124 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 1 910 



A rock garden which needs more grass and more paths. 



A rock garden insufficiently screened. 



No one who can move about out of doors is too much of 

 an invalid to enjoy the care of a rock garden, and no one who 

 has ever had such a care, is willing to give it up to a gardener. 

 It is too full of detail; on too small a scale for any hired gar- 

 dener, trained to grow roses and cabbages, to care for, unless 

 he too be an enthusiast and the garden is to be his and not 

 your own. It is like golf: if you would enjoy the game you must 

 play it yourself. 



The compensation for all this personal attention is a knowl- 

 edge and keen enjoyment of the smaller and more beautiful 

 flowering plants, things not commonly seen, and which must 



be seen close at hand, as they are in a rock garden, to be fully 

 enjoyed. 



Many of the plants which can be grown there are nearly 

 impossible to grow in other places, because they cannot en- 

 dure crowding, or because they must have special and peculiar 

 conditions provided for them. Many are above ground but a 

 few weeks in each year, and in the large flower garden would 

 inevitably be lost. They are often rare, and come in poor 

 condition, and must be nursed for a year or more, by shifting 

 to different positions, trying different soils, until they become 

 established. 



Steps in a natural ledge. 



