Making A Rock Garden

and there to give strength, but care must be taken to contrive plenty of long soil runs. Eighteen inches should be the very least. A plant like the alpine androsace is a tiny rosette, seemingly requiring no more than an inch or two of soil, but its roots are likely to be found following an earth-filled crevice in the rocks to the depth of a yard or so. It is because of this deep penetration of roots that the soil should be packed so very firm; the roots must be in no danger of loose soil or of striking a hidden hollow.

[Illustration: Where a rock would bear too heavily on the one below it, even with soil between, the pressure may be relieved by the use of small stones. The soil run need not be straight, but it must be continuous, so that the roots of the plant may find their way from A through to B]

At no point between two stones should the layer of soil be less than two or three inches thick after being packed hard. If an upper stone is likely to bear down too heavily and crush the plant roots