Examples of small alpine slides. Alpine slide: design instructions

If there is a ledge or unevenness in your dacha, plot or garden, make an alpine hill.

Firstly, such a flower bed is very beautiful, in a year its stony cliffs will cover with a solid carpet lovely cushions of flowers, herbs and mosses.

Secondly, the construction of the rock garden itself is a fascinating activity. Here you need to think everything over: where to plant coniferous shrubs, what stones and perennials to choose, so that a colored carpet in the middle of the rocky scree plays with colors for a whole year.

And, thirdly, if the soil in your dacha is poor, sandy or rocky, and is completely unsuitable for organizing other types of flower beds, then alpine hill plants in such conditions, on the contrary, will develop normally and bloom well.

Not everyone understands correctly what an alpine slide is. Structures made of plants and stones on the site are far from alpine slides.

Rock garden (alpine slide)- these are landscape compositions that imitate a mountain landscape with platforms like terraces with stones, squat shrubs and long-flowering perennials.

Consider some of the subtleties of designing an alpine hill flower bed

Rock garden in the garden, if possible, should be:

isolated from outbuildings, playground, etc.;

proportional to the entire area of the site;

removed from flower beds with bright lush flowering;

located in the most illuminated place of the site, close to the source of water supply (if this is not possible, then it will be necessary to equip additional irrigation points);

as plausible as possible to the mountain landscape;

located near the house or recreation area.

Many people thought about how to make an alpine slide with their own hands. And only a few, especially stubborn and patient, decorated their summer cottage with terraced hills. Where did they start? Of course, with the choice of location.

In order for a rocky flower bed to organically fit into the garden environment, it is not necessary to look for a large space - alpine plants are so compact that it costs nothing for them to fit in dozens on a modest area of \u200b\u200bthe hill.

The height of the rock garden should not conflict with the already existing landscape. If possible, you need to make sure that the forms, textures and colors of the slide blend harmoniously into the concept of landscape design.

The alpine decorative flower garden in the garden looks very expressively against the background of dense, tall bushes or small but lush trees.

Do-it-yourself Alpine slide - step by step instructions

What materials and tools do you need to buy for an alpine slide?

stones of the same breed, river sand, crushed stone, gravel, turf, humus, peat, limestone, earth and planting material;

tape measure, cord, pegs, bayonet shovel, scrap metal, garden shovel with a long handle, wheelbarrow, scissors, ladle (in order to rake the earth out of the wide sump slides), garden watering can.

Is everything at hand? Then get to work!

Any alpine slide project begins with a breakdown of the site and drawing the outline of the future flower garden (this is where you need a tape measure, pegs and a cord). The area under the flower garden is cleared, the soil layer is removed to a depth of 30-40 cm, weeded thoroughly and weeds are removed.

When the clearing is completely finished on the deepened area, it is necessary to make a gravel cushion - fill in a layer of gravel, slag and construction waste (broken brick, limestone or granite crushed stone is suitable), 10 cm thick. This kind of drainage will protect the plant roots from waterlogging, preventing stagnation ground water and provide adequate aeration.

The water-permeable layer should be made thicker where the soil is very dense, structureless, silty and poorly permeable to water. Wetlands are the first enemy of alpine plants - ascetics are used to growing on slopes in light, stony-sandy, acidic soils.

On top of the drainage layer (rock garden base) it is necessary to make a sand cushion - pour a layer river sand(5 cm thick), tamp well and water.

Next, mix in equal proportions soddy soil (it can be prepared in advance or bought at any nursery), perlite, sand, pine bark, wood chips, fine gravel, crushed peat, humus and sphagnum.

Do not add too much fertilizer to this layer. The over-enrichment of the land can lead to the fact that the trees and flowers on the hill grow too large or, conversely, die altogether. It is recommended to feed only some tuberous and bulbous, and then as rarely and carefully as possible.

The finished soil mixture is poured over the entire surface of the hill, while modeling the relief of the rock garden on the model of the natural landscape. The embankment of the earth does not need to be made uniform and neat. Both on a large and on a small alpine hill in the garden, it is necessary to manually form "cliffs" and "valleys", "tops" and "plateaus", paths and transitions.

After the residual backfilling of the area with a ball of earth, you can start laying stones, “laying” “pillows” of river sand under them.

What shape should the stones be in rock gardens and how to arrange them correctly?

Consider what stones are needed for a small and large alpine slide, their names and laying methods.

To organize such an exotic flower garden, you need to choose only those stony rocks that will not transfer heavy metals and salts to the soil, and will not oxidize the soil.

Hewn over the years, water and wind, irregularly shaped rocks in the landscape of the garden will look much better than freshly mined ones. Stone screes should be similar in structure, and preferably exactly the same, but at the same time different in size.

An excellent choice for rock garden has always been and will be: natural granite, organic limestone or decorative sandstone. Suitable forest boulder, dolomite, travertine, gneiss or basalt. Another option: serpentinite, elbrus, jasper, serpentine, quartz, etc.

Stones do not need to be collected in the fields and meadows. You can buy good copies in the quarry. The weight of one stone can reach approximately 15-100 kg. That is, for a stone flower bed measuring 1.5 x 3 m, the developer will need about 1-1.5 tons of stones.

