1879.] 
AMERICAN AGtRICTjXjTXJUIST. 
Hardy Ferneries and Kock-Work. 
The numerous inquiries as to the constraction of 
hardy ferneries are especially welcome, as they in¬ 
dicate a diversity of tastes in gardening matters, 
and show that the number of those is increasing 
who can see beauty in plants as well as flowers. 
For the successful cultivation of many ferns, if not 
the majority, an artificial rock-work is necessary, 
and a rock-work or rock garden allows of the cul¬ 
tivation of, besides ferns, a large number of plants 
classed as alpine. First, as to the rock-work; 
much of it is literally rock-woWc, and very bad 
Fig. 1.— WRONG. Fig. 2.— RIGHT. 
work. Nothing can be more out of place than a 
pile of stones upon a lawn—like an eruption upon 
a fair face. A rock-work should never be made 
for the sake of the rocks. Monstrous things are 
built up with stones and cement, with pockets to 
hold soil; plants, without reference to their native 
localities, are set upon it, and the whole left to 
frizzle in our hot suns. A rock-work is needed 
merely because it enables us to grow certain plants 
better than in any other manner, just as we give 
some plants the wettest available spot, so we give 
others the rock-garden, that they may feel the 
more at home. The rock-garden, being as far as 
possible from the formal and artificial, should not 
Fig. 3.—rocks naturaj.lt placed. 
be in the flower-beds or upon the lawn, but in some 
nook or comer where such a wild spot might nat¬ 
urally occur. Many suppose that rock-plants, 
including ferns, must have shade. This is not 
essential, as such plants vary greatly in this respect, 
and many of the finest species, in their native al¬ 
pine homes, are exposed to the full sun. The 
peculiarity of those plants which flourish best on 
the rock-work is, that they have long fine roots, 
Fig. 4.— ROCKS ARTIFICIALLY PLACED. 
which find their way down among the crevices of 
the rocks, where they are not affected by drouth- 
in fact, plants which really need a mulching of 
stones. In constructing a rock-garden, one must 
avail himself of the materials at hand ; if weather¬ 
worn, lichen-stained and moss-covered stones are 
to be obtained, they will be all the more pleasing. 
No rule can be given as to form and arrangement, 
but if one is in a rocky district, follow as near as 
possible the natural arrangement of the rocks of 
187 
the neighborhood. Rocks of various sizes, from 
as large as one’s fist, up to the size of a barrel, 
may be made useful. A flat, unbroken rock is of 
little use to the plants in question. It is the crev¬ 
ices between the rocks that gives the rock-work its 
value. The boy’s description of making a cannon 
—“ they take a long hole and pour 
melted iron around it ”—applies in 
a measure to rock-work ; we want 
many long holes with rocks around 
them, and we also want those holes 
filled with earth. The essential 
point to be observed is, to have all 
crevices or spaces between the 
rocks in full communication with 
the earth. Whether a large or 
small body of earth, a mere crack 
or a “pocket” is to hold the 
roots of the plants ; the roots should find earth all 
the way down, until they reach the surface of the 
planet itself. In this case the earth is always kept 
from drying out by the ascent of moisture from be¬ 
low. Another point is, that the crevices be so 
arranged as to receive the rain that falls. In his 
excellent work on “Alpine Plants,” Mr. Wm.Robin¬ 
son, editor of “The Garden,” London, Eng., gives 
some instructive illustrations of the manner in 
which rock-gardens should be constructed, and he 
emphasizes his teachings by showing how the work 
should not be done, as well as the proper method. 
We here reproduce some of his engravings. 
Where, as may sometimes be the case, 
rocks are so placed as to leave the 
fissures in a nearly horizontal manner; 
if these are as in figure 1, the plants 
will fare badly, as they are put in 
places of safety where no rains can 
reach them. The right method in such 
cases is shown in figure 2. In figures 
3 and 4, by the same author, we have 
the right and the wrong methods of 
treating rock-work ; in the first (fig. 
3) the rocks appear as if nature had 
placed them there, while in figure 4 
the artificial character of the struc¬ 
ture is manifest. A rock-garden may be a simple 
affair, or if one has the means it may be an exten¬ 
sive structure, with ravines, defiles, chasms, cas¬ 
cades, caverns, etc, and the work referred to gives 
some illustrations of what may be done if one has 
the means to expend in this direction. Of course 
we have in view only an inexpensive structure, if 
it can be so termed. The appearance of an unpre¬ 
tending rock-garden, when the rocks are made to 
appear as if a natural 
out-crop, is given in 
figure 5, from the 
same author, who in 
figure 6 shows how 
an old stone wall may 
be utilized and con¬ 
verted from an en¬ 
cumbrance into a 
pleasing feature. If 
one is so situated 
that a rock-work of 
even the simplest 
form is not practica¬ 
ble, the cultivation 
of alpine and rock 
plants need not be 
abandoned. As al¬ 
ready stated, one of 
the principal reasons 
why certain plants 
grow better on a rock- 
work than elsewhere 
—some even refusing 
altogether to flour¬ 
ish in the ordinary 
border, is the pro¬ 
tection afforded to 
the roots, and this probably consists as much in 
preserving a uniformity of temperature as a suffi¬ 
cient moisture. These conditions can in many 
cases be met by setting the plant in the border, 
and then placing around it a broad, low mound of 
stones, extending several inches from the plant. 
The soil is of quite as much importance as the 
rocks themselves. In no case should it be of a 
kind to pack hard or to bake ; woods-earth or peat, 
with an abundance of coarse, sharp sand, will ap¬ 
proach in character to the soil of their native 
homes. Mr. John Robinson, Salem, Mass., in his 
Fig. 5.— A SMALL ROCK GARDEN. 
admirable work on fern culture, shows how easy it 
is to those, who care for the plants, rather than for 
a pretentious place to grow them, to have a fernery, 
even within the limits of a city yard. We give a 
portion of his illustration of his fernery (figure 7). 
A rough wall was built of loosely piled rocks, about 
two feet in front of the boundary fence,also of stone ; 
the space between was filled with suitable soil, 
which found its way into crevices among the rocks. 
The large ferns were planted at the rear, the smaller 
in front and in and among the “pockets” of the 
rough wall. When the boundary fence is of wood, 
a rear wall would have to be built also. The 
Fig. 6.—AN OLD WALL USED AS A FERNERY. 
rock-garden being provided, it is to be stocked 
with plants ; it may be devoted to ferns only, or 
to alpine flowering plants. In either case one will 
find in the vicinity a large number of plants suited 
to such situations, and the rambles in search of 
them, the finding, the bringing home and planting 
will bring a foretaste of the pleasure to be derived 
in caring for them in after years. If impatient for 
an immediate effect, and unwilling to await the 
Fig. 7.— HARDY FERNERY IN A CITY YARD. 
slow process of gradually transferring here the re¬ 
sults of one’s own collections, there are establish¬ 
ments where “Alpine Plants,” including our choicer 
native species, are to be had at moderate prices. 
Such plants may even be cultivated in pots, 
by making each pot a miniature rock-garden. 
