THE GARDEN AT HOME 



for the care of his plants, is at a loss to know how to 

 proceed. And I have little consolation to offer. I could 

 recommend books that have been written to show how 

 alpine gardens should be arranged and planted, but 

 beyond acquiring some knowledge of the principles that 

 underlie the work the reader would be little the wiser. 

 For the fact is, one cannot say choose stones of this shape 

 and put them there, or stones of another shape and put 

 them somewhere else. There is no particular kind of 

 rock garden. One cannot make a design of it as one 

 would of a rose plot and advise the reader to transfer 

 it from paper to the ground. But in its inadaptability 

 for orthodox design lies, I think, the chief charm of rock 

 gardens, for each is so very much what the gardener is 

 able to make it. 



The surface must be irregular, and the worker's skill 

 will be revealed in such measure as he is able to impart 

 a natural appearance to its irregularities. It is not 

 difficult to build an irregular rock garden, but it is difficult 

 to build it naturally. One's first care should be for the 

 plants, not for the rocks, for many alpine plants will 

 grow just as well on the level ground, but there, they are 

 certainly not so attractive as when grouped among rocks. 

 It is thus apparent that the rocks are of secondary import- 

 ance so far as the welfare of most alpines is concerned, 

 and one must not exaggerate their value or use too many 

 of them. 



The uninitiated may be forgiven if, on seeing a flourish- 

 es 