We go further. Laying should begin from the bottom (from the foot) up - gradually moving from larger specimens of stones to smaller ones. The first form the core of the alpine slide. For this purpose, the largest and most beautiful boulder is chosen and placed in a small recess. To prevent the stone from rocking, it can be strengthened with rubble.

Advice. It is not necessary to lay with equal distances and geometric harmony - in the natural environment, on mountain slopes, stones and blocks are located in a chaotic mess.

When laying, you need to gradually deepen not only the core of the composition, but also all the other stones. The resulting sinuses are lightly covered with an earthen mixture for rock garden and watered with a sprayed jet of water - plants will be planted in them a little later.

In the upper part, a conical boulder looks beautiful, symbolizing the top of the mountain, surrounded by flat stones.

In the process of placing stones, landscape designers are advised to move away from the composition and different angles evaluate the result. An alpine slide, decorated with your own hands, is considered ready if it looks holistic and harmonious even without conifers, shrubs and flowers.

But that's not all. Huge weight boulders and stones should lie down for two or three weeks, "settle down", so to speak. And only when the earth settles and you can start arranging a flower garden on an alpine hill.

Plants for an alpine slide - the key to a spectacular design

Hardened by the harsh climatic conditions of the highlands: cold, low atmospheric pressure, strong wind and temperature fluctuations, flowers for the Alpine hill show amazing endurance in the difficult climate of Russia.

In order for the rock garden created in the country to really look like an oasis of a mountain landscape, shrubs and plants must be selected according to the following criteria:

unpretentiousness to climate and soil;
short stature;
moderate growth;
non-aggressive breeding method;
multi-year development cycle.

Low-growing and ground cover plants for an alpine slide

Acena Bukhanana;
young;
Hairy beard;
Mining grate;
tenacious;
Kostenets hairy;
Fern;
Stonecrop short-leaved;
decorative cabbage;
fat woman;
Sagebrush;
Geichera;
Spurge;
Stachys.

Advice. Ground cover plants with a powerful root system are placed on the slopes of an alpine hill to prevent its erosion.

Flowering plants for an alpine slide

Barberry;
Colchicum;
Veronica;
Carnation;
Gentian;
Gypsophila, wulfenia;
Delphinium;
Dryad;
Gorse lancet;
Poskharsky's bell;
Primula Allioni;
Saxifrage;
Bloodroot;
Burachok;
Buttercup is cereal;
Edelweiss;
Kachem creeping;
Oenothera Missouri;
Iberian catchment;
Thyme;
Gargan bell;
Phlox is undersized;
Soapweed basil leaf;
Yaskolka;
Draba evergreen;
Mertensia maritime;
Fuopsis long columnar;
Krylovychinnik round-leaved;
Strawberry decorative;
Rose Rhodiola;
Chiastophyllum oppositeleaf;
Himalayan geranium;
Mountain cornflower;
Hellebore;
Liverwort;
Anemone;
Cat's paw;
Rezuha;
Violets and daisies.

Advice. Each of the flowering individuals in the rock garden composition plays a role, so the flowers should not obscure and interfere with each other. It is important to achieve a smooth change in the shades of the slide. This can be easily achieved by combining alpine plants in terms of flowering.

Long-flowering plants for an alpine slide

Onion and bulbous

Decorative Karatav;
Cornflower and island bow;
Tubergen's bow and Besianum;
Scylla;
Vesennik;
Sternbergia;
Cyclamen;
Snowdrop;
Ranunculus;
Pushkinia;
Clivia;
Rhodohypoxis;
Brandushka;
Hyacites;
lilies of the valley;
Babian;
Corydalis;
Merender;
Sisyrynchium;
Thecophylea;
Poultry farmers;
Moricia;
Muscari;
garden ranunculus;
Dwarf varieties of irises, daffodils, dahlias and tulips.

Advice. The rocky structures of the rock garden will look as decorative as possible if you know the exact timing of the flowering of the bulbous. And yet, planting onions in a rock garden with good drainage(stones and gravel prevent the bulbs from rotting) leave enough space between them for overgrowth. Mulch temporarily empty places with tree bark or pebbles.

Low-growing grasses for an alpine slide

Quaking grass;
Lagurus;
Highlander;
Cuff;
Alyssum;
Oregano;
Reed grass spicy;
Feather grass;
Pennysetum orientalis;
Fescue gray and red;
Liriope;
Sheep evergreen;
Barley is maned;
Esholz;
Heathers;
Erica.

Advice. herbaceous plants remain attractive until late autumn, while others have already withered or have not yet blossomed. Acting as a background ornamental grass serve as a juicy decoration in the creation of an alpine slide.

Compact shrubs for alpine hills

mountain pine;
Boletus boletus;
Blue spruce;
Barberry;
Cotoneaster horizontal;
Juniper;
Larch;
Thuja western;
Miniature Pine;
Korean fir;
Euonymus;
Spirea;
Dryad;
Rhododendron;
Daphne.

Advice. Plant dwarf trees and bushes first, highlighting the most spacious sections of the hill for them. Do not plant them on the sole or on top of the ground. The optimal place for upright dwarf forms in rock gardens is near large stones along the edges of the hill, on long distance from each other. At proper fit deciduous and coniferous shrubs do not require any special care from you. But some of them, winter period, you will have to cover by tying the plant with burlap or a special cover.

