The Beginners Book Of Gardening by Roberts Harry

Author:Roberts,Harry.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: TECHNOLOGY, Agriculture and related sciences and techniques. Forestry. Farming. Wildlife exploitation
Publisher: John Lane The Bodley Head.
Published: 1911-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

ROCK OR ALPINE GARDENS

THERE are few ways of making a small garden interesting more effective than by the construction of a simple rock garden for the growth of the smaller Alpine plants, and in the case of larger gardens a properly made rock garden always forms one of its most interesting features. The first thing for the beginner to get out of his mind, however, is the notion that the rock garden proper has any relation to the heap of refuse, broken pottery, shells, and clinkers to which the name of "rockery" is commonly applied. A rock garden, whether small or big, is merely a suitable home for the cultivation of certain plants whose roots do best when allowed to nestle against or creep under stones more or less buried in the ground. In the " rockery," as it is generally known, the aim seems to be to produce the most showy and hideous collection of stones, shells, and fragments obtainable; in the rock garden the first thought is the health of the plants which are to occupy it.

The object of the stones is to retain moisture for the roots, and at the same time to keep the stems of the plants dry. The usual mistake made in the construction of rock gardens is to make a stone structure, and on this to place a more or less shallow layer of soil. It is commonly thought that these little plants require but very shallow soil. A depression in the surface of a stone is occupied with a cupful of earth, and this is thought to provide a comfortable home for any Alpine plant you may care to plant there. As these plants occur in a

48 BEGINNER'S BOOK OF GARDENING

state of nature they often appear to be growing on the very surface of the rock itself, yet if we break away a part of the rock on whose surface they appear to be rooted, we shall find there rootlets penetrating for inches, often for feet, through minute cracks and crevices scarcely visible to the eye. As a rule, Alpines do not require rich soil, but depth of soil they must have. Only in this way are they able to be afforded that uniformity of temperature which is one of the essentials of their existence. Three feet deep is not too much for most kinds of Alpine plants, and for the majority of species this soil should consist of a mixture of loam, sand, leaf mould, peat, and broken grit. Indeed, the most satisfactory type of rock garden for a small area is to construct what is practically a slightly raised border almost buried in which are placed irregular masses of local rock. Only rough pieces of stone, preferably the stone of the locality, should be used. Limestone and sandstone are especially suitable. Burnt bricks, burrs, and shells should be carefully avoided. The pieces of stone should, as we have said, be almost buried in the soil, and the projecting parts should appear to be a natural outcrop of stone.

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