ROCK GARDENING 



ing alpine garden, he imagines all the plants to be merely 

 surface rooting, for that is the impression usually conveyed. 

 Yet most alpine plants have long roots that go far in 

 search of moisture, and this is the explanation of the rude 

 health of many that appear to derive their sustenance from 

 the bare rocks on which they are poised. The first 

 care must be to provide a good depth of soil, without 

 which the plants are bound to languish. Then the 

 worker may exercise his skill in arranging the form of 

 the garden, its little hills and valleys, bays and pro- 

 montories, winding walks and stepping-stones, and, if a 

 supply of water be available, little pools and rivulets, or a 

 miniature mountain torrent tumbling over some rocky 

 face. Such trifles as these give life to the alpine garden, 

 and the manner of their disposal distinguishes one rockery 

 from another. Providing the arrangement is on natural 

 lines, and due consideration is given to the welfare of 

 the plants, the actual design if one may use the word 

 in this connection is not of such importance as in many 

 other phases of gardening, for rock gardens differing 

 totally in conception and arrangement may be equally 

 praiseworthy. 



In disposing the stones, care should be taken to place 

 them with due regard to their strata ; not, for instance, 

 to stick up on end those that were horizontal in their 

 natural bed ; in fact, the home gardener will do well not 

 to stick up on end any stones at all, especially if his rock 

 garden is quite a small one. The best way to make use 

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