ROCK GARDENS 



ROCK GARDENS 



1541 



they would only distract the attention from the rock 

 garden, the primary object. Even more inappropriate 

 are stationary fountains and vases. 



For more specific instructions as to the construction 

 of rock gardens and the care and propagation of rock- 

 plants (for European conditions) see Robinson's "Alpine 

 Flowers," London, 1875, and Sutherland's "Hardy Her- 

 baceous and Alpine Flowers," Edinburgh and London, 

 187L 



Up to this point reference has been made for the most 

 part to distinctly alpine plants; that is, plants that are 

 confined exclusively to the region on mountains above 

 the tree and shrub line. They are the ones that will 

 test the skill of the cultivator. There are, however, 

 many rock-plants; that is, plants that grow naturally on 

 rocks, or plants having a tufted, matted and more or 

 less persistent and evergreen foliage similar to alpines 

 that can be used with tlieni in less favorable positions 

 in the rock garden or in the open border. Many of such 

 plants can be readily procured from American nursery- 

 men and collectors. They are easy of cultivation and 

 attractive in habit and flower. The writer would include 

 also low-growing bulbous plants, especially such as have 

 inconspicuous foliage. They can be planted with the 

 low ground-covering plants to push up through them. 

 From this list are omitted such plants as belong more 

 (iroperly in the wild garden, especially such as spread 

 rapidly by underground shoots and are likely to become 

 a pest. (In a rockery conditions are such that it is 

 almost impossible to extirpate deep-rooting, weedy 

 plants, and they above all others should be rigidly ex- 

 cluded.) Among desirable rock-plants the writer would 

 include Geranium sangninenm, Andreivsii and Rohert- 

 ianum, Gypsophila muralis, Helianthemum vulgare, 

 Hellehorus niger, Leontopodium alpinum, Linaria 

 Cymhalaria, Lotus corniculatus. Lychnis Viscaria, Pa- 

 paver alpinum and nudicaule, Ceratostigma Larpentce, 

 Saponaria ocymoides, Veronica Teucrium and rupestris, 

 Arabis alpina, Campanula fragilis, Daphne Cneorum, 

 species of Alyssum, Bellis, Cerastium, Arenaria, Draba, 

 Epimedium, Iberis, Thymus, Arabis, Armeria, Ajuga, 

 Dianthus, Sedum, Sagina, Primula, Aquilegia, Saxi- 

 fraga, Corydalis, Myosotis, Sempervivura, Parnassia, 

 Viola, Hepatica, Opuntia, Houstonia, Anemone patens, 

 var. NtittaJliana, dwarf and creeping Campanulas, 

 Cornus Canadensis, Dicentra eximia, Calluna vul- 

 garis. Iris cristata, verna and pumila, Leiophyllum 

 imxifolinm. Phlox siibulata, amoena, reptans, Saxi- 

 fraga Virginiensis, Silene Pensylvanica and Virginica, 

 Anemone thaliotroides, Waldsteinia fragarioides, Galax 

 aphylla, Asperula odorata, low-growing ferns, mosses, 

 etc. Warren H. Manning. 



A rock garden or rockery is, or should be, an imita- 

 tion (though of necessity in a limited and smaller 

 way) of a natural rocky slope such as is often seen on 

 mountain sides, but made more interesting and at- 



be artificial in the sense of made by man, because 

 few gardens contain a natural bank or slope upon which 

 one might be constructed. In any case, it should be 

 characterized by simplicity and naturalness. In fact, in 

 no part of a garden has the gardener more opportunity 

 to give expression to his natural taste than in the con- 

 struction and planting of a rockery. If a garden does 



2139. An isolated rockery under a tree. Southern California. 



tractive by the planting of a large variety of alpine 

 and other plants. The meaningless mounds of stones 

 too often seen in gardens, planted with summer-bed- 

 ding plants or vines, do not represent the true concep- 

 tion of a rockery. A rockery must of necessity often 



2140. A picturesque rock work, for the wilder parts 

 of the grounds (European). 



contain a natural bank or slope, the position or aspect 

 may not be an ideal one. A southern slope, unless 

 within the shade of tall trees, is not as good an aspect 

 as a northern one, owing to the soil becoming too hot 

 and dry, just the opposite conditions for true alpine 

 plants. Some of the best rockeries are what are known 

 as underground rockeries; for instance, the one in the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, England, is an 

 underground rockery. Before this rockery was con- 

 structed the ground was perfectly level. A cutting was 

 begun at one entrance, at first shallow, but gradually 

 deepening till a depth of some 6 or 7 feet was reached, 

 and an average width of about 10 feet at the bottom. 

 All the soil taken out was placed on the top of the 

 slopes, thus still further increasing the height. The 

 cutting was made in a winding manner, not formal or 

 zigzag, but in such a manner that when completed, not 

 only would a variety of aspects be secured to suit the 

 requirements of different plants, but each turn should 

 seem to possess a peculiar charm of its own. The 

 whole cutting is perhaps some 200 yards in length. 

 The rocks are placed in the banks in as natural a man- 

 ner as it would seem possible to place them; now they 

 stand out boldly, almost perpendicular with the edge of 

 the path, then again they recede into hollow recesses. 

 There are not too many rocks, nor yet too few. In one 

 place a cascade falls over the rocks into a small pool 

 which not only provides a habitat for aquatic and bog 

 plants, but also adds greatly to the beauty of the 

 rockery. For the convenience of the public a broad 

 gravel path runs through the whole rockery. Rhodo- 

 dendrons and other shrubs are planted on top of the 

 banks in groups, and not in straight lines, while behind 

 these for protection and shade are planted pines and 

 other conifers, as well as some deciduous trees. The 

 rocks are placed in most cases so as to form "pockets" 

 of good size into which the plants could be planted, and 

 the soil made in the pocket to suit the requirements of 

 the different plants. With such a variety of aspects and 

 conditions this rockery is able to accommodate one of 

 the largest collections of alpine and rock plants in 

 the world. As this rockery was for a time the special 

 charge of the writer while a student at Kew, well does 

 he remember the deep carpets of mossy Saxifrage, Au- 

 brietia, Arabis, Cerastium, Sedum, etc., which hungover 

 projecting ledges of rocks, while in fissures and holes 

 in the rocks were growing those dainty rosette-making 

 saxifrages, S. longifolia, S. Cotyledon, S. Crustacea and 

 S. caesia, as well as the charming androsaces. In the 

 deeper recesses of the rockery were to be found the 



