ROCK GARDENS 



they would only distract the attention from the rock 

 garden, the primary object. Even more inappropriate 

 are stationary fountains and vases. 



For more specific instructions as to the construction 

 of rock gardens and the care and propagation of rock- 

 plants (for European conditions) see Robinson's "Alpine 

 Flowers," London, 1875, and Sutherland's "Hardy Her- 

 baceous and Alpine Flowers," Edinburgh and London 



Up to this point refere 

 part to distinctly ill I'l*^ 

 exclu i\ h t t 



ROCK GARDENS 



1541 



the 



h^s been made for the raost 

 It that IS plants that are 



I \ r the ones that will 

 t I rheip aie however 



1 I md moie or 

 I n to alpmes 

 I le positions 



test the skill it tl .It 

 manj lock plint tl i i 

 rocks or plant h ii 

 less persistent m 1 i 

 that can be use 1 wit I tl 

 in the rock garden i iii t i M im of such 



plants can be readih P n i iiii i\ 



men and collectors Tli 1 1 i i I 



attractive in h ibit and H \ I 1 I i 1 i 1 



also low growing bulbou | 1 1 1 \ 



inconspicuous foliage 11 i I i 1 1 1 



low ground covering plant t i I i i 1 1 i 1 1 1 i 

 Fiom this list tie omitt 1 i 1 | I i i I I . i i 



properly in the wild gir 1 i \ i ill\ i 1 P 1 



rapidly by undei ground h t ml ii 111 1\ i 1 iii 

 a pest (In a rocker> c nulitions iie u li th it it is 

 almost impossible to extirpate deep roc ting weedy 

 pHuts and they above all others should be iigidlj ex 

 eluded ) Among desirable i k | 1 iiit tli w iit i w uld 



ngu 



include Ge 



ianiim Gypsophila 



Hellebonti niger Le 



Cymhul ni i L tn i 



pave) ill 1 I ' 



Sapoii I 



Atab, 



specie 1 



Epimeduuu li i 11 



Dianthus Stduiii s u 



fraga Corjdalis Mjo 



Viola Hepatita Opunt: 



var JYuinilinu hvi 



Cot nil I I 



garis I iia and pumila, Leiophyllum 



buxif I I ita, anuena reptans Saxi 



fraga t Pensylvanica and Vugimca 



Anemone ihniic/rnides, Waldsteinia fragarioides, Galax 

 aphylla, Asperitla odorata, low-growing ferns, mosses, 

 etc- Warren H. Manning. 



A rock garden or rockery is, or should be, an imita- 

 tion (though of necessity in a limited and smaller 

 way) of a natural rocky slope such 



2139. An isolated rockery under i 



. Southern California. 



tractive by the planting of a large variety of alpine 

 and other plants. The meaningless mounds of stones 

 too often seen in gardens, planted with summer-bed- 

 ding plants or vines, do not represent the true concep- 

 tion of a rockery. A rockery must of necessity often 



be artificial in the sense of made by man, because 

 few gardens contain a natural bank or slope upon which 

 one might be constructed. In any case, it should be 

 characterized by simplicity and naturalness. In fact, in 

 no part of a garden has the gardener more opportunity 

 to give expression to his natural taste than in the con- 

 struction and planting of a rockery. If a garden does 



ontain a natural bank or slope the position or aspect 

 ill i\ 11 t 1 e an ideal one A southern slope unless 

 •vMthm the shade of tall trees is not as good an aspect 



I 1 mrthern one owing to the soil becoming too hot 



n 1 dry just the opposite conditions tor true alpine 

 1 1 ints Some of the best rockeries are what are known 



I tin ler^roimd rjckeries for instance the one in the 

 1 ^ il P time (nidens Kew London England is an 

 titi I I I 1111(1 iocker\ Before this rockery was con 



It I t 1 the ground was perfectly level A tutting was 

 1 uii t ne entrance it farst shallow but gradually 



1 1 iiiii., till a depth ot some 6 or 7 feet was reached, 

 and an average width of about 10 feet at the bottom 

 All the soil taken out was placed on the top of the 

 slopes thus still further increasing the height The 

 cutting was made in a winding manner, not formal or 

 zigzag, but in such a manner that when completed, not 

 only would a variety of aspects be secured to suit the 

 requirements of different plants, but each turn should 

 seem to possess a peculiar charm of its own. The 

 whole cutting is perhaps some 200 yards in length. 

 The rocks are placed in the banks in as natural a man- 

 ner as it would seem possible to place them; now they 

 stand out boldly, almost perpendicular with the edge of 

 the path, then again they recede into hollow recesses. 

 There are not too many rocks, nor yet too few. In one 

 place a cascade falls over the rocks into a small pool 

 which not only provides a habitat for aquatic and bog 

 plants, but also adds greatly to the beauty of the 

 rockery. For the convenience of the public a broad 

 gravel path runs through the whole rockery. Rhodo- 

 dendrons and other shrubs are planted on "top of the 

 banks in groups, and not in straight lines, while behind 

 these for protection and shade are planted pines and 

 other conifers, as well as some deciduous trees. The 

 rocks are placed in most cases so as to form "pockets" 

 of good size into which the plants could be planted, and 

 the soil made in the pocket to suit the requirements of 

 the different plants. With such a variety of aspects and 

 conditions this rockery is able to accommodate one of 

 the largest collections of alpine and rock plants in 

 the world. As this rockery was for a time the special 

 charge of the writer while a student at Kew, well does 

 he remember the deep carpets of mossy Saxifrage, Au- 

 brietia, Arabis, Cerastium, Sedum, etc., which hung over 

 projecting ledges of rocks, while in fissures and holes 

 in the rocks were growing those dainty rosette-making 

 saxifrages, S. longifolia, S. Cotyledon, S. Crustacea and 

 S. caesia, as well as the charming androsaces. In the 

 deeper recesses of the rockery were to be found the 



