6 ROCK AND WATER GARDENS 



jewelling the fissures of a rugged scarp, we shall nearly 

 always find that the rock face is neither perpendicular 

 nor recessed, but that it slopes backward. The advan- 

 tage of this to the plant is obvious. The full exposure 

 to sun and air, and the certainty with which after every 

 shower the rain trickles into the crevices, accounts easily 

 for the increased vegetation. Not so when the rocks 

 overhang. Here there are dark gloomy hollows, which 

 the sun's rays never pierce ; the earth in the fissures is 

 dry and powdery, and in such places a flowering plant is 

 a rarity. A tattered curtain of dark ivy may veU the 

 naked rock, or on a porous limestone green vegetable 

 growths will spread like stains, but of brightness and 

 beauty there is none. 



Yet in spite of this it is a common thing in rock 

 gardens to see the stones set perpendicularly in the 

 earth, or worse still in such a way that they form a sort 

 of roof to the plants beneath. In the case of elaborate 

 designs in which natural stone is simulated by cement- 

 work, the inclusion of a number of overhanging pin- 

 nacles and awkward masses of stone balanced so that 

 they appear in danger of falling, seems to be an insepar- 

 able feature. Under the idea that Alpines are delicate 

 and need shelter, they are pushed under these rock 

 ledges, quite unmindful of the fact that the soil in such 

 places is as dry as dust, and that they are practically 

 sunless. 



An ill-considered site frequently militates against the 

 successful culture of rock plants and Alpines. More 

 often than not, a passage between high earth banks is 

 considered to offer ideal natural advantages for the 

 laying out of a rock garden. A moment's reflection 

 should serve to convince us that mountain plants would 

 be far more at home on ground that is well elevated. 

 Half the rock gardens in the country have been made in 

 cup-shaped hollows and deep cuttings. Hot and airless 



