster mixed with it. 

 It should be constructed, if possible, along a slope and should 

 be made to appear like a natural outcrop. It requires con- 

 siderable art to lay up an artificial ledge and make it look natural. 

 However, any defect in construction will be remedied to some 

 extent by the plants and vines which should be put on it. Back 

 of such a ledge the space should be filled with good soil and in 

 it a variety of herbaceous plants and small shrubs may be set. 

 On the ledge and in its crevices succulents and plants which will 

 stand drought should be planted, such things as the Crassulas, 

 Sedum, Echeveria, Bryophyllum and similar things. If one has 

 water so that it may be sprinkled the Zebrinas and a variety of 

 creepers will flourish. Small species of Agaves are fine in such 

 places and the native Ampelopsis or Virginia creeper will creep 

 over it sometimes almost too rampantly. Rhoeo discolor, 

 commonly known as Tradescantia discolor and some of the Aloes 



