CHAPTER X 



Rock Gardens and Alpine Plants 



By Edward J, Canning 



OME of the most exquisite gems in the vegetable kingdom 

 grow above the tree-hne on mountains. These alpine plants 

 are of low and compact growth, herbaceous or succulent in 

 character, and produce flowers of exquisite beauty and 

 colouring. They grow in crevices or in pockets, often 

 overhanging and completely carpeting projecting ledges of rocks. The 

 attempt to cultivate these plants has led to the making of rock gardens, 

 where they can be provided with all the conditions under which they grow 

 naturally, except, of course, altitude, which is of the least importance. Many 

 of the rarer alpine plants cannot be grown successfully unless these conditions 

 are given. But a rock garden may be made to provide a home not only 

 for true alpine plants, but also for a large number of interesting plants of 

 small stature from much lower altitudes, A well-constructed and tastefully 

 arranged rock garden can be made one of the most interesting features of a 

 country home. Meaningless mounds of stones too often seen in gardens 

 and in public parks are by no means the best . conception of a rock garden. 

 The rock garden should be a close imitation of a rocky mountain, though, 

 of course, on a smaller scale. It should have crevices, pockets, and over- 

 hanging ledges, and these should be filled with soils to suit the requirements 

 of the different plants ; some need loamy or peaty soils, while others require 

 a large proportion of crushed rock. As few gardens contain a natural rocky 

 bank or hillside, most rock gardens are, therefore, "artificial," in the sense 

 that they are made by man, but there is no form of gardening in which one 

 has more opportunity to give expression to his natural taste than in the 

 construction and planting of a rock garden. 



There are two kinds of construction, the "open" and the "under- 

 ground." The open rock garden is made from a natural bank or hillside, 

 and very attractive it can be made, especially if the bank or hillside skirts 

 a lawn and is entirely free from the roots of large trees. 



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