ROCK, WALL AND BOG GARDENS. 



FIG. 267. 



inserted in the interstices. Illustration No. 266 shows such a wall-garden. Its construc- 

 tion needs special care and thoroughness, as, by attention to the needs of the plants 

 with which it is to be graced, during the process of building, much better results can be 

 obtained. The varying habits of different plants will also need providing for. One may 



have barely more than a surface hold of the 

 wall, while another will die unless its roots 

 can find their way deep into the bank at the 

 back of the stones, where there will always 

 be coolness and moisture, even in the hottest 

 weather. In building an ordinary wall, however 

 rough, everything is done to keep the interior 

 as dry as possible, but here we must aim at the 

 reverse, and invite rain to trickle into the spaces 

 between the stones. This is done by making the 

 outer surface of the wall slope back against the 

 bank which it supports, and the upper surfaces 

 of individual stones also to slope inwards, as in 

 the section given (111. No. 267). 



The process of building such a wall will be 

 somewhat as follows : The ground having been 

 excavated not only sufficiently to take the wall itself, but also a backing of garden 

 loam, a trench the depth of one course of stones is dug as a foundation. For this, 

 large flat stones will be used, and placed as evenly as possible and, on them, the upper 

 courses will be built. No one who has not tried will realize the difficulty of avoiding 

 any stiffness in the arrangement of the stones and the pockets of soil for the plants. 

 The builder must have the ultimate result, when the whole is completed and the plants 

 are fully grown, clearly outlined in his mind's eye, or not only will it be patchy, but 

 drooping varieties may be so placed as to hang over and choke smaller things, and 

 others which look best in large masses may not be given sufficient room. 



The best way is to build the plants in as the wall proceeds, using good loam with a 

 little light manure, much as the mason would use mortar, except that a good mass must 

 be placed at the back of the wall between it and the clay, or whatever the local subsoil 

 consists of. The stones used should, of course, be indigenous to the district, or the whole 

 will have a very artificial appearance. As in every other form of planting, the great 

 key to success is to plant in masses and so avoid giving the wall an appearance of being 

 " stuck about " with a patchy assortment of little weedy plants. Such profuse-flowering 

 things as cerastium may be given two or three square yards of wall-space to cover almost 

 entirely, with the happiest results. Where the wall is fairly high, small things may fill 

 the crevices near the top, and below, such shrubs as Cotoneaster macrophilla, C. 

 Simmonsi, Clematis montana and others of the kind will grow at its base and climb 

 over it. 



Another important point to remember in building the wall is to provide " throughs " 

 to bind it to the bank behind. These are extra long stones built into the wall so that 

 they may reach back into the bank and bind the former to it. 



After the wall is completed, with its plants all built in as described, it will, of 

 course, be necessary to renew them from the surface, and also to provide for the annual 

 subjects. This is best done by rolling the seeds into a little ball of earth and inserting 

 them into the chinks between the stones. 



Whether it skirts a wall garden or passes through a rocky dell, the pathway in this 

 class of garden should be roughly paved with flat stones of the same kind that is used 

 for the rest of the work. No attempt should be made to square these stones, but the 



Crazy 



paving. 



207 



