MAKING THE ROCK GARDEN 23 



cause to grumble if he takes the precaution to mix in 

 plenty of drainage material as the work proceeds. One 

 can scarcely bury too many pieces of stone and broken 

 brick in heavy soil, and even in light soil it is wise to 

 bury a few big pieces of stone, for the roots of the plants 

 find coolness and moisture there, and cling to them in a 

 remarkable fasnion. 



Having roughly outlined the form which the rock 

 garden is to take, the valleys and hills and mounds and 

 promontories showing prominently, and having ensured 

 good drainage if the soil requires it, the next thing to 

 do is to place the rocks. 



Placing the Rocks. There should be coherence in 

 the scheme, some real design, so that the finished garden 

 may have repose and naturalness. There should be 

 some strong outstanding feature to which all else is sub- 

 servient, whether it be a rocky cliff, a bold crag, or a 

 mountain stream flowing through a stony bed, something 

 that will at once arrest the attention, and to which the 

 other parts of the rock garden form a setting. The rocks 

 cannot be put in too firmly ; this is, perhaps, the chief 

 detail to remember. To get them firm we must put 

 the greater part of the rock beneath the soil ; we shall 

 then get not only stability, but a natural formation as 

 though the rocks were outcropping from the ground. To 

 damp the stones down on the surface as one so often 

 sees done is wrong ; they are then neither firm nor 

 pleasing, moreover they are of little or no benefit to the 

 plants. Not that every bit of rock should be covered ; 



