MAKING THE ROCK GARDEN 21 



The Value of Stone. As is pointed out in the chapter 

 dealing with the rock border, it is possible to have a 

 rock garden and to grow alpines successfully without 

 rocks or any real stone at all. It is possible to form an 

 excellent substitute from concrete blocks, though one 

 would not do this from choice. These can be built up 

 into " boulders " of varying size, with the help of cement, 

 and it is an easy matter to round off the edges, and in 

 other ways to give them a fairly natural appearance. 

 One often hears it said that rocks are not at all necessary 

 in a rock garden if one regards this as a place in which 

 to grow alpine flowers, and, of course, it should be so 

 regarded. It is quite true that most alpines can be grown N 

 without putting in any rocks at all, but that scarcely 

 justifies their total exclusion. It is the abuse of the 

 rocks that has led to this condemnation. No one can 

 deny that alpine flowers look infinitely more attractive 

 in a well-arranged rock garden than they do on a raised 

 border. If some foolish persons make a garden of rocks 

 instead of a rock garden for flowers, that is no good reason 

 why we should dispense with rocks altogether. It remains 

 true, however, that it is very easy to spoil an alpine 

 garden by using too many rocks ; a few bold pieces, 

 cleverly placed, give far more character than an unskilled 

 display of ten times as many. If it is kept always in 

 mental view that the rock garden is for the cultivation 

 of alpine flowers, one is not likely to overdo the rocks. 



How to Build. Having discussed the site and the 

 rocks, we now come to the crucial part of it all how to 



