Coniferous hills. Alpine hill: a step-by-step description of how to make a rock garden with your own hands

Gone are the days when gardeners were mainly engaged only in beds, greenhouses and greenhouses. Today, many are fond of creating on their land beautiful and original flower beds because they want to receive aesthetic pleasure. Alpine slides have become very popular, with which gardens are more and more often decorated. At the same time, mountain plants and dwarf forms of conifers are widely used, which allow you to admire the greenery of the flower garden all year round. In the article, we will consider which coniferous plants to choose for an alpine slide.

Building compositions

For the design of rock gardens, there is a rich selection of miniature conifers with a variety of different forms crowns - conical, spherical, flat, creeping, ovoid, cushion-shaped. Therefore, before you buy plants for an alpine slide, you need to think carefully about the composition, especially since seedlings of coniferous dwarfs are not cheap.

• The best decorative effect is achieved by a single arrangement of vertically growing plants with cone-shaped or ovoid crowns. The dominant plant is planted at the base of the hill or in its middle part. The space between them is filled with lower rounded or cushion-shaped forms. The basis of the rock garden are creeping ground cover species.

• When creating an alpine slide with your own hands, do not overload it big amount plants, otherwise they will lose their individuality and the beauty of the forms will not be visible. When arranging groups of conifers, you can play on the contrasts of shapes and colors, or make a gradual smooth transition from one form to another. Stones, which are also decorative elements, should not be completely obscured by greenery. As a result of all efforts, the slide should look like a miniature natural landscape.

The choice of conifers for the alpine slide

• Since the alpine hill is a non-monumental structure of immense size, the plants must also be selected so that their proportions correspond to the size of the flower garden.

• Another condition that must be observed when choosing plants is their ability to grow in a given area and in a given climate. The gardener must learn everything about seedlings - what kind of soil they prefer, how they relate to light and shade, moisture and drought, how they get along with their neighbors, how quickly they grow and increase their mass.
• Dwarf coniferous plants are ideal for placement among the rock garden stones: pines, spruces, junipers, thujas. The fact that they grow very slowly, only 3-5 cm per year, turns a big plus. This circumstance makes it possible to preserve the decorative effect of the composition for a long time.

Types of dwarf conifers

Dwarf pines, some species

• Such pines look spectacular in rock gardens. Basically they are low shrubs, which are not afraid of the winds, have frost resistance, and unpretentiousness in care, which is very attractive for use in landscape designs.

• For these plants, you need to choose places well lit by the sun and acidic soils with good drainage. Pines planted on alkaline soils begin to turn yellow. In such cases, gypsum is added to the soil.
• There are about a hundred varieties of these ornamental evergreens. North American pine became the progenitor of varieties Arctis having a conical crown, blue Chappewa, TuckersDwarf and Compacta pines with rounded crowns, varieties Uncle Fogy and Pendula with weeping branches, creeping shrub Schoodic, Wisconsin with a lush cushion-shaped crown.
• Very elegant low-growing cultures derived from weymouth pines. They have silvery thin and long needles, collected 5 pieces in a bunch, curly cones of light Brown color and dense crown. These trees are resistant to shade and cold, they are great for decoration. north side slides. At the miniature Pumila varieties globular crown, Macopin has an extensive conical crown, Nana blue needles. The smallest is 50 cm pine Secret.
• The most common in horticulture are two types with mountain pinusmugo, one of which includes dense creeping shrubs with very long needles (Mops, Varella, MiniMops, Ophir). And the other kind is dwarf plants having short needles and a dense dense crown (Gnom, Kobold, Pumilio, Hesse).

• For ten years of the life of the form Brepo, Marie Bregeon and Pygmaea grow only up to 50 cm. They have a compact rounded shape. Extraordinarily beautiful cone-shaped stunted Alpenzwerg pine. It grows no more than 2.5 meters in height. It has dark green needles, which at low winter temperatures turn slightly golden at the tips, so in winter it seems that the tree glows.

To dwarf varieties pines retained their miniature size, it is necessary to periodically pinch the central growth buds and growing shoots, and also not to abuse fertilizers. Otherwise, the plants will grow, and the crowns will become loose.

Types of dwarf firs

In catalogs stunted spruces subdivided into semi-dwarf with a height of up to 3 m, dwarf - up to 1.5 m, mini-varieties - up to 1 m and micro-varieties growing up to 30 cm. The forms of crowns are conical or pyramidal, spherical and cushion-shaped.

