164 GARDEN PLANNING 



crops may afterward be encouraged to grow. 

 If these steps be introduced, it is better to 

 carry them between two adjacent mounds than 

 to make them ascend a conspicuous elevation. 

 A visit to a well-made rock garden that ac 

 Kew, England, for example in the winter- 

 time will afford the gardener much practical 

 guidance in this kind of work. He will see 

 just how far it is possible to realize a naturalistic 

 effect, and may gain some wrinkles in regard 

 to the disposition of his rocks. 



The Kew alpine garden is not the most 

 nature-like garden of its kind, because other 

 considerations have had weight, such, for in- 

 stance, as the convenience of many spectators, 

 and the need for accommodating a represent- 

 ative collection of alpine plants. Still it is suffi- 

 ciently typical of good work to be worthy of 

 imitation. 



There are rock gardens in which the chief 

 charm is their rocks, placed together so skil- 

 fully that they might be mistaken for a natural 

 out-crop. Such gardens have cost their owners 

 many hundreds of dollars, but they are no bet- 

 ter for their purpose than the more simple 

 type of garden I am describing. The gardener 



