CONSTRUCTING ROCKWORK. 



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stones not wholly obscured. Alpine plants cannot thrive under forest trees, and if the 

 roots of these find their way, and they travel to a surprising distance, up into a 

 rockwork, the proper occupants may be expected to dwindle away. An old stone 

 quarry is to be met with occasionally conveniently near to a private residence or in a 

 public park, and where this occurs no better site for a rock garden on a large scale 

 could well be chosen. Every advantage ought to be taken of the various irregularities 

 and inequalities usually met with in disused quarries, and walks made to wind in and 

 out among rocks, arranged to meet the requirements of plants that flourish in such 

 positions. 



Much may be done towards imitating a natural arrangement of rocks, even when 

 the start has to be made on a perfectly flat, clear space. For instance, a winding walk 

 could be traced out, the best of the surface soil dug and wheeled to one side for future 

 use, and the subsoil banked up on both sides, to form a solid foundation for some of 

 the rockwork. A horse-shoe arrangement would be appropriate in some positions. 

 In the centre might be formed a rockwork for alpines, and on the opposite side of 

 the walk nooks provided for ferns and other strong-growing plants. With ample space 

 and materials, a series of winding banks and intervening mounds, with sinuous paths 

 between them, leading " up hill and down dale," may be made the congenial home of 

 a host of charming plants that succeed in different aspects, and prove a source of delight 

 to their owners ; but in small gardens it is not wise to attempt too much. Simple, 

 informal mounds (Fig. 46), in which plants are happy, being more satisfying and more 

 tasteful than is any evidently pretentious straining for effect. Such mounds, varying 

 in size and shape, can be formed with few stones in a^jpropriate positions by amateurs, 

 in small or large gardens. 



When it is thought desirable to introduce caves and other elaborate rock scenes, 

 they can only be properly represented by men experienced in that kind of work. In 

 each and every case where the sites for rockeries are not naturally drained, provision 

 ought to be made for the escape of superfluous water. 



For ordinary rockwork little or no cement need be used. It is of good service in 

 the construction of grottos, archways, caves, and other adjuncts, to give solidity, but 

 is not favourable to plant growth. Nor are masses of glittering spar, quartz, or 

 crystallized stones generally well adapted for forming rockwork. It is true they are 

 extensively employed for the purpose, but they are too glaring to please the eye or to 

 be congenial to the plants about them. In caves and grottos they may be effectively 



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