Very often, moss is included in the design of alpine slides. The transplantation of moss plates from the forest onto rock garden stones is carried out as follows. First, the moss pillow is cleaned from its native land, and then it is thoroughly mixed with a blender with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and 200 g of kefir. With the resulting homogeneous mass, you need to lubricate the sections of stones (using a brush), on which in the future they want to see a green carpet of moss. The plant will take root faster if it is regularly moistened within three weeks after planting.

A neatly trimmed green lawn can become a good frame for an alpine slide.

Advice. No need to try to place more species in the rock garden. You will succeed in a holistic composition only when, having learned about the types of plants from A to Z, you will be able to provide, albeit for a small number of flowers, a worthy existence.

Alpine hill - landing scheme

Between the stone scattering there should be enough space for the normal development and growth of green spaces. In a small hole dug at an angle, as shown in the figure, seedlings are planted, their roots are straightened, lightly sprinkled with earth and tamped. After planting, the hill needs to be watered. It is better to do this from top to bottom - the water, flowing down, will saturate the soil well and go straight to the roots.

When planting rosette flowers on a hill: orostachis, gentian, levisia, etc., do not plant them next to ground covers. The latter grow rapidly and can crowd out tender plants.

Plant bulbs will not spread if planted inside a limiter - a jar or an old bucket without a bottom.

Schemes of alpine slides (with the names of plants)

Scheme No. 1

Scheme No. 4

Types of Alpine slides

The paradoxical unity of fragile vegetation and boulders gives real pleasure to summer residents, disposes to reflection and soothes.

And after reading the article, you only have to choose: admire the bizarre harmony of the alpine slides in the photo or recreate one of the views on your site. Moreover, there are 7 of them at the stony flower beds at once:

"rock" with natural fractures of the surface;

rather difficult in execution "mountain slope" with coniferous and huge boulders;

landscape "mountain valley" with asymmetrically placed groups of stones;

"terraced slope" with retaining walls of various heights, lengths and shapes;

decorative "forest ravine" with a spring or an artificially created waterfall;

"stony wall" - a low mound with randomly scattered stones;

the extravagant "Czech rolling pin", the defining technical feature of which is layered masonry;

the most stylish of the stone compositions is the "alpine lawn" with wild plants growing exclusively in the highlands.

Conclusion

Do not listen to those who assure that a rock garden in a country house can be planned and created in one day. Of course not. Well, perhaps the simplest version of a mini alpine slide, and even then not in the garden, but in a city apartment.

Want to make things right? Then lay the drainage, fill the ground and form the base of the hill in the fall, and lay the stones and flowers and plant them only in the spring.

Alpine hill - photo of beautiful rock garden design options

Decorating a backyard or summer cottage - there is nothing easier. You can break it with a variety of flowers that will delight their owners all summer. You can plant flowers along garden paths or just around the house. And you can build an alpine hill to your own delight, to the envy of your neighbors. This object of landscape design is becoming more and more popular from year to year. For help, you can turn to professional designers, or you can build this miracle yourself. Each element should be thought out so that the alpine slide harmoniously fits into the landscape.

Alpinarium will perfectly decorate any site, and you can place it on the territory different area. A small piece of the rocky surface of the Alps looks very good against any background. To create such a miracle on your site correctly and beautifully, you need to know a few nuances, otherwise it will have to be disassembled and the wasted time and money will be irretrievably lost.

Choosing a place for an alpine slide

First you need to choose a place to place the slide. You can use natural irregularities, you can use a flat surface. The most important thing is that there is enough sunlight, ideally in the center of the site.

If this is not possible and household plot can not meet all the requirements, you should not be upset.

Next is the base. At the same time, approaches to the hill should be considered. To work, you only need gardening Tools. You will also need stones. different size, stone chips, drainage material, sand, fertile soil, seedlings of flowers and small shrubs.

To make the alpine slide look harmonious, you need to dig a shallow hole under it, its size is done on a scale of 1: 2, no more than a meter deep. Strengthen the bottom of the pit with a pillow of gravel, brickwork or other construction debris, and pour plenty of water and tamp.

In the central part, the drainage layer should be larger than at the edges. A ten-centimeter layer of sand is poured over it. Pour, tamp, where you need to add sand.

From above, cover with soil with a high clay content, it can be purchased at the store or mixed independently, the proportions of clay soil with peat are 4:1, add a little peat in a ratio of 5:1 to the soil. This stage is very important for the alpine slide, if the drainage is done incorrectly, then everything will spread and settle after a large amount of precipitation.

Stones are placed on top. Moreover, their size and number will depend on individual fantasies. The shape of the alpine slide can be both horizontal and vertical. It is advisable to use natural stones, avoid sharp chips. If flat stones are chosen for the rock garden, then they should be laid with one edge raised.

Choice of decorative elements

Stones are an integral part of the alpine slide. The sizes of the selected stones must be proportional. Huge boulders cannot be used in a small alpine slide. Stones need to be taken in different sizes, large stones are placed in the base, and smaller ones are placed on them.

