Gardening for Amateurs 



583 



at very small expense, yet is suitable for 

 the cultivation of innumerable good alpines. 

 A simple bed of soil, raised about 1 foot above 

 the ground level, edged with rough stones, 

 and either divided into compartments by 

 stones or simply having its surface diversified 

 by elevations and by large stones inserted 

 here and there to break any appearance of 

 formality, provides a simple and excellent 

 method of growing rock plants. 



soil, and so arranged as to appear as if 

 the gravel had been carried down into the 

 depression by floods or streams from above. 

 A small moraine suitable for such a place 

 is constructed by taking out the soil to a 

 depth of about 18 inches, putting in first 

 about 6 inches of rough stones, then a layer 

 of smaller stones, over which there may be 

 laid some rough soil, followed by a compost 

 of loam, leaf-soil, and sand, the remain- 



Photo: R.A. Matbj. 



Showing how a bold rocky bank is built with artificial stone. 



It is better to expend some of the money 

 on good plants which will give true pleasure 

 than to build an expensive rock garden and 

 then to find that the question of " ways and 

 means " stands in the way when the plants 

 are being chosen. 



Forming a Moraine. In all rock gardens, 

 large or small, the provision of what is called 

 a " moraine " is of considerable advantage, 

 for it enables one to grow with comparatively 

 little trouble flow r ers that are difficult on the 

 rockery proper. It may be secured quite 

 easily by forming a little shallow valley, 

 filled with gravel or chips and the necessary 



ing 10 or 12 inches being filled with stone 

 chips or gravel containing very little soil. 

 Stones not larger than the size of a thumb- 

 nail may be employed towards the top, 

 but there should be a proportion of smaller 

 ones, while a few larger stones may be scat- 

 tered here and there on the surface just as 

 if they had been carried down by a flood. 

 Where stone chips or gravel are found too 

 costly, old bricks broken down small can be 

 utilised. Granite, whinstone, limestone, or 

 sandstone chips or gravel, whichever is most 

 easily obtained, may be used. The larger 

 moraine is constructed on much the same 



