Designer and Architect 



and special treatment. If to such a position as this there 

 could be added a site having an undulated surface, then 

 I believe we shall have gone a long way towards secur- 

 ing " the best " so far as position alone is concerned. 



The Builder of the Rock Garden. — The best position, 

 however, is, as it were, but a single step, though an 

 important one, arid in its subsequent treatment — in 

 building up the other steps of ^hich rock gardening 

 may be said to be composed — ^it is capable of being 

 made or marred. Its fashioner, or builder — I am 

 strongly opposed to such terms as "designer" and 

 " architect " in these matters, since it is not a brick and 

 mortar arrangement whose " elevations " can be more 

 or less accurately displayed — should be a man of the 

 widest sympathies, a close observer of Nature and 

 Nature's ways if the best results are to follow. Such 

 an one will see to it that a certain informality, whether 

 of rock or general outline, exists everywhere. Anon, 

 it may be ruggedness, should the extent of the arrange- 

 ment and its immediate environment render a bolder 

 treatment more in keeping with the general surround- 

 ings, which, indeed, should never be left out of the 

 reckoning. In any case, it should please by reason of 

 its naturalness, whether it be large or small ; and while 

 we cannot imitate in lowland gardens the majestic 

 grandeur of Alpine regions, we can, at least, use our 

 best endeavours to demonstrate our sympathies with 

 Nature and Nature's work by producing something 

 which is at once picturesque and useful. It is necessary 

 in these rock-gardening times to lay some stress upon 

 this latter phrase, since not a few of the rock gardens 

 we see are too slavish an imitation of Nature's own, and 

 where rocks existed for centuries without becoming 

 ornamented in the slightest degree, they are calculated 

 to be of httle use if rearranged on a like plan in our 

 gardens. Much is possible by a modification of it, and 

 the rock builder, possessing a more or less profound 

 knowledge of the requirements of Alpine vegetation, 

 is not likely to go far astray. 