For structural strength, large stones are sprinkled with earth. Stones must be of the same breed. Symmetry when laying stones will destroy appearance alpine slide, they should look as natural as possible.

Harder stones will last longer. Soft stones, such as limestone, will become covered with moss over time, this will give originality and originality to the alpine hill. Pebbles are laid out from the bottom up, determining a place for each.

Large stones should be placed at the very bottom, it is advisable to place small stones at the top. Be sure to provide "pockets" for planting plants. The main rule at this stage is the stability of the stones (if necessary, they are additionally strengthened) and the asymmetric arrangement of all elements. An almost finished slide should be shed with water and, if necessary, add soil in sagging places.

Plants for alpine slides

Plants for slides need to choose a different flowering period. From early spring to late autumn, she will look playful.

Another rule is the location of plants. They cannot block stones. Perennial small plants are better suited, they should be unpretentious. When choosing plants, it is worth remembering about seasonal changes.

It is customary to decorate the top of the hill with small trees or shrubs, it can be juniper, thuja, dwarf pine. Flowers that complement the composition better than natural origin, they can be found in the nearest forest, they should not be tall so as not to cover the stones.

Plants such as saxifrage, edelweiss, poppy, violet, cactus, spirea, cinquefoil are suitable for this. The main thing is that they get along with each other and withstand the conditions of your climate.

Plants for rock garden - Phlox subulate and young

Multi-colored purslane on an alpine hill

Plant in shallow holes, filling with soil with the addition of a small amount of very small stone. This will keep weeds from growing and help retain moisture.

50 examples of alpine slides for every taste

Alpine slide photo gallery

Alpine slides can be a nice accent to your cottage design, create a unique charm in your flower garden. In today's material, I would like to return to the topic of rock gardens, show you the ideas of slides with stones and tell you about the features of their creation.

I will share with you the advice of designers and gardeners, and, of course, I will tell you something from my experience. This material will discuss how to make an alpine slide with your own hands in the country, what stones and how to put, what plants to plant and how to care for them. Applying these recommendations, you will create incredible beauty, which will be a pleasure to watch.

To begin with, we will find out what an alpine slide or rock garden is - it is an artificially created imitation of the mountain slope of the Alps. The basis of the slide is stones and soil, plantings are usually variegated, with inclusions of herbs, unpretentious perennials and succulents.

The optimal combination of stone and soil allows you to create pleasant mountain inclusions on your site, which look especially beautiful where there are no mountains at all.

I like the term Alpine hill - it's somehow romantic, fresh, because in the mountains it's always Fresh air. Of course, there is a huge mass of options for slides, with more or less inclusion of stone, with different plants, but one thing unites them - they all have stones in their composition, undemanding plants, pleasing to the eye.

Alpine slide design schemes

On the diagram of the alpine slide, I schematically showed the main elements - this is drainage, gravel, soil, stones. This slide was made on a site with a slope, so it is present in the scheme, but for flat surfaces everything is the same, only the center of the slide is higher, and lowering towards the edges.

Here is a diagram of an alpine slide for a flat area. In the center, you can put gravel, some kind of construction debris, it doesn’t matter, since this is the base around which we will make our rock garden. Yellow in the diagram is fertile soil in which we will plant plants.

By the way, if you plant on your alpine hill moisture-loving plants, then I recommend laying in the base, at the base of the slide, not gravel, but wood trimmings, branches, logs, etc. There are always a lot of wooden trimmings in the country. Wood absorbs moisture and then gradually releases it.

Where is it better to make an alpine slide in the country

I recommend making an alpine slide in the most prominent place of the site, so that there is enough sun and a good view. Best of all, a rock garden will look next to a relaxation area, in front of a patio, gazebo or bench.

Often, alpine slides are included in a landscape composition with an artificial pond or stream. I often see similar examples in my foreign trips to gardens and parks. Of course, a lot of stone will be required, but the beauty will be incredible.

Do-it-yourself step-by-step creation of an alpine slide

First, mark the area under the hill, remove the turf layer, deepen it by 10 cm, and then lay the drainage layer - expanded clay or crushed stone. Expanded clay seems to me the most suitable material, it is sold in large bags, it is inexpensive.

We pour a layer of fertile soil up to 20 cm thick on the drainage. The soil mixture usually consists of soil, peat, and sand. From above, after the soil is distributed around the perimeter of the future hill, small pebble inclusions are laid for decoration.

In the final, large stones are laid, and the more irregular your stone is, the more picturesque it will look on the alpine hill. The stones themselves can be somewhat buried in the ground to create the illusion of their long stay in the flower bed.

What flowers and plants to plant on an alpine hill

Now let's move on to the botanical part of our work, consider examples of what can be planted in rock gardens. The fact is that not all plants like hot and dry places, and this must be taken into account when planting certain flowers and plants.

This diagram clearly illustrates my words - the bulk of the plants for alpine hills are drought-resistant, decorative leaves. Well, if you want to decorate the slide with flowers, then it is best to put them in containers.

Forget-me-nots, daffodils, saxifrages, edelweiss, saffron, primroses, violets can become beautiful inhabitants of such slides. These plants will really create alpine mood, because in the Alps their main place. I remember my spring trip to the Pyrenees, there was truly a celebration of daffodils and all kinds of the above flowers.