• The real finds for rock gardens are mini-spruces that grow to a height of up to 50 cm in ten years and have wide crowns. These forms include Port Alberta Globe (AlbertaGlobe), with a crown diameter twice its height.
• The most popular are undersized e whether Nidiformis (Nidiformis), Echiniformis (Echiniformis). The latter has a slightly flattened shape and silvery needles.
• The well-known forest beauty common spruce (Piceaabies) served as the ancestor of many undersized decorative forms. A spruce shrub with a nest-shaped crown is popular Nidiformis (Nidiformis), growing only up to 40 cm in height, and having a chic light green crown, reaching up to 1 m in diameter.

• Little Gemm (LittleGem) has a dark green crown smaller than the previous spruce. It can be formed into a spectacular standard tree and grown in a rock garden or in a container.
• The graceful shape of a narrow cone has a dense crown WillsZwerg (Will "sZwerg). This plant grows just over one meter in height. It is interesting in that the young growing needles are much lighter than the old ones. Therefore, the Christmas tree, as it were, plays with different shades of green.
• Dwarf forms were also obtained from the species of prickly spruce (Piceapungens). One of them is excellent Glauca Globosa (GlaucaGlobosa). Its conical crown mainly grows not in height, but in width. It has elongated needles of a bluish color, slightly sickle-shaped. Very unpretentious. Well suited for creating compositions in a rocky garden.
• For growing in rock gardens, dwarf forms of Canadian spruce, which have bluish bluish needles, are perfect: Conica (Conica) with a pyramidal crown Laurin (Laurin), Dwarf (Gnom).

• Semi-dwarf spruce Daisy White (DaisyWhite) grows up to 2.5 meters in height and differs from all the others in soft yellow young needles, which change their color to green by summer. Its dense pyramidal crown will look spectacular in rock gardens, surrounded by lower plants with rounded crowns.
• For spruces, fertile, well-drained soil is preferable, giving an acidic reaction. They do not tolerate stagnant water in the ground. Better fit sunny places or light shadow. To give more decorative bushes can be trimmed.

Tui in rock gardens

In nature, arborvitae are conical evergreen trees of the cypress family, having a dense symmetrical crown, and having a fragrant smell. They bloom imperceptibly. The needles are not needles, but flat, elongated scales adjacent to each other. Plants are easily and painlessly cut. Therefore, they are successfully used for decoration of flower beds and hedges.

• Low-growing arborvitae, which retain their decorative effect all year round, are perfect for growing in alpine hills. In addition, most varieties are frost-resistant.
• Most wide use in the regions of Russia received dwarf forms thuja western. This tree is not too capricious, it is winter-hardy and long-lived. IN natural conditions there are still thousands of years of age.
• With dwarf slow-growing forms of western thuja, lovers are happy to decorate their rock gardens, for example, with a spherical shrub Danica. Its light green crown in 10 years grows in diameter to only 40 cm.

• The rock garden thuja western will look original in the role of soloist Filiformis (Filiformis). The tree has a dense crown in the form of a wide cone. It grows up to one and a half meters in height and has long weeping shoots.
• Grade Globoza (Globosa), on the contrary, has a rounded spherical gray-green crown, reaching 1 m in diameter. It is recommended to use it as an element of compositions. And here is a spherical Golden Globe (GoldenGlobe) has a smaller crown, but it has golden yellow needles.
• An ovoid crown will look unusual in the composition Woodwardii, growing up to 40 cm wide and having light green needles.

• In gardens located in warmer regions, forms obtained from thuja orientalis with fan-shaped needles are grown. These forms include golden yellow Aura Nana (AureaNana) with an ovoid crown, dark green columnar Justinka (Justynka). These varieties are not demanding on soil fertility, but do not withstand severe frosts.

Selection of junipers

A huge number of varieties and types of junipers puts gardeners in front of a difficult choice. These plants can have crowns that vary in shape and color. The shape of the crown can be cone-shaped, creeping pillow-shaped, sprawling, columnar. The needles can be golden yellow, green of different tones, silver-blue. And the shape of the needles themselves can be different - scaly or subulate.

• The natural distribution area of ​​​​these plants is almost endless - they are found in both northern and tropical regions. Junipers are unpretentious, can grow on any soil, do not put forward too high requirements for light and humidity, and tolerate winter cold well. For gardeners, this is just a godsend.
• The most widespread for the creation of rock gardens are dwarf and creeping forms of Cossack juniper (J.Sabina): sprawling green shrub Tamariscifolia (Tamariscifolia), white-motley Variegata (Variegata), blue-green Rocker Jam (RockeryGem).

