32 THE GARDEN BEAUTIFUL 



Others prefer the fine-leafed ice plant, Mesembry- 

 anthemum densum, but it is not a soil binder, merely 

 a cover that does not root except at one point, the 

 main stem of the plant. The stems spread out in 

 every direction for several feet, so that a bank eight 

 feet high may easily be covered by plants set on the 

 top level. Unless the soil beneath is very solid, al- 

 most rock, it will eventually by erosion wash into 

 gutters which each year become deeper until one is 

 surprised by an extensive and wholly unsuspected 

 landslide. This ice plant blossoms most profusely, 

 but the color is not a pleasing one, though there are 

 several larger leaved species with flowers in other 

 shades and colors. 



Lippia canescens is a soil binder in the strictest 

 sense of the word, rooting at every node or joint, and 

 these are but two to four inches apart. Because of 

 this frequent rooting lippia makes a very good bank 

 cover and is each year receiving wider recognition 

 for this purpose. It is not necessary to mow or cut 

 it, for the plant is of prostrate habit, and with all 

 the encouragement we may give it the result is a 

 thick mat but three inches deep which will overhang 

 walls for several feet without supporting soil as 

 readily as will the ice plant. In rather cold locali- 

 ties the color becomes very dull in winter, and the 

 plant is occasionally somewhat damaged by frost, 

 often dropping its leaves, to be renewed in warmer 

 weather. 



A prostrate juniper, English ivy, the "myrtle," 

 or vinca, common in other states, a native beach 

 strawberry, a creeping buttercup or ranunculus, and 

 quite a host of plants are available and effective as 

 soil covers either on flat surfaces or terrace banks. 



