ALPINE FLOWERS AND ROCK-GARDENS. 



141 



with broken stones to prevent evaporation, the natural crevices and 

 crests being planted where possible. Cliffs or banks of chalk, as well 

 as all kinds of rock, should be taken advantage of in this way : 

 many plants, like the dwarf Harebells and Rock Roses, thrive in such 

 places. No burrs, 

 clinkers, vitrified 

 matter, portions of old 

 arches and pillars, 

 broken-nosed statues, 

 etc., should ever be 

 seen in a garden of 

 alpine flowers. Never 

 let any part of the 

 rock-garden appear 

 as if it had been shot 

 out of a cart. The 

 rocks should all have 

 their bases buried in 

 the ground, and the 

 seams should not be 

 visible ; wherever a 

 vertical or oblique 

 seam occurs, it 



should be crammed with earth, and the plants put in with the 

 earth will quickly hide the seam. Horizontal fissures should be 

 avoided as much as possible. No vacuum should exist beneath the 

 surface of the soil or surface-stones, and the broken stone and grit 

 should be so disposed that there are no hollows. Myriads of alpine 

 plants have been destroyed from the want of observing this pre- 

 caution, the open crevices and loose soil allowing the dry air to destroy 

 the alpine plants in a very short time, and so one often sees what 

 was meant for a " rock-garden " covered with weeds and brambles, 

 and forgotten ! 



In all cases where elevations of any kind are desired, the true way 

 is to obtain them by a mass of soil suitable to the plants, putting a 

 " rock " in here and there as the work proceeds; frequently it would be 

 desirable to make these mounds of earth without any strata. The 

 wrong and usual way is to get the elevation by piling up ugly masses 

 of stones, vitrified bricks, and other rubbish. 



No very formal walk that is to say, no walk with regularly 

 trimmed edges should come near the rock-garden. This need not 

 prevent the presence of good walks through or near it, as by allowing 

 the edges of the walk to be broken and stony, and by encourag- 

 ing Stonecrops, Rockfoils, and other little plants to crawl into the 



Passage in rock-garden. 



