ROCKY MOUND FOR PLANTS. 



Q3 



as the rocks or stones are grouped ; but this depends on the season, and whether the 

 plants are removed from pots or taken from the open ground. 



The formation of a rock-garden suitable for the growth of flowering plants, shrubs, 

 and ferns, ought, as previously indicated, to be of a character to provide for deep root 

 action on the part of a variety of mountainous plants that will not thrive unless so 

 accommodated. This can be done, and yet the stones present a natural appearance, 

 much as shown in Fig, 47. It is not a case of forming a sloping bank from which 

 soil and plants may be washed between the stones, but the stones support the 

 soil, and the plants flourish. They can be inspected and attended to in all parts of 

 a rockery, however large, by the provision of rough yet convenient steps, and a 



Fig. 48. Section of Eockeet in which Plants will tloueish. 



rugged path, which may moreover add to the picturesqueness of the whole arrange- 

 ment. 



A glance at Fig. 48, a sectional view of a rockwork arranged somewhat after the 

 manner depicted in the preceding illustration, will explain what should be done. The 

 stones are sunk and disposed on their thickest end, and so project as to ofier solid fronts 

 one behind the other. Forming banks of soil and laying the stones one above another 

 on them will not do. In some positions the site should be excavated to a depth of 

 2 feet, more or less according to circumstances, and if the subsoil be of a clayey nature 

 lay a common 3 -inch pipe along the bottom, connecting this with a main drain, or 

 providing a suitable outlet. On the pipes place a layer of coarse stones, then a foot 