Among other things, you can land more rare plants"super dwarfs" for the foreground and as ground cover on an alpine hill. These are Yankee, Haberlea, Ramonda.

Can be planted between rocks flowering plants, this will create bright accents. Any flower against a gray stone will look more attractive.

The best soil for an alpine slide is a mixture of soddy soil with peat and sand. Some advise adding small stones, but I don’t see the point in this, because they will not be visible, and the plants will only be more restless from stones in the soil.

Select plants for the alpine slide, taking into account the time of their flowering, so that your plantings are beautiful in spring, summer, and autumn. However, I know women who, during periods without flowers, simply put tubs with flowering plants in the rock garden and thus fill the voids.

Watering an alpine hill: note that the slide requires more frequent watering, unlike other flower beds. Therefore, I recommend setting automatic watering if you leave the country house for a week. By the way, it is overdrying that is the most common enemy of rock gardens. I sometimes see that a woman tried, planted plants, but left and her labors withered, and so, automatic watering is definitely needed.

However, you can lay the wood inside the rock garden, water it well on the weekends, and in this case the moisture will be given to the roots gradually over the course of a week, but it is necessary that the plants have already gained root mass and deepened into the hill.

Conifers on an alpine hill: evergreens are great to support the hill during periods when there are no flowers on it. You can plant thuja, mountain pine, junipers on a hill. These plants do not require abundant watering and are able to withstand a long absence of moisture in the soil.

Alpine care

Regular care - regular weeding, plant nutrition mineral fertilizers. Pest and disease control.

The vast expanse of the lawn can be decorated with an accent from an alpine slide. Before pouring soil, remove a layer of sod, lay drainage from expanded clay or gravel, and then create a base and pour soil.

Photo ideas of an alpine slide

Now let's go through the interesting examples of the design of alpine slides that seemed interesting to me. The photo shows a beautiful hill with inclusions of conifers, ground cover and flowering plants.

On an alpine hill, layered stones can be used as fortifications on the sides, they are also called scouts. They can be laid with a shift to make a ladder.

The idea of a wild alpine slide

Such a hill can for a long time do not touch, you can break it in the corner of the cottage, near the northern fence, for example. In the background, you can plant thuja or pine, next to cereals, in the middle some perennials with beautiful flowers, and in the foreground are decorative fescue tussocks.

You can also arrange a passage - a path in the middle of an alpine hill in the country, this will allow you to combine decorativeness and practicality, plus, get access deep into the rock garden.

By the way, on the hill you can plant small bulbous types of daffodils, they will bloom in the spring, in the summer they will be replaced by a wide range of flowers, and in the autumn colchicum will be the soloist.

Let me remind you again, be sure to use ground cover plants that are able to create a smooth transition between planting groups and combine the entire composition into a single whole. Without them, your alpine slide will look fractional.

Video: how to make a simple alpine slide

In conclusion, I suggest you watch a tutorial video on how to make a simple rock garden with stones.

I hope that you got an idea of how to make an alpine slide in the country with your own hands and you can't wait to start implementing your ideas. Well, I wish you success, it's definitely worth it!

Specialists in the field of landscape design have recently offered owners of country houses to create an island of the picturesque nature of the Alps on their site by building a rock garden on it. This is how it is customary to call alpine slides - original and elegant compositions of plants and stones.

Rock garden - a piece of the Alps in your suburban area

Stone gardens were first developed on the Japanese islands. Their inhabitants have always lacked free land, for this reason they have learned to create oases of beauty on very small plots. The Japanese are sure that the combination of the tenderness of colors and the hardness of natural stones is an example of the true beauty of nature, which you can admire forever.

The traditions of the distant eastern islands began to penetrate the European continent in the 16th century. In Europe, it has become fashionable to transplant a variety of outlandish flowers and shrubs from the mountainous natural environment into gardens near their possessions. After a couple of centuries, they learned about rock gardens in the Russian Empire.

Nowadays, many people dream of making an alpine slide in their summer cottage. It is not difficult to realize this desire, because the rock garden can be equipped independently, without using the services of expensive designers.

Work on creating landscape decorations from stones and flowers in the garden will require you to invest a lot of effort. But the chic result of labor-intensive events will be great gift for you and your family. You will have your own piece of the Alps in the country or near country house where you can enjoy the atmosphere of beauty and tranquility.

A homemade garden of plants and stones is an imitation of natural hilly areas. Therefore, the creation of its design is based on the use of a combination of low creeping vegetation inherent in the landscapes of the Alps, and stones of various sizes. Such garden decorations are called slides because they have a top, slopes of different lengths and a base (sole).

Separately, we will say that one should not confuse rockeries and rock gardens. You can arrange rockeries in the garden with a minimum of flowers and plants, or without them at all. But the alpine landscape is created with large quantity vegetation. In addition, the rock garden in its height reaches 2.5-3 meters,and the highest garden rockeries are made no more than a meter. We also note that a "piece of the Alps" can be located on a fairly large area and it is much more difficult to equip it.

