ROCK GARDENSRock Gardens Overview - 5As regards the situation
of the rock garden, it should, where possible,
have an open, sunny position, away from walls
and trees. The latter will prevent the circulation
of fresh air so necessary to alpine plants
and, in addition, the roots will soon find
their way into the soil provided for the
rock plants, and rob it of its nourishment.
The rock garden always looks best where it
has not to bear contrast with any formal
arrangement of garden or shrubbery; a wild
and "natural-looking" site, and,
where possible, one where the natural rock
of the district crops up here and there,
is the most favorable. In making the garden
the stone of the district should always be
used where possible, although it is advisable
in the dry districts in the east and south
of Great Britain to use a porous sandstone,
as this provides a kindlier home for the
roots and a cooler stone for the foliage
in the long sunny days. The more rugged limestone
of the Cheddar and Lancashire hills has a
most natural weather-worn appearance and
the cracks and crevices provide a cool root-run
for the plants in the wetter areas of the
north and west coasts. In the industrial
areas where there is considerable atmospheric
pollution the natural lichen and mosses are
quickly removed, leaving a somewhat grim
appearance to what should have been a very
harmonious picture. The stone chosen should
be porous so as to be able to absorb ample
moisture: hard, impermeable rocks, like granite,
should, therefore, be avoided unless arranged
with skill, except in the wetter regions.
Any natural rock formation should be used
as a basis, the garden being constructed
round and among it, the knolls or banks required
being built up, not on heaps of stones, but
on good soil, with big stones set in out-cropping
groups here and there, the surface being
set fairly thickly with stones of varying
sizes, but all of the same kind. Let the
stones be rugged and as massive as the size
of the rock garden and one's means will warrant.
Here and there set in larger stones, sometimes
touching and forming ledges and knolls so
that, when these are filled with plants,
they give the whole the appearance of solidarity
and the bold outlines of natural stratification.
It is essential that there shall be no spaces
and dry hollows amongst and around the stones,
and that the earth shall be well bedded round
them. next rock gardens overview
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