NATURAL ROCK GARDEN 
(SEE PLAN NO. II) 
UPPOSE a ledge of rock cropping out near an area that is to be- 
come a smooth sloping lawn. We may wish to blast out the en- 
tire ledge but that would be a mistake, for we have here an 
opportunity to make a rare feature—a natural rock garden. ‘The accom- 
panying plan gives the essential topography of such an outcrop near a 
path leading from the house and across the lawn. The cross-hatched 
areas represent the rock face in plan, and the length of line used suggests 
the actual elevation of the larger rocks. The land slopes toward the 
north and east, and while the upper edge of the ledge is but little above 
the surrounding lawn, the lower portion is quite rugged. The whole 
region is fully exposed to the sun all day long. 
So great a proportion of rocks is provided naturally that no stones 
need be added, save to complete the walk where the spaces are too wide 
to be stepped across easily, for, though there are steep little slopes, most 
of the rock may be walked upon in any direction regardless of the plants. 
For these added stones be sure to get rock of the region (either from the 
ledge itself or a similar formation near by). This outcrop we suppose 
to be pudding-stone, granite, or other hard stone, and scarcely weathered. 
Much of it is lichen-covered, and such exposed faces are to be carefully 
preserved, while no dirt-marked faces are to be uncovered. 
To support much herbage it will be necessary to add gritty soil to 
the hollows and crevices, for centuries of rain have washed bare the rock 
face. The less elevated central portion may receive a foot of sandy com- 
posted soil, so that we may grow dwarf shrubs in that part of the gar- 
den. The outer side of the rock area should be thoroughly enriched for low 
shrubbery and lawn. 
‘Only plants with iron-clad constitutions will thrive in this garden. 
There is no under drainage, no flow from moisture below in summer; so 
the soil will be baked dry as dust in August, and flooded by winter rains; 
while frost will heave the plants where the soil is thin, and ice will form 
in the hollows. We put on soil enough that water will not stand in all 
the hollows in winter, yet leave enough hollows that some of the summer 
rain will be held, for we cannot reach this region with the hose from the 
lawn. Succulent plants and other desert lovers are the main feature, es- 
pecially the great tribe of Sedums and their relatives. 
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