Varieties of rock gardens - choose your own design

The main components in the construction of rock gardens are saxifrage, cover and coniferous vegetation, as well as boulders and stones. different forms and masses. The task of the designer is to create a hilly fragment of nature in the garden from these elements, which will be visually indistinguishable from the natural landscape of the Alps. This means that it is required to form a “chaotic” natural area from flowers and stones in the country house, which will delight the eye with its naturalness.

Stones are placed on the hill according to several basic schemes. Depending on their location, alpine landscape decorations for suburban areas are divided into several groups.

Mountain slope or scree - small pebbles are poured at the bottom of the hill, and large boulders are laid closer to the top. Such a composition is always performed at a great height. It requires the use of various undersized and creeping plants and flowers.

Rocky cliff - a steep hill is being built in the garden with large stones at the bottom. The closer to the top of the hill, the smaller stones are used. This design involves the use of a small amount of vegetation, which is usually "hidden" in pockets and niches formed by boulders. To emphasize the height difference of such a slide, a large plant can be planted at the peak of the structure.

Slope with terraces - organized with the help of small steps on a gentle hill. The steps are securely held in place by the fact that they are propped up by large boulders.

Valley in the mountains - a composition of stones of different sizes, which are scattered over the area of the rock garden. In this case, the largest boulders should be partially sunk into the ground and decorative flowers with a long flowering period should be planted around them. It is relatively easy to create a mountain valley in the country, but on condition that your sense of taste does not change, and you can arrange stones and plants naturally.

Forest ravine (gorge) is a very popular rock garden due to its natural beauty and naturalness. It is advisable to equip it in a hollow or in some natural recess in a suburban area. Such a ravine should be framed with boulders overgrown with moss and dwarf plants.

Stony wall - flat stones are laid out in a curb of not very high height. The rock garden called "Czech rolling pin" is now recognized as the most popular. It is made in the form of a stone hill from mountain lamellar stones, which are placed edgewise into the ground next to each other. It is important to ensure that the ends of the boulders create a single plane of a wavy type.

For the Czech rolling pin, you can use any type of dwarf trees and low shrubs. They are planted in the spaces between the stones, and then sprinkled on top with gravel and earthen chips. As a result, an island of mountain nature appears near your house. Visually, it seems that flowers and greenery make their way straight from the rocky rock into the sunlight.

Now, knowing the main types of alpine slides, it will be easier for you to choose the landscape design option that you want to see in your country house.

How to make a rock garden - step by step instructions

To create a luxurious landscape decoration in your garden, you must strictly follow the recommendations of professional designers. They say that a rock garden can be made by following five steps in sequence:

Choose the right place for the slide.
Do .
Lay boulders and stones in a certain order.
Cultivate the land for planting flowers and other vegetation.
Carry out planting.

Choosing a place in the country where the rock garden will be located is necessary, taking into account the fact that it always appears before you in the most successful perspective. If you plan to relax near it after building a slide, you should immediately think about a free area nearby, where you can build a stationary barbecue, put a table and. Naturally, there should also be a convenient path leading to the place of your future vacation.

Since the rock garden involves the use of plants, you need to make sure that they get as much sunlight as possible. For this reason, the "mountain slopes" in your country house always need to be oriented to the east and south - the flowers will receive the warmth they need and bloom to your joy.

Another important aspect of site selection is soil analysis. If your site has sandy soil, the rock garden can be broken right on it without performing any additional work. If the land near the country house is oily or clayey, it will have to be drained. It is carried out as follows:

we take out the soil at the place where the rock garden will be located, to a depth of 30–50 centimeters;
we fill the resulting pit with fine gravel, pieces of ordinary bricks, rubble, various waste building materials;
we fill the filled pit with sand, and then with soil;
water the loosened earth so that it compacts.

After that, you can proceed directly to the construction of a piece of the Alps on the territory of your country house.

We build a rock garden - the most important stage of work

The mound of the future landscape decoration is made from a special mixture consisting of the following components:

coarse sand;
clean land (soil);
humus (it should be carefully crushed).

If you have the opportunity, use the soil that moles throw out of their holes as soil. Finding her outside the city is not so difficult. Black mounds are often found in abandoned summer cottages and in forest plantations. If you do not find such land, it's okay, make a mixture of ordinary soil. After the mound desired height will be formed, you need to take a short break (14-20 days) - the slide needs time to compact the layers and shrink them.

The rock garden area is fenced around the perimeter using large boulders. They will look more natural if you bury them in the ground. After a certain distance, a second tier of stones is laid out. The space between them is covered with soil, thus we get a habitat for shrubs and flowers, as well as the foundation for the next stone tier.

Do not try to stack stones symmetrically. In nature, they never lie correctly. At the same time, try to use stones that are approximately the same in color and texture. So you will achieve maximum harmony of the landscape design.

The geometric dimensions of the tiers should be reduced according to the pyramid principle - from bottom to top. Experts advise:

equip an odd number of tiers;
at the bottom of the tiers (all without exception), put a massive boulder that will keep small pebbles from falling, thereby ensuring the reliability of the slide.

The final stage will be the arrangement of the top of the rock garden. The design of the alpine slide allows the use of several stones of relatively small sizes for these purposes, or one massive boulder. Such a top will protect your structure from soil erosion during rains.

"Settlement" of the slide with flowers and shrubs - which plants to choose?

