The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Rockweler Rockgardens

OF DWARF OR MEDIUM HEIGHT, FOR THE BACKGROUKD OR FOR NATRAL ROCK GARDENS ON A LARGER SCALE

For this purpose, with the restriction of height largely removed, a much wider list may be selected from, and therefore there is no need to present one in detail here. Those mentioned are more in the nature of examples suggesting what may be used than any attempt at a complete list.

Evergreens

Arrowhead Norway Spruce (Picea exceha conica): A fine semi-dwarf evergreen, ten or twelve feet Japanese Umbrella-Pine (sciadopitys verticillata): 13 to 15 feet; distinct, very Japanesque.

Swiss Mountain (pinus Montana); taller-growing form of the wellknown Mugho pine.
Pines (Various) : Many of the other pines are well suited to background planting for the rockery. The Jack Pine (P. banksiana) ; the Shrub Pine (virginiana) and the Limber Pine (flexilis) being especially desirable.
Hemlocks: The hemlocks are, by nature, rock associates, and the happiest of all evergreens to use near the rock garden; prefer a rather moist, peaty soil; may be used in the shade.
The Smaller Evergreens—redcedars, junipers, yews, arborvitae, and cypresses (chamaecyparis), are all generally available, if one avoids the artificial-looking colored or too symmetrically shaped horticultural varieties. The Japanese Temple Cedars, Cryptomeria japonica and lobbi, both of which are very Japanesque in effect; Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara) ; Lawson Cypress (Chamaecyparis lanvsoniana) which is hardy to New York; and Moss Sawara Cypress (Cham, pisifera squarrosa), of plumelike foliage, and slow growth, are among the most effective.
Evergreen Shrubs

The introductory remarks above, concerning evergreens, apply equally to the evergreen shrubs. Almost all of them, if they are too tall to be used within the rockery, may be allowed just over the fence looking in, but care must be exercised to avoid too many varieties or too extensive masses of them; otherwise we may have a show ground of rhododendrons or azaleas instead of a rock garden.