ROCK GARDEN CONSTRUCTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20592, 15 December 1928, Page 3

ROCK GARDEN CONSTRUCTION.

Rock gardening in Dunedin shows an astonishing development in taste and imagination to that of 15 years ago. But there is still a tendency, among certain amateurs who construct their own gardens, to grow formal and stereotyped in their work instead of trying to imitate Nature. Many people decline tr interest themselves in rockwork simply because they have seen so many uninspired efforts. In numbers of gardens an attempt at rcckwork of some sort has been made, but in most cases the result is ridiculous, not because it is puny when compared with Nature’s work, but because it is so arranged that rock plants cannot exist upon it. The rocks are all stuck up on their ends, and so close' that soil, or room for a nlant to root or spread, ia out

of the question. Many people have imagination to give personality to trees, but how few have learned a .ike understanding of the boulders strewn in our alpine uplands! There are no plants out of which the possessors of small gardens can obtain more pleasure and interest than the alpines, but unfortunately in a majority of cases the so-called rock gardens are more often eyesores than things of beauty. The shape of the garden matters little so long as Nature is studied and as far as possible followed. Avoid straight lines by making the rockery in al’ its parts as irregular as the mountain home of our alpine friends, always bearing in mind that each rock should be two-thirds buried and one-third exposed; that the soil must fill up all spaces below, behind, and between the ruck’, leaving no empty hollows lor roots to enter and perish in; and that the uppe r surfaces of the rocks should slope inwards and downwards, in order that rain and moisture may find its way to the roots of the plants, and not towards their crowns.

Some alpines, though small in stature, have very long roots, which creep and find their way for many inches down below the rocks for food and moisture; therefore throughout the garden there must be plenfcj of root room; that is to say, depth of soil, which ,n no case should be less than Ift.

Again, since such plants as Saxifraga longifolia in their native haunts grow in vertical crevices in the faces of cliffs, provision must be made to meet their wants by constructing miniature precipices as well as level spaces, care being taklen when building tlm' the rocks do not project beyond or overhang those below them, as in this case moisture cannot find its way in. These steep positions will also be requiied on the shady side of the garden for such plants as the choice Ramondia pyrenaica. It will be found of advantage to so construct the rock garden that any part of it may be reached witliSut treading on other parts containing small plant* you value. For this reason it will bo best to make a winding path through the garden and pave it with flat, irregular stones. Thus we shall avoid creating that which looks more like a graveyard than a rock garden. W. r.