The process of creating a "stone mound" ends with real magic. By it we mean the planting of vegetation. It should be planted correctly, taking into account several requirements. Firstly, it is necessary to lay out a thin layer of a good soil mixture on the surface of the hill, in which the flora will take root without difficulty. Secondly, landing is most often carried out in the spring. But if you built a mound in the fall, you can “populate” it until the first serious frost on the soil.

It is desirable to select the composition of plants from evergreen and undersized species. In this case, in the fall you will not need to remove a lot of fallen leaves, risking destroying the rock garden. And in summer it will not hide behind lush and tall greenery.

Flowering varieties of plants should have small flowers and short stature. Covering and creeping vegetation, juniper, rocky beetroot, thuja, dwarf spruce, young, dryad, cotoneaster, iberis, cypress, saxifrage, carnation with short stems take root among the stones.

In principle, your rock garden can have any color scheme. Here it is important to rely on your taste and on the tips outlined above. Also take into account - in no case should accessories of artificial origin be used to decorate the slide.

The rock garden is designed to give you a natural mountain atmosphere in your summer cottage. Therefore, all kinds of gypsum or granite figurines, amphoras and bowls, plastic and glass products will become an inappropriate addition to your landscape decoration. Vegetation and natural stones in themselves are considered quite self-sufficient decorative details. And adding a variety of "tinsel" to them makes no sense.

Professional advice - how to make a rock garden perfect?

The laying of the slide should be carried out in those places of the suburban area where there are no thickets of bushes and trees, and there are also no outbuildings. Trees, tall and dense shrubs are great as a background for a landscape structure, but not part of it.

If you are planning to build a rock and flower garden with a waterfall or a small pond, try to find a place on the site with a small hollow or a gentle slope. So it will be easier for you to equip an artificial reservoir. To implement a rock garden project with a pond or a waterfall, you will additionally need to dig a small pit, purchase a container for the “lake” and lay it out from the inside with a rough film.

Waterfall projects also require a pump to be installed in the pond. The indicator of its power depends on the height of the rock garden with a waterfall. The pump hose is pulled to the peak of the hill, where it is carefully masked by plants or stones. As you can see, making an alpine slide with your own hands with a waterfall or a modest fountain is not difficult at all.

Landscape design experts give other useful tips:

Choose the right stones - the boulders should be the larger than large area has a rock garden. It is advisable to use rocks one type.
When choosing flowers for a slide, consider the time and duration of their flowering. If blooming spots are constantly present on the surface of your alpine corner, then you have succeeded. You have managed to create a truly beautiful structure.
Before starting landscape activities, a diagram of your future rock garden and an estimate of the required costs, as well as step-by-step construction instructions, which you must strictly adhere to, must be drawn up.

Good luck to you, let the alpine corner bring you a lot of pleasant moments of relaxation in its silence!

The picturesque landscape of the Alps inspired gardeners to create alpine slides, which traditionally consist of a combination of stone with mountain plants.

Relatively recently, in landscape design, classic flower beds, ridges and plaster sculptures have been replaced by new types of site decoration - rock gardens. They are arranged in rich estates and summer cottages, in city gardens and squares, on lawns near offices and in restaurant areas. Properly and tastefully selected stones and plants will create a zone of luxury, aesthetics and peace even on the most modest piece of land near the country house.

An alpine hill densely planted with plants opens the eye with its bright, rich colors

Being a peculiar and very time-consuming decoration of the landscape, rock gardens seem difficult to perform and inaccessible decorative elements. However, if you understand the technology of creation, then an alpine slide in the country can be arranged without the involvement of expensive designers.

A piece of the Alps in your country house

When developing the design of alpine slides, you need to consider that this is an imitation of rocky natural areas. This means that the basis of the composition should be stones and creeping low plants, characteristic of high-mountain areas. And the definition of "slide" dictates the general shape of the rock garden - a hill with mandatory elements: sole, slopes and top.

Rock garden - a "highlight" that can instantly transform the appearance of a garden landscape

There are several options for rock gardens, which repeat their appearance in different parts of the highlands:

rocky cliff - a heap of almost bare large boulders with a minimum of plants in niches and "pockets";

The combination of functionality and decorative function: stone steps and rocky rock garden

Larger plants are planted on the tops of the rolling pin, emphasizing the dynamics of the height difference.

mountain slope - a complex high composition of stones of different sizes and with a wide variety of creeping and undersized plants;

To decorate such a rock garden, dwarf plants are used, as well as large boulders that imitate rock fragments.

a valley in the mountains - large stones, partially protruding from the ground, surrounded by profusely flowering ornamental plants;

The natural landscape made it possible to create a flowering stone hill with little effort.

the gorge is the most difficult to perform, but also the most spectacular type of rock garden, which can be placed in a natural hollow, framing the slopes with stones and planting representatives of the rock flora.

Neatly stacked stones in the shape of a semicircle in a composition with flowering plants - a spectacular club in your yard

Rockery is considered a separate species - a garden of stones, which are the main "characters", in contrast to a rock garden, where stones serve as a backdrop for plants.

As a site for the creation of rockeries, any terrain is suitable, including absolutely flat ground.

How to make an alpine slide on a personal plot?

