CHAPTER VII 

 ROCK GARDENING 



How to cover rocky land with the most appropriate vegetation at the 

 least expense instead of making a lawn or doing other foolish 



things 



,HE largest rock garden in England is that of Sir Frank 

 Crisp, at Friar Park, Henley. It is a faithful reproduc- 

 tion of the Matterhorn on a scale of about three 

 acres. (See plate 50.) Seven thousand tons of limestone 

 were brought from Yorkshire to make it. The snow-capped peak 

 is represented by quartz. Below it are thousands upon thousands 

 of alpine flowers growing in pockets between the rocks and filling 

 every chink in the trails that ascend the mountain. There must 

 be two hundred different species in bloom at once. At the base of 

 the mountain is a miniature Swiss chalet, where one may sit and 

 enjoy the scene, comparing all the main features with a little bronze 

 model of the Matterhorn which Sir Frank had made for the enter- 

 tainment of his guests. A brook courses down the mountain side 

 and just before it reaches the chalet it forms a pretty cascade and 

 then spreads out at your feet into a miniature lake decorated with 

 pygmy water-lilies and richly margined with pinks, primroses, gen- 

 tians, and other alpine flowers. (For pictures of this garden see 

 plates 27, 29, 30, 79, 81, and 82.) 



As to the Matterhorn feature, English critics are divided. 

 They do not quarrel with the Japanese for imitating Fuji, but there 



is no precedent in England for duplicating any particular mountain. 



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