ROCK GARDENING

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 23, 27 July 1933, Page 19

ROCK GARDENING

SEASONABLE WORK

(By T. W. Attwood.) The heavy rains of this month have beaten the ground down very solid, and every opportunity must be taken in fine weather to lightly fork over all pockets in the rock garden that, admit of such an operation, and unless already well supplied, coarse.sand or rubble of some sort, old mortar for preference, should be incorporated. In ordinary garden soil quite a large number of plants usually grown in a rock garden will thrive. There are hundreds of others, however, aiid by far the choicest, that need to be considered as to their soil requirements if they are to be expected to give-of their best, and wo are quite satisfied many of our most treasured varieties have been lost, simply smothered, or suffocated, in a wet puggy soil with insufficient drainage and want of air at the roots. As Mr. Tannoek has well said in his "Rock Gardening": "Alpine plants have their likes and dislikes, and while some are most accommodating, others are most exacting." SUITABLE SHRUBS. There is yet plenty of time "to plant shrubs, and any of the following will prove satisfactory:—Cotoneaster Adpressa, Cotoneaster Microphyllus, Cistus crispus, Choisya ternata, Berberis Thunbergi, Berberis Wilsonae, Daphne Cneorum, Calceolaria Violacea, Felecia Augustifolia, Indian varieties of azalea, Andromeda floribunda, and any of the dwarf varieties of Hebe or Veronica.

In mild localities any of the ordinary hardy' annuals and perennials can now be planted. Pansies, violas, and other seedlings should be put out, but in cold climates, whore severe frosts are experienced, little can be done except keep down weeds and stir .the soil frequently. Seed sowing must be deferred a little longer. A writer of "Garden

Notes" tells us-spring has come because the crocus is in bloom in.his garden. All the same, in Wellington at any rate, we usually get some of the coldest weather during the next six weeks or two months, and. nothing is gained by too early sowings, unless under glass, where ample protection can be given. LILY OF THE VALLEY. It will bo much better for Convallaria Majalis (Lily of the Valley) to be put out in its permanent position right away. Equal parts of loam, sand, leaf-mould and decayed manure, and/or decayed rubbish from the' compost heap are required, and a suitable position would be in beds or borders under shades or trees, walls, or fences. Mulch in the early spring with rotted manure, and lift and divide once in four years. It is as well to keep these plants out of the rock garden. "Farrer" calls this plant the worst of all delicious weeds where it thrives.