If you have firmly decided that an alpine slide created by your own hands will become the decoration of your garden, a step-by-step instruction will give you the opportunity to avoid gross mistakes and get the desired result. Before starting work, sketch out a rock garden sketch - this will help you decide how much space it will occupy, what configuration it will have and how many tiers you will do on it. You can even roughly estimate how much an alpine slide will cost you - a scaled diagram will help you calculate how many and what kind of stones you will need, how much drainage, sand and soil will need to be prepared. You need to make a scheme in relation to the terrain in order to use all the advantageous moments of the already existing landscape.

Creative decoration of rock gardens - a clay bowl with plants

When deciding on a place for a future rock garden, do not forget that you will need to look at it - choose the most favorable angles. In addition, think - you might want to spend your free time near him. Then you will need an adjoining flat area with paths, a place for a table and a hearth.

The path from the rock garden leads directly to the recreation area

A cozy corner to relax in the "rock garden"

The planted plants for the alpine slide will need solar heat - it means that the slopes must be oriented to the south and east.
Very interesting visual effects will be obtained when using the natural unevenness of the relief - decor elements inscribed in the natural landscape will be a great addition to it.

Spectacular alpine slide with a small pond

This is not an imitation of the landscape, but simply an artistic composition of asymmetrically arranged stone blocks with paths between them and plant compositions.

The next step is to transfer your circuit to the site. Make the marking with the help of twine or backfilling desired lines contrasting material - sand, lime. This will allow you to look at the intended location of the rock garden from the side. Perhaps you decide to slightly change its configuration in accordance with the terrain.

The rock garden serves as a bright decoration of the garden, standing out against the background of a green lawn.

Having approved the choice of a place, you need to prepare the site for laying stones. soil, in more consisting of clay or black soil will have to be drained, sandy soils do not need such preparation. For drainage, the earth is taken out to a depth of at least 30 cm, the pit is filled building materials large fractions, tamp and cover with the removed soil flush with the surrounding ground. To compact the loosened soil, it is shed with water.

A miniature rock garden with dwarf plants placed along the perimeter of the terrace will add personality to your seating area.

The largest boulders are laid along the perimeter of the prepared site. If necessary, they can be buried in the soil - then they will have more natural look. The internal space is filled with soil, which will become the basis for the next tier, as well as a habitat for plants.

A composition of stones, located from the main facade of the house, is a great addition to the image of your home.

Having retreated the estimated distance from the first row, they put in the next chain of stones, maintaining the desired configuration of the rock garden.

Advice! When laying large stones, leave free space between them, which will be filled with soil - the planted plants will need a place to develop the root system.

After completing right amount tiers, make out the top. To do this, you can lay one large stone, or use several small ones, folded in a pyramid. This will prevent soil erosion, as well as complete the composition.

It is better to start work on laying the rock garden in the fall, then by spring the soil poured between the stones will sit down, and it will be possible to fill up all the voids that have formed. In addition, before planting the plants, you will have the opportunity to make final adjustments to the placement of the stones.

Vertical blooming alpine composition creates a romantic mood

Retaining wall in the form of a rock garden - a new salvation from "boring" walls

Advice!The main rule is that the rock garden should look decorative and beautiful even without flowers. Stones should create a stable and extremely natural composition in a harmonious and balanced way. The less symmetry it has, the more organic it will look.

Pride of the homeowner - do-it-yourself alpine slide

The implemented step-by-step instructions for the alpine slide will give you the opportunity to create a real masterpiece of landscape design on your site. And to make it perfect, we will reveal some secrets that will help you in your work:

A mini-rock garden in a flower bed is very relevant for small courtyards where there is no place for standard stone compositions.

To create a miniature rock garden, you only need dwarf plants, pebbles and a terracotta pot

Stones for an alpine slide need to be selected of the same type, of the same breed. Then the rock garden will look extremely natural.

Rock garden with a pond, decorated with stones of approximately the same shape

A high hill, built of stones and green spaces, can serve as a site fencing

The size of the stones should correspond to the area occupied by the rock garden - the larger it is, the larger the boulders can be used to fill it.
When choosing flowers for an alpine slide, be guided by the timing of their flowering. Maximum decorativeness is achieved with a continuous series of various flowering spots on the surface of the rock garden you create.

Minimalistic version of rock gardens - simplicity that emphasizes the architecture in the background

The species composition of plants must be selected from undersized and evergreen options. Then the rock garden will not hide behind lush greenery, and in the fall you will not have to choose fallen leaves among the stones.
For a slide, you can take a couple of undersized coniferous plants. They fit perfectly between the stones without cluttering them up. Between them it is good to place creeping or integumentary species - green spots between the stones look very decorative. flowering plants also pick up short stature and with small flowers.

The most popular plants for rock garden:

dwarf spruce,
thuja,
juniper,

Juniper looks beautiful in composition with stones

cypress,
cotoneaster,

When arranging an alpine hill, you should certainly take into account the features of the landscape and, based on this, choose the appropriate improvement option

dryad,
iberis,
young,
rocky beetroot,

Mountain waterfalls are also characteristic of the Alpine landscapes.

carnation short stem,
saxifrage

Saxifrage will bring color accents to the alpine corner