536 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



object is to secure, as far as practicable, an equal amount of 

 light for all plants, so that the foliage of the Ferns situated in 

 the lower parts should be quite as fresh as that of those planted 

 above, and this luxuriance should extend to the very margins of 

 the walks. Such results can only be obtained by the free 

 admission of light in all parts of the fernery, and at all times of 

 the year ; therefore, all undue obstruction should be carefully 

 avoided. It is for this reason that grottoes, as well as the 

 arches and masses of heavy, overhanging rocks, which one is so 

 accustomed to see in ferneries, should be carefully dispensed 

 with, for, although, to a limited degree, they may be tolerated in 

 a large place, the fernery will look better and more natural 

 without them. Certainly the Ferns will grow more satisfactorily, 

 for, however attractive the effect may be, it is invariably spoilt 

 by the sickly appearance of the Ferns planted in nooks deprived 

 of the necessary light. Tufa not only has a pleasant appearance, 

 but it is also, because of its porous nature, the material best 

 adapted for the building of rockeries in an exotic fernery. In 

 building the stone together large pockets intended for any large 

 growing Ferns may be provided, and these should be so arranged 

 that they may be connected with the bulk of the soil on which 

 the body of the rockwork is built, so that in course of time 

 the roots may find their way undisturbed in the subsoil, 

 as the comfort of the plants should on no account be sacri- 

 ficed to the appearance of the fernery itself, as is frequently 

 the case. 



With the exception of the large pockets recommended for 

 gigantic growing plants, it will be found that for the well-being 

 of the inmates as much as for the sake of the general appear- 

 ance of the place, the Ferns should be planted on the sloping 

 sides and on some mounds made of turfy peat securely held 

 together by means of wooden skewers and covered with a 

 layer of common living moss, which at first must be pegged 

 down firmly, but which in such a position rapidly grows 

 and binds the whole mass together. When planted in this 

 way, which is far more agreeable to the eye, and also more 

 beneficial to the plants than the use of pockets, Ferns 

 have more freedom of action allowed to their roots, which, 

 generally speaking, have a roaming propensity known only 

 to those who grow them. No regular pockets having to 

 be built, a smaller quantity of stone material is required, 

 while a greater bulk of soil generates proportionately a 

 greater amount of natural humidity not obtainable from 

 stone, however porous it may be. This mode of planting 

 also effectually prevents any sourness in the soil through the 

 air having free action all over its surface — a condition 

 unknown to plants grown in pockets generally, however spacious 

 these are. 



