240 



Gardens for Small Country Houses. 



CHAPTER XXL— ROCK GARDENS. 



(Contributed by Raymond E. Negus.) 



Modern Rock Gardening — Principles of Design — Stratification — -Formation of the Rock 

 Garden — Kinds of Rock- — Likes and Dislikes of Alpines — Planting — Shrubs — Situation 

 of the Rock Garden — Uses of Ro'ckwork — Pools — Bog Gardens — Paths — Steps — Moraines. 



THE charms of rock gardening are so many and so varied that no owner of a 

 garden should fail to devote some small portion oS. tjie space at his disposal 

 to the culture of alpines and rock plants if the site lends itself to such treatment. 



In spite of the mass of literature upon the topic the true principles upon which practice 



should be based 9.re little appreciated 

 to-day. The rock • garden, unlike riiany 

 other forms of horticulture, is a deliberate 

 imitation of Nature; nine-tenths of our 

 rock gardens, xf they imitate Nature at all, 

 imitate her in her least pleasiilg moods, for 

 they represent formless heaps, of rubble. 

 Every stoiie in the garden should bear 

 the semblance of having been in its place 

 from time immemorial. The first principle 

 of rock gardening is, " Adopt a definite 

 scheme of stratification and carry it out 

 uniformly throughout your garden." In 

 Nature, it • is true, a few kinds of rock, 

 such as granite, are unstratified ; but 

 they are rarely suitable for rock garden- 

 ing. The stones used should be of 

 the largest possible size compatible with 



convenience of handling. It is of the utmost importance that a stone once placed 



in position should never be moved ; moreover, large, well-placed rocks are a joy 



in and for themselves (see 



Fig. 361), whereas small 



ones almost invariably look 



scrappy. Large rocks afford 



a firm foothold by which 



you may hop nimbly from 



ledge to ledge and use deft 



fingers to advantage with- 

 out leaving a footmark, and 



without inflicting injury on 



tender growths. 



Fig. 362 affords an 



example of the errors into 



which neglect of right 



principles leads the maker 



of a rock garden. In the 



foreground are several fig. 360.— rocks properly stratified and skilfully l.^id. 



FIG. 359. — OUTCROP OF STRATIFIED ROCK AT CORNERS. 



