ALPINE, ROCK AND WALL GARDENS 



building process, of course, no cement should be used, the essential 

 object being to provide suitable crevices in which the plants may 

 firmly root themselves, for many a plant not more than an inch high 

 wiU send out roots a yard long, perhaps radiating in all directions 

 against a flat rock. The whole surface of the Alpine Garden should 

 be covered with plants as far as possible, and a good effect may be 

 obtained by the formation of irregular steps with Violets and Stone- 

 crop jutting out from the crevices. 



Another important consideration in forming an Alpine Garden 

 is the quality of the soil. Most Alpine plants require ., 

 a deep soil — some three feet, at least, should be 

 allowed — for their natural disposition is to root deeply, and unless 

 they have provision made for this they will quickly perish in any 

 drought. Ordinary loam, mixed with broken sandstone and grit, 

 win suit most species, but peat is desirable for some — such as Tril- 

 hiun, Cypripedium and Spigelia — and hence it is good to include a 

 few patches of peat for the benefit of such plants. Some calcareous 

 soil may also be introduced with advantage, as certain plants, 

 among which may be mentioned the Milkworts and Bee Orchis, 

 thrive best in chalky formations. 



There can be no doubt that an Alpine Garden, such as here in- 

 dicated, may be a source of much pleasure and interest to the amateur 

 gardener, and when once established it requires but little labovir. 

 Alpine plants have a peculiar charm of their own, embracing such 

 a wide variety of beauty both in form and colour — in their deUcate 

 fairy-like ferns, their creeping mosses, their tiny orchids, their 

 dwarf evergreen shrubs — so small yet so perfect in fohage and 

 blossom — ^that they can scarcely fail to engender a passionate en- 

 thusiasm. 



THE ROCK GARDEN 



Although an Alpine Garden, in its best form, becomes essentially 

 a Rock Garden, it is not only with Alpine plants that a Rock Garden 

 can be made. There are many creeping mosses and low-growing 

 plants which wiU do well on a properly-formed " rockery," thriving 

 better in such a position and displaying their characteristics to 

 greater advantage than in an ordinaiy border. Among such are 

 the various kinds of Sedum (Stonecrop) and Saxifrage g . . 

 (Rockfoil), while the common Wild Thyme and its pi'jljjts^ 

 white variety quickly spread into living cushions of 

 scented beauty. These, with Yellow Alyssum, White Arabis £md 



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