CHAPTER II 

 ROCKS AND SOIL 



NATURAL versus Artificial Rock.— The question of 

 the selection of the most suitable rock naturally 

 follows closely upon that of position, and merits care- 

 ful consideration. Upon a good, or, shall I say a right, 

 selection much depends. ' Into rock-garden construc- 

 tion in the past two classes of rocks have freely entered 

 without regard to their suita.bility or otherwise. These 

 are the " natural " and the " artificial." Of the former 

 there are many types — good, bad and indifferent — 

 hence they merit attention accordingly. The so-called 

 " artificial rocks " are almost all wholly bad, and merit 

 a "vote of censure" from the inutility standpoint if 

 nothing more. For the moment, however, these might 

 be dismissed altogether, having regard to the greater 

 value of natural rock (Fig. i). 



Natural Rocks. — These, as already stated, are of 

 many types, and of necessity include the suitable and 

 the unsuitable — ^that is to say, those of a sympathetic 

 and nourishing nature, or the reverse, and as one of the 

 primary objects of a rock garden is that it be endowed 

 with alpine vegetable life, it is those of the first-named 

 set that are best suited to our purpose. Into this 

 category fall quite naturally the vast majority of the 

 sandstones and limestones found in these islands. One 

 uses the word "majority" advisedly, inasmuch as 

 there are the good and bad of both, hence the value of 

 a right selection at the outset. Certain types of rock — 

 the inferior oplite of the Cotswolds for example — 

 crumble quickly under the influence of frost and expo- 

 sure, hence a rock garden constructed of such material 



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