ROCK GARDENS
Rock Wall Gardens
4
When planting the rock wall
garden, it is just as necessary to have a
scheme of color grouping in mind as it is
when planning the herbaceous border. It will,
of course, be more difficult to carry this
out systematically when planting as the wall
is being built, than when inserting the plants
in an existing wall; considerably more care
is, therefore, needed in the former case.
In planting when the wall is already standing,
every effort should be made to set the plants
with their roots well spread out, and so
that they may penetrate well into the soil
at the back of the wall. A little thoroughly-rotted
cow-manure inserted with the roots will prove
beneficial. A plant should never be placed
at the top of a vertical joint between the
stones; its roots would then be likely to
become dried up: Rather should it be planted
in the crevice just above the centre of a
stone: that is, at the bottom of the vertical
joint of the rock gardens. A good six inches
of compost should be firmly rammed down on
to the top of the wall, and in this soil,
at intervals, should be placed large stones,
for these will help to keep the soil in place
and will furnish moist, cool sites for the
roots of such plants as Rock Roses, Zauschnerias,
Wallflowers, Geraniums, Antirrhinums or Snapdragons,
Sedums, and Saxifrages-all ideal subjects
with which to crown the wall garden. We have
rather taken it for granted that the wall
garden has had to be constructed. It must,
however, be borne in mind that there is many
an old wall, either of brick or of stone,
that, although rather dilapidated, can with
a little ingenuity be made into a delightful
wall garden. Some mortar may have to be scraped
out here and there, and it may be necessary
to dislodge an occasional brick now and again
and replace it with compost; but, provided
sufficient soil can be inserted, almost any
wall plant may be grown in it successfully.
It must be remembered, too, that the smaller
plants require very little soil indeed, especially
those loving drier sites. In spring after
the frosts of the winter, the wall garden
should be, carefully looked over, for it
will probably be found that in places the
frost has raised the soil and has loosened
the roots of the plants. These will need "firming-down" again,
and fresh soil should be pressed firmly into
the crevices of rock gardens to replace
that which has fallen out. At the same time
all vacancies caused by the death of plants
should be filled with fresh specimens from
the nursery or reserve garden.
Outdoor garden wall fountains
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