July 6, 1912 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



503 



pmg stones, and rock groupings, all pro- 

 vide matter for the closest attention, and 

 the keenest interest and thought. Geo- 



here. Inst-ead vou 



THE CHARM OF THE ROCK 



GARDEN, 



A deep interest pervades all that per- 

 tains to the rock garden of to-day. No 



phase of gardening is more popular with metry is out of place 



garden lovers, and the high standard of «'o,.rinr 



excellence attained in the art of rock gar- 

 den making is illustrative of the progress 

 made in natural gardening. The idea of 

 growing mountain and moorland plants in 

 a free manner, amid a natural setting of 

 rocks, and treated as nearly as possible 

 according to their requirements, has been 

 so enlarged upon, and so popularisefl that 

 few gardens of any size are without a rock 

 garden, or a place where rock plants are 

 grown and treated in a natural way. 



The pioneer work connected with the 

 rock garden has long since been accom- 

 plished, and now we are reaping the har- 

 vest of good ideas, which were largely pro- 



of the contour of mounds and slopes, the transferred ^to 

 making of valleys and drifts, the formation 



of streamlets, pools, rock pathways, step- 



all 



let vour mind wander back to scenes green 

 in the memory. A memory picture of a 

 rocky gorge o'erhung with ferns and light 

 tree growth, with a streamlet tossed from 

 rock to rock in a shower of white spray ; 

 another of a winding track between huge 

 boulders, and along the cliff face in a 

 mountain region ; a hillside broken by out- 

 crops of grey rock, o erclad with wild 

 thymes, heliaiithemums, sedums, etc., 

 its silence broken only by the song of the 

 lark or the droning of humble-bees among 

 the scented thyme blossoms; or a delight- 

 ful valley of gentle slopes, with a silent 

 stream-fed pool at the base, a vale of 

 flowers, of luxuriant shrubl)y growth, <if 



with 



the new- rock garden. 

 Slopes are clothed ; nooks, crannies, and 

 drifts between the rocks are planted up. 

 Time speeds on, and you add to the collec- 

 tion from time to time. 



It may be said that the true rock garden 

 is never twice alike. Every time you view 

 it there is something fresh. Some new 

 rarity i* blossoming, or some hitherto u^- 

 noted feature presents itself to the eye. 

 There is no monotony. Growth is prac- 

 tically continuous. From earliest spring 

 to the autumn days you obtain an un- 

 paralleled profusion of blossom, and in the 

 winter you have the charming range of 

 foliage colourings rendered by plants and 

 s^hrubs, mounds of grey-green, silver, and 

 bronze. Dw^irf pines and shrubs cluster 

 over the rock-face. There is movement, 

 life, and colour, always apparent. It is 

 the one phase of the garden wdiich does 

 nr)t disappoint in the shortest days. 



Illustrative of the diversity of the rock 



A BEAUTIFUL EOCK 



GARDEN SCENE AT HOLLAND HOUSE, SOUTHCLIPF. 



mulgated some forty years ago, by those 

 who w^ere engaged in combating the formal- 

 ism and incongruities largely found in the 

 gardens of that period. The majority 

 of my readers will have had ample oppor- 

 tunity of noting for themselves the possi- 

 bihties of the rock garden. It is capable 

 of the greatest diversity. No two rock 

 gardens need be alike, there being ample 

 scope for the formation of a landscape 

 which shall differ from every other land- 

 scape. 



I do not wish to infer that it is always 

 an unwise thing to copy some idea, or to 

 elaborate some detail; on the contrary, 

 »ome of the most delightful garden 

 features are but the outcome of an idea 

 arising in another garden. Apart from 

 this consideration, there is no reason 

 why every rock garden should not be 



distinctive, and quite different from its 

 fellows. 



decorative reeds, and sub-aquatics nodding 

 to every movement of the breeze. These 

 memory pictures give inspiration. 



The gentle stream, the rocky gorge, the 

 ealm sweet valley, must live again in the 

 rock garden you are making. \ou may 

 not copy them, as a Japanese landscape 



garden is appended a view of a corner of 

 the rock garden at Holland House, South- 

 cliff, in May. Just at this time irises, 

 helianthemums, anemones, Pieony :Moutan, 

 meonies, alpine phloxes, etc., are aiding 



ifrages, etc., in the 



artist would. 



You add something here, 



delete something there, as fancy dictates, 



• - - ^ It 



The matter of the construction of a rock or ^ulut:-!^. ...... r , „arpfn11v 



garden is full of interest. The question ranges at home and abroad, and caieuuij 



but vour memory picture is not erased, 

 gives the main idea, the keynote, and you 

 plav upon it, evolving from it a refreshing 

 bit^of garden scenery. Thus you go on. 

 The charm of making the rock garden re- 

 mains as long as the task lasts. Then 

 comes the soiling up, and the planting. 

 The selection of the plants which are to 

 inhabit the new home. You range through 

 crowds of subjects (popuhir, nove ties, 

 rarities), exercising a choice Tjdnch is 

 guided by a love of the rock dwellers and 

 their beauties. Plants may be purchased 

 gathere<l from hillsides and mountain 



violas, aubrietias, 

 making of many pictures 



Added to the general charm of the rocK 

 crarden there is a rich mine of inter^t 

 Tn the raising of seedling plants. The 

 crossing of specific forms of saxifrages, and 

 manv other subjects, will give the greatest 

 delight, for in batches of seedlings one 

 hailt new colours, new forms, new varie- 

 ties. Something that will give new tones 

 of colour among the rocks, or contrasts 

 with existing varieties. Somethmg that 

 will charm vour visitors, and prove a fount 

 of interest to all who are versed m moun- 



*^OnSa.?only to witness the interest now 

 taken in hvbrid saxifrag^ to ^^I'^^^^T^ 



other plants. ^- 



