rip= they are obliged to endure in wet weather. A
list of plants which do well under trees in various aspects is given in
another chapter.

=BREAKING UP.= As the eye wearies of the straight piece of lawn with
gravel path and border surrounding it, where practicable the ground should
be broken up a bit. Some wide =trellis-work=, painted dark-green, with an
arch-way on either side, helps to do this, and lends a pleasant sense of
mystery to what might otherwise be a prosaic garden. It should be covered
with all manner of creepers, such as clematis, jasmine, roses in variety,
and some of the hardy annuals. Very tender plants should not be put on a
trellis, as it does not by any means take the place of a wall, being more
draughty than the open ground, though such things as the _ceanothus_ will
often live through several winters, and bloom beautifully every summer in
such a spot, till an unusually hard frost kills them outright. =Mulching=,
however, of which more anon (see Glossary), materially aids in preserving
them.

=In gardening it is the little things that tell.= A mere trifle often
makes the difference between failure and success. People will hardly
believe, for instance, how important it is that certain plants should only
receive =soft water=, and continue giving the water laid on by the company
when all the time gallons and gallons of =precious rain= from heaven are
running to waste. It is only a question of a tank to preserve it, which
should be in an unobtrusive situation, though easily get-at-able. Where
alpines are concerned, rainwater should be the only beverage, and this
reminds me that a =rockery= on which to grow these gems of other countries
is not such an impossibility in a town garden as might be thought by their
scarcity.

=HOW NOT TO DO IT.= The rockery, as seen in most gardens, both public and
private, is too often an example of "how not to do it." A heterogeneous
mass of clinkers, planted here and there with ivy, and exposed to the full
force of sun and wind, is not to be named in the same breath with those at
Kew, for instance. Of course, these are not made with bricks at all, but
of soft grey stone, rather difficult to obtain by amateurs. Nevertheless,
the shape and general characteristics may be copied; indeed, a day every
now and then spent in the Royal Gardens at Kew or in any other well
planned gardens, is a liberal education in such matters, and a great help
in laying out a garden to good effe