ould drain
naturally, as the hills do. If any doubt exists, make a drainage bed of
eight inches of clinkers before starting to lay the stones.

The soil should be a good loam with a little peat, and stones varying in
size from a mustard seed to an almond. A little manure may be used, but
it must be old.

PLANTING THE GARDEN

There are two ways of planting a rock garden. One is to do all the
crevice planting along with the building, and the other, of course, is
to defer everything until the rocks are in place and the soil thoroughly
settled.

The former plan is a singularly appealing, as well as practical, one.
There is something fascinating in finishing completely a part of the
work as one goes along. The practical advantage lies chiefly in the fact
that by this method good-sized plants may be firmly established in
crevices at the very outset. The soil in that case should be put part
way in the crevice and packed down. Then some loose soil sprinkled on
top, and the plant, with the earth well shaken from the roots, unless
it has a tap root, laid down horizontally with the crown just outside
the edge of the soil. Next spread the roots to follow the soil run; fill
up the crevice with more soil, packed well, and follow with more plants
of the same kind. Use small stones to wedge plants where it appears
necessary. Plants that hang down should be placed in the higher
crevices; this must be all thought out beforehand.

As a matter of fact, the planting plan cannot be too thoroughly thought
out in advance. At point after point it dovetails with the structural
plan, which must accord with the requirements of what may be called the
more difficult rock plants--the alpines, some of the ferns, and those
plants that fit in well with rock work but demand more than the ordinary
garden moisture. The best way is to decide what plants are most
desirable in the circumstances, omitting, as a rule, the difficult or
"finicky" ones; there will be plenty of time to experiment with those
when you have more experience. Make a face plan of the several sections
of the rock work and mark on it where the plants are to go. Use numbers,
each corresponding to a species.

[Illustration: Where only a small effect is desired, a tongue of rock
work like this is an easy solution of the problem. Note the avoidance of
straight lines]

The general idea is that all the soil shall be concealed, not
necessarily at the moment of planting, but at th