FOR THE HOME BEAUTIFUL 149 



A heap of rocks strewed on the bank at each side 

 of these steps and planted to rock plants will be 

 unusually charming and beautiful. 



At first, the original idea of a rock garden was 

 to provide a natural environment for such plants 

 as would thrive and grow only in such a well 

 drained situation, but any original idea is capable 

 of being improved upon, and today we plant any- 

 thing in our rock gardens that will grow there 

 and that does not look out of place. 



I shall mention here one unusual type of rock 

 garden as found in England, a very ambitious sort 

 of garden, involving the expenditures of both time 

 and money, but an ideally beautiful one withal. 



This garden was constructed on the ravine type. 

 First the sandstone rock was excavated to form a 

 ravine, the crags and interstices of the ravine 

 planted to suitable types. Then the material re- 

 moved from the excavation was used to blend this 

 ravine into the mound type at the one end, and 

 finally blending off into the landscape. 



If one is fortunate enough to have a little 

 stream or brook with rocky banks, as is sometimes 

 seen, such a location at once adapts itself 

 to the making of a wonderfully effective rock 

 garden. 



It should be remembered in constructing a rock 

 garden that the main idea is to keep as far as pos- 

 sible away from the formal, finished, and the arti- 



