Gardening for Amateurs 



How not to build : too many rocks and 

 too little soil. 



The exact reverse of what a rock garden 

 should be. 



Overhanging rocks should be avoided. 

 Plants beneath may suffer from drought. 



A miniature headland, boldly arranged here 



and there, adds to the picturesqueness of the 



rock garden. 



ceeds, thus filling all crevices, and the plants 

 be so arranged that their roots may soon 

 reach the bulk of soil. 



The " rock " is then given a natural 

 appearance by mixing one part of Portland 

 cement with rather more than an equal part 

 of coarse sand in enough water to make the 

 mixture of the consistency of paste. The 

 cement can then be applied to the face of 

 the rockwork with a mason's trowel, but too 

 large a surface should not be covered at 

 once ; as the work progresses, and while 

 the cement and sand mixture is wet, dry 

 sand should be thrown rather forcibly against 

 it so as to stick firmly to the " rock " face. 

 It is wonderful how well such an artificial 

 piece of rock-building looks, especially when 

 the plants have spread. All stones or rocks 

 should slope slightly backward towards the 

 bulk of soil, so that rain, or moisture arti- 

 ficially given, may find its way to the roots 

 of the plants in the crevices below. If the 

 rocks are so arranged that they slope away 

 from the mound, most of the moisture will 

 fail to reach the plants. 



A large and high rockery requires a good 

 quantity of soil, and some obtain this by 

 excavating a hole in the garden, which serves 

 for a small pond or pool, others by making 

 a sunk path and elevating the rockery on 

 either side. The latter plan saves soil, and 

 is quite satisfactory in a dry climate, but in 

 a wet one the plants lower down may suffer. 

 The bulk of the soil need not be very good, and 

 a fair proportion of broken bricks or small 

 stones may be used for the foundation. 

 For the bulk of the rockery, and especially 

 where the alpines are planted, a compost of 

 loam, leaf-soil or peat in about equal pro- 

 portions, with plenty of sand, is necessary. 



The site should be pegged out to the 

 shape desired, one of irregular outline being 

 preferable. If the rockery has to run along- 

 side a straight path it should be broken up 

 by bays and projections to remove the 

 appearance of stiffness and formality. A 

 large rock jutting out prominently here 

 and there makes a great difference in this 

 respect. 



In the actual formation of the rockery one 

 of two methods is usually followed. One is 

 to lay the stones of the first layer in the 

 manner desired, and then to fill up with 



