ROCK GARDENS 133 



can be spared for plants to grow in, little dwarf alpines 

 will nestle happily there. 



This arrangement is a help to those who do not wish to 

 go to the outlay involved by stones for either " dry walling" 

 or a proper rock garden, because, even if there is a quarry 

 near, the expense of cartage is always a heavy one. It is 

 also a ready means of getting rid of useless stones and old 

 bricks, and will give a very great deal of pleasure where 

 a more important style cannot be achieved. 



Another simple way of making a rock garden is by 

 planting dwarf plants in the crevices between stone 

 steps. There often are cracks between two slabs of pave- 

 ment, and as long as these do not occur where the tread 

 comes the plants will flourish and help to soften the archi- 

 tectural feature. If stone steps are too important for the 

 garden, a very good alternative is to use disused wooden 

 railway-sleepers. They stand a great deal of wear and 

 exposure to weather, and if little pieces of dianthus, 

 aubrietia, and arabis are used in the interstices between 

 the logs of wood a pretty effect will be had. " C'est une 

 montagne de fleurs !" said an old French bonne, as she 

 looked up at the garden slope towards the different 

 flower-crevices which had been so contrived ; for even 

 the dark wood of the steps could scarcely be seen between 

 the bright colours of flowers. 



Mason's Walls 



In places where there are mason's walls — that is to say, 

 not " dry " ones, but where cement has been used — a 

 different kind of garden can be made. There are two 

 ways of doing this. Either cracks and holes can be 

 utilized for seed-sowing, and such pretty things as wall- 

 flowers, antirrhinums, or foxgloves can decorate them, 

 with perhaps a marsh rose growing up between ; or stone 



