n8 THE STORY OF MY ROCK GARDEN 



These remarks apply specially to those of us who 

 are placed as myself, with but a small piece of garden 

 with which we are in close contact, and consequently, 

 a place we are anxious should be always decorative 

 and refreshing to our gaze, when we are able to give 

 what little spare time we may have to exploring it. 



On the question of expense too, it has this advantage, 

 that, though it is possible, indeed easy, to usefully 

 employ a large sum, it is quite as easy to get a 

 large amount of enjoyment for a small outlay, if 

 we are content to proceed slowly, and form our garden 

 bit by bit, as opportunity and finances allow. 



I know of no other kind of gardening which so lends 

 itself to a gradual extension as this ; indeed, with 

 several friends who originally started with a rockery 

 in one part of their garden, it is becoming a matter 

 of course to add to it each Autumn, since the pleasure 

 derived from its neat and brilliant occupiers out- 

 weighs that provided by the ordinary border. 



To a considerable degree one can see at a glance 

 the contents of an orthodox garden, especially if it 

 is laid out in regular series of plants in different colours ; 

 compare this with the varied outline of a well-planned 

 rock garden, where every nook and corner has its own 

 special inhabitant ! (so much so, that we may 

 wander in it for hours and be still finding something 

 hitherto overlooked) and we at once realize how 



