THE WISLEY ROCK AND WATER GARDEN. 



229 



stored as near as practicable. In order to bring this and other material 

 to the spot, another light railway was laid across the fruit garden above 

 the site, leading from the nearest road, a distance of some four hundred 

 yards. 



The stone adopted was a Sussex sandstone, selected on account of 

 its good bold shapes and sizes, and for its pleasing colour, which har- 

 monizes well with the soil, so that the rock appears to have been 

 discovered and partially exposed in places. The stone was taken to 

 the various parts of the garden by means of the tramway and other 

 suitable appliances and placed in position. Fig. 73 shows some of the 

 heavier stone being moved, and gives i good idea of the steep nature of 

 the bank in places. Each and every stone was laid on its proper bed — 

 i.e., practically in the same position as quarried, thus adhering as nearly 

 as possible to the natural formation. In shaping the ground care was 

 taken to obtain as many south aspects as possible, necessitating very 

 careful' manipulation, owing to the fact that the bank faces north-west. 

 This was done in order that adequate provision might be made for 

 accommodating plants thriving in different aspect, for the chief aim or 

 purpose of a rock and alpine garden must be the growth and well-being 

 of the plants, the actual display of the rocks being, of course, of 

 secondary importance. There is no valid reason, however, why the 

 formation of the rock itself should be a bad second; quite the reverse, 

 for the ideal rock garden is that in which the stone is placed in a bank 

 or cliff with due regard to Nature. 



There are many who seem to be obsessed with the idea that all 

 element of design can be a minus quantity in the rock garden, that any 

 disorderly heap of stones suffices : hence we see, even in some of our 

 foremost gardens, stones dropped apparently anyhow, in a chaotic 

 manner, as though shot from a cart, and plants thrust among them. 

 Sometimes square bits of granite kerb, broken gas-retort, and even 

 clinkers, are pressed into the service. How can any rock garden look 

 or be natural when made in this haphazard fashion? The perpetrators 

 of these outrages apparently forget that the rules of the rock garden are 

 the rules of Nature herself. " Oh! " but I hear some apologist say, 

 " the plants will soon grow up and hide all that." A poor excuse, 

 indeed ! Why should all the rock be hidden ? You must have some of 

 it visible to harmonize with the beautiful colours of the plants with 

 which it is clad. And what a poor apology for the rock builder to have 

 to make, that the formation of the rock is so bad that it must all be 

 covered up as quickly as possible, lest the susceptibilities of the critical 

 be shocked. 



It was felt that the construction of the rockwork at Wisley, of all 

 places, should be such that every subject should not only look, but be, 

 perfectly at home, and, as nearly as such could be obtained, in its 

 natural haunt. Thus, each stone individually was carefully bedded in 

 soil, at depths to suit the varying requirements of the alpines and 

 shrubs, with a suitable dip and root connexion towards the mother earth, 

 interstices being left between each and every stone for the purpose. 



