ROCK GARDENS 133 



plants. The stones forming this wall have been there long, 

 and so there are plenty of large chinks between them, in 

 which flowers like Erinus alpinus and aubrietia can be 

 planted. 



Where the gaps between the stonework are very small, 

 and there is not room to fix small seedlings with the hand, 

 it will be best to make a sort of wet paste of soil, into 

 which to put seeds of alpine plants, and then to secure 

 it firmly in the little crevices and holes. In due time 

 small sturdy plants will appear and flourish. 



Should the " ha-ha " wall chance to face the west, and 

 thus not have too long a spell of noonday sun upon it, poly- 

 anthus will find a happy home in a bed below. This 

 should only be a narrow, natural-looking, irregular planted 

 bed, so that from the grass-walk at the bottom of the ditch 

 we can walk along and see them below and gain a good 

 view above of the rest of the wall garden. A rising slope 

 upon the other side, planted with azaleas, yellow and white 

 broom and gorse, all in big bold patches, partially hides the 

 sweet-briar hedge which protects from inroads of cattle. 



This same idea of rock wall gardening can be carried 

 out in walls built specially for the purpose ; that is to say, 

 whilst the wall is being built a few of the small plants 

 can be planted between chinks, to hang over the stones. 

 Care must be taken to tip the stones back, so that the 

 moisture soaks in between the joints. But all these 

 important details can be learnt from many of the books 

 devoted to rock-plants alone. We are now considering 

 only the best position for walls, with regard both to the 

 healthiness of the plants and to the general fitness of 

 design in harmony with house and garden. As but 

 little cement is used in " dry walls," they can only be 

 considered as retaining walls to banks, and are quite 

 distinct from " mason's walls," of which we shall treat next. 

 They are, however, architectural enough to be placed in 



