PLANNING AND BUILDING 35 



where the former is of any height, such things as do 

 not greatly mind being trodden on somewhat, and are 

 fairly vigorous, such as mossy Saxifrages, Sax. umbrosa, 

 Arabis, Sedum spurium, as it is very annoying to get 

 some choice plant damaged by an accidental 

 kick. 



Where the rock edging to the path is low, I find it 

 useful to allow dwarf carpeting plants like Ar en aria 

 balearica, A. caspitosa, Acaena in variety, and 

 Cotula squalida to scramble over the edge, and grow 

 carelessly on to the path itself it takes of! the rigid 

 outline of the path and gives a very natural appear- 

 ance to the whole When they get too much in the 

 way it is easy, with care, to take off portions in such 

 a manner as to leave no mark of the devastating hand, 

 and friends are always delighted to " take charge " of 

 such surplus plants. 



As I mentioned earlier, I was fortunate in having 

 no trees of any size in my garden, since not only do 

 they rob the soil to a considerable extent, but their 

 branches seriously curtail the amount of light falling 

 on the plants, and where one's garden is small, and 

 especially when not situated in the open country, this 

 is of immense importance, since the brilliancy of the 

 light is already considerably modified by the proximity 

 of buildings, to say nothing of the more or less ever 

 present smoke vapour. In addition to this, the drip 



