Gardening for Amateurs 



561 



before the next course is laid. Having the 

 foundation placed firmly, it remains to intro- 

 duce plants before bringing the second course 

 into position ; in planting, care must be 

 taken to keep the crowns well into the face 

 of the wall, otherwise the soil may be washed 

 out and leave them exposed to the drying 

 influence of sun and air. As the first joints 

 are actually at ground level, some bold foliage 

 plants should be introduced, as these provide 



The placing of the second course of stone 

 and all subsequent courses until the desired 

 height is reached is simply a repetition of 

 the first, the top edge of the stone is bedded 

 just to touch the line, each piece being cross- 

 bonded in the courses as far as practicable. 



The Wall Top. The treatment accorded 

 the wall-top varies in accordance with local 

 conditions. When associated with archi- 

 tectural features it may be necessary to add 



The wall nearing completion. 



valuable contrast with the plants of lighter 

 form above ; Funkia, Scolopendrium (Hart's 

 Tongue Fern), Geum montanum and Getim 

 Heldreichii, Asarum, Adonis, Epimedium, 

 Megasea, and an occasional plant of Fox- 

 glove, have distinct merit for this position. 

 One strong argument in favour of planting 

 a dry wall while in course of erection is that 

 much larger plants can be employed, and 

 the roots can be spread in the soil behind. 

 Consequently there is little fear of their 

 failing; indeed, the percentage of losses 

 when this system is followed is small. 

 36 



a regular coping of tooled stone, in that case 

 an almost imperceptible incline to the back 

 should be given. If, however, rough stone 

 is used throughout, a better finish is given 

 to the wall by forming a narrow border at 

 the top and grouping various plants tln-rr. 

 some of spreading and prostrate grout h. 

 others that grow tall and erect. A dry \sall 

 is most picturesque \\lim sonic sv>trm is 

 followed in grouping the different plants, 

 and it is a good plan to have a rough sketch 

 of the scheme prepared in advance. The 

 foliage of some plants is quite as attractive 



