Rock Gardens. 



245 



SECTIONAL VIEW 



also prevent undue evaporation in hot weather. The 



greatest care must be taken in planting. Some alpines 



are extremely fastidious during the early days of their 



career, and trouble taken at this stage is well bestowed. 



Many disappointments are due to the unsatisfactory 



condition in which plants are received. It is worth 



while to pay a slightly higher price and make sure of 



getting plants in good condition and well packed. 



Other failures are due to planting too late in the 



autumn. Experience shows that the best of all times 



for planting is the late spring, unless it can be done 



early in a wet September, due regard being had to 



peculiar conditions. What is best in one county may 



be disastrous in another. Void spaces left behind 



rocks are fatal . to the well-being of any plants whose 



roots penetrate into them. For this reason light, 



friable, porous soil should be used, since it can be 



well rammed between and behind the stones without fear "of its caking. If the stock 



of plants is ready to hand, so that planting and building can be done at the same 



time, so much the better. The smaller and younger the plants the more likely they 



are to take kindly to their new surroundings. Old, well-established clumps are a snare, 



while the rapidity with which even notoriously difficult subjects increase if once they 



FIG. 367. ROCK FORMATIONS. 



BIG. 368. THE KEYNOTE OF SUCCESS IN PLANTING IS SIMPLICITY. 



