ROCK GARDENS

Paved Rock Gardens 1

Of late years there has been a great reaction against the very formal gardens of our grandfathers, and those responsible for designing and laying out gardens have endeavored to obtain effects, both as regards form and color grouping, similar to those which nature herself so unfailingly accomplishes. Thus we see the reason for the present popularity of the wild garden, the rock garden, and the modern paved garden, all of which aim at providing as natural as possible a setting for so many delightful flowers, ponds, or outdoor fountain which, either singly or in masses, are only seen at their best when grown as nature intended that they should be. The paved garden consists of a path or any area, of whatever size and shape, covered with "crazy" paving or flagstones, in the crevices between which dwarf rock plants and creepers are planted or, better still, are allowed to seed naturally. In constructing the paved garden, however, it must not be thought that to plant naturally is to plant without order or reason. Nature is severely orderly in her workings and everything has its allotted place. Only certain plants are, therefore, suitable to the paved garden; these are dwarf in nature and many of them will thrive although trodden on and walked over to a considerable degree, for it must be remembered that the prime reason for a path is its utility as a means of progress. A limited number of plants only, therefore, must be planted in the interstices of the paving, and these must appear to have seeded naturally from surrounding borders or from the rock garden, and must in no way impede the pedestrian, although the paved garden should not be subject to constant traffic.


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