590 



Gardening for Amateurs 



becomes of the greatest importance. If the 

 rockery is well drained, as it should be, a 

 soaking will do no harm, surplus water will 



The Servian Yarrow (Achiliea serbica). 



flow away. The water should be applied in 

 such a way that it will reach the roots, 

 keeping it off the foliage as far as possible, 

 especially of those plants with '' silky " 

 leaves such as Androsace. 



Top-dressing. The subject of top-dress- 

 ing, previously mentioned, is one that is 

 generally greatly neglected. It consists in 

 applying some additional compost about the 

 plants, usually to replace that which has been 

 carried away by rains. Some alpines have a 

 habit of " growing out of " the soil and their 

 stems become bare ; in such cases top-dress- 

 ing with the view of re-covering the stem is 

 also of value. Quite a large number of al- 

 pines are lost through neglect of this simple 

 practice. It ought to be done either before 

 the buds show or after the flowers are over. 

 In top-dressing Geum, Primula, Erigeron, and 

 others that form long stems or rootstocks 

 rising out of the ground the work consists 

 in adding enough soil about the plants to 

 bring it to the level of the lower leaves ; 

 any decayed foliage at the base should be 

 removed. With such tufted plants as Saxi- 



frage, Androsace, Silene, and such like, the 

 top-dressing should be well worked among 

 the foliage with the ringers and watered in if 

 the weather is dry. A good compost for 

 top-dressing consists of one-third each of 

 loam, sand, and leaf-soil or peat. It should 

 be dry enough to work among the foliage 

 without being adhesive to the fingers. A 

 small quantity of slaked lime or old lime 

 rubbish made fine can be added for plants 

 requiring or preferring lime. As a general 

 rule it may be said that most silvery-, 

 woolly-, or silky-leaved alpines either need 

 or are benefited by the presence of lime in 

 the soil. 



Protection in Winter. Many woolly- or 

 hairy-leaved plants require protection from 

 overhead moisture during the winter months 

 and some few even need it during summer 

 and autumn as well. Glass protection of 

 some kind or other is employed ; it may 

 consist of bell glasses, hand-lights or sheets of 

 glass supported on wires, but whatever the 

 contrivance there must be provision for the 



A dainty Bellflower (Campanula G. F. Wilson). 



free admittance of air. Probably at once the 

 simplest and best arrangement is to have 

 stout pieces of wire bent at the top so that 



