The Rockery. 627 



\Ve now come to consider the details or filling up of our 

 picture, such as the shrubberies and flower-garden proper, with 

 their various accessories. A fanciful method of planting, 

 formerly more in vogue than at the present day, was a series of 

 hedges and walks termed a maze or labyrinth, so arranged as 

 to cause a considerable amount of walking to the uninitiated, 

 in order to arrive at the centre. Fig. 263 is a representation of 

 a maze, designed by Claude Mollet in 1653 The hedges may 

 be composed of Yew, Hornbeam, Beech, Arbor- Vitae, or espa- 

 lier fruit-trees, according to taste, and the distance apart 

 according to available space, but it should not be great. The 

 height of the hedges would be regulated by the nature of the 

 ground, whether flat or gradually rising towards the centre. 



A rockery or artificial arrangement of stonework for the 

 cultivation of Alpine plants is a thing not to be attempted by 

 those who have not proper materials for constructing it, and 

 ample time to devote to the care of its occupants. A rockery 

 in perfection is one of the most expensive luxuries of garden- 

 ing. A fair collection of Alpine and rock plants, it is true, 

 may now be purchased for a comparatively trifling sum ; but 

 to keep them in health requires more than ordinary skill, com- 

 bined with an intimate knowledge of their natural habitats 

 and peculiarities of constitution. A tastefully constructed 

 rockwork, in a suitable position, well clothed with the gems 

 of the higher mountains and northern regions, is a continual 

 feast for the lovers of nature's more modest yet curious pro- 

 ductions, and therefore we cannot pass it over without a few 

 words. The scale of such a construction would naturally be in 

 proportion to the extent of the garden and the site chosen. 

 It should be as simple as possible, and all embellishments in 

 the way of ornamental stones or other accessories should be 

 eschewed. In the choice of site we must be guided by the 

 wants of the plants plenty of air, facilities for supplying water 

 in profusion, and freedom from the drip of trees and also by 

 the nature of the ground at our disposal. Porous rock and 

 sandy peaty soil, s.o disposed as to leave interstices large 

 enough for the bigger plants, and to afford shade to those "re- 

 quiring it, are indispensable conditions. Every portion must 

 be well-drained, for, though they revel in moisture overhead 

 ; at certain seasons, they are almost without exception very 

 impatient of stagnant water at the roots. In building a 

 rockery, the .principal things to keep in view are proper pro* 



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