30 ROCK GARDENING FOR AMATEURS 



would delight ; or a Sempervivum or Houseleek, which 

 needs a sunny peak or crevice, to be happy in a low, moist 

 part of the rockery. The lists at the end of this work 

 will, it is hoped, be helpful to the reader in choosing 

 plants suited to each position in the rock garden. One 

 most essential point is that planting should be done 

 firmly : plants that are set loosely in the soil rarely or 

 never succeed. Amateurs frequently fail to 'realise this 

 and disappointment is bound to follow. It is impossible 

 for the roots to obtain a proper hold of the soil unless 

 they are inserted very firmly ; moreover, if loose or 

 insufficiently covered they are more than likely to die 

 of drought. It may be said, in fact, that far more alpines 

 are lost from loose planting than from any other cause. 

 In planting from pots the plants should be turned 

 out so as to leave the ball of earth intact. If the soil 

 is full of roots and these are interlaced, the crocks should 

 be picked out from among them with a small, sharply 

 pointed stick and some of the outer roots disentangled 

 before planting. The plants must be firmly pressed down, 

 the soil being placed closely about the roots. It is an 

 advantage to have plants in pots, since practically no 

 check is then given. When very small plants not in 

 pots are received it is just as well to put them into little 

 pots and keep them in a frame for a few weeks, so that 

 the pots become fairly full of roots before planting time. 

 Plants that were raised from seeds and not grown in 

 pots and those ordinarily received from nurseries also 

 require some additional care in planting. If the roots 



