128 Retaining Walls and Their Planting. 



the stones chosen or trimmed so that they have fairly good front edges and so 

 that they come together at the joints for at least a part of their depth. To 

 give better cohesion at the back a triangular piece can easily be fitted, as shown in 

 Fig. 163. The joints are then cemented, the cement joint being kept down 

 low and as much out of sight as possible. Then the whole thing will hold 

 together and little mosses will grow in the upper parts of the joints. On the 

 sides and even towards the earthy back of the step tiny things like the smaller 

 stonecrops and the smallest bell-flowers can be grown. Other near plants will 

 also seed over the space, and in a few years the problem will be how to repress 

 rather than encourage the quantity of plants that are only too willing to invade the 

 steps. The wider and shallower the steps the pleasanter they are to go up and 

 down — the extreme of comfort being a step from four to five inches high and twenty- 

 two to twenty-four inches from front to back ; such steps as one may run up and down. 

 The planting of the joints of pavements gives scope for much judicious work, 

 but needs great care and restraint. There should be no inconvenient invasion of 

 plants. The idea of such planting has so greatly attracted garden enthusiasts that 

 in many cases it has been carried too far. It should be remembered that the first 

 purpose of a paved space is to provide a dry, level place for easy progression. If 

 nearly every joint is filled with plants, those who pass along will either be obliged 

 to keep their eyes on the ground or they will frequently feel, with a pang of regret, 

 that some pretty thing has either been trodden under foot or inadvertently kicked 

 against and dislodged. It is better to keep all the middle space free, or to attempt 

 to do so, for small plants like these joints so well that they are apt both to run and seed 

 freely within their welcome shelter. 



