PLANNING AND BUILDING 33 



natural formations are imitated, or at least not abused, 

 the result will usually be satisfactory especially if it 

 be continually borne in mind that the rockery is 

 primarily indeed solely for the cultivation of plants, 

 many of which are deep rooting, and require ample, 

 well-drained soil into which they can ramify. 



I may here say with advantage to any who are 

 thinking of starting a Rock Garden, that at an early 

 date in my Alpine plant career, I was given that 

 splendid book " Alpine Flowers for Gardens," written 

 by that veteran plant lover, and Alpine plant enthu- 

 siast, William Robinson. No one who has used it as 

 their " guide, philosopher and friend/' as I have 

 done, can find anything but praise for it, both in its 

 sound principles, and the charming manner in which 

 it is written. To read it is to have become an Alpine 

 plant lover at once ! One other point I ought 

 to mention before leaving this part of the work, 

 and that is, with rare exceptions, on no account 

 should any upper stone overhang a lower one. 

 This with the beginner is I think a frequent 

 cause of failure, it not being realized that such a 

 formation entirely prevents any water in the form of 

 rain from reaching the roots of a plant in such a 

 position, unless the overhanging stone be quite a 

 small one in which case it would probably fall over 

 altogether* 