• Of junipers horizontal interesting variety Andora Variegata (Andorra Variegata) only up to 40 cm high and with a wide cushion-shaped crown. Its unusualness lies in the variegation of needles: in summer it is bright green with white speckles, and in winter it acquires a purple-violet hue. A beautiful blue carpet creates a creeping grade Blue Forest (BlueForest). Its shoots directed upwards give the crown additional volume. Blue Ship (BlueChip) considered the most elegant creeping variety. A dense silver-blue carpet of its shoots low temperatures becomes purple.
• In the solo role on the hill can be dwarf forms of medium-sized juniper. For example, grade Gold Coast (GoldCoast), growing up to 1 meter in height and up to 2 meters in width. This plant is decorative with its spreading golden yellow rounded crown. The same parameters are Gold Star (GoldStar) but he is more resilient. Variety Mint Julep (Mint Julep), on the contrary, it has a bright green weeping crown, reaching up to 2 m in diameter.

Junipers are planted in rock gardens, given the vastness of the future crown. Green varieties are placed on either side of the hill, golden yellow - it is better to land on the western or south side, and silver and gray - on the northern or eastern slope.

Today, a fairly extensive range of dwarf conifers suitable for placement on alpine slides is offered for sale. Evergreen conifers enliven the site in autumn, winter and spring, while deciduous shrubs and trees are at rest. The variety of shapes, textures and sizes of prickly beauties allows them to harmoniously fit into different landscapes.

Currently, rock gardens have gained immense popularity, which are now used to decorate gardens and plots.

Let's look at which coniferous plants can be used for a home alpine slide. For this purpose, they are just perfect - very spectacular, decorative, retaining an attractive appearance all year round.

It is impossible to imagine a modern alpine hill without coniferous plants. Some prefer to create compositions that are almost entirely composed of their conifers. This allows you to simulate a unique and natural mountain landscape.

In addition, coniferous plants aromatize the air and make it healing.

The advantage of conifers is also that they do not need to be selected according to the timing of flowering. The slide will turn out as planned, almost immediately and looks bright and fresh almost all year round. But seedlings of coniferous plants are not so cheap. Although you can do this - plant young plants, they will grow over time, and empty seats decorate, for example, with some ceramic elements or stones.

For the design of rock garden it is best to use small trees and shrubs, possibly dwarf species. Creeping views look spectacular. You can combine different shapes of the crown and the color of the needles. There are needles green, bluish and even bright yellow.

Coniferous plant groups

Before buying plants for decorating an alpine slide, it is advisable to carefully consider the future composition. The choice is wide enough.

There is dwarf conifers having various forms of crowns: flat, spherical, ovoid, creeping and conical.

• coniferous plants with ovoid or cone-shaped crowns are planted in the middle part or at the base of the alpine hill.

• And pillow-shaped or rounded, lower forms fill the space between them.
• At the base are creeping plant species.

To achieve the best decorative effect do not overload the composition with a large number of plants. It is also not advisable to plant coniferous plants at a short distance from each other. In this case, the beauty of forms will not be visible, and as a result, individuality may be lost.

It is better to use contrasts of color or shape. decorative stones in no case should they be completely obscured by greenery. Only in this case you will get a beautiful and original alpine slide, a real decoration of your garden.

Coniferous plants that are used for decoration should not be higher than 1.5 m in height. If the hill is up to 10 m², the plants should be even lower, up to 80 cm.

Currently, you can find a large list of dwarf conifers that are just perfect for decorating a slide.

Prickly spruce Herman Nau

Most beautiful in spring, summer, autumn. This dwarf Christmas tree reaches a height of only 60-70 cm. It has an amazing bluish-steel color of the needles.

Serbian spruce Karel

Resistant to urban conditions, tolerates air pollution and smoke. This is a small dwarf coniferous shrub with a spherical or cushion-shaped crown.

Fir mountain Compacta

One of the most beautiful varieties dwarf trees.

Cotoneaster hybrid Coral Beauty

Most beautiful in summer and autumn. Low creeping shrub with numerous small coral-colored berries will strengthen the slopes of the alpine hill.

Cotoneaster Dummer Eicholz

Most beautiful in autumn. A low-growing shrub, perfect for strengthening alpine hills and slopes. It has bright red berries and an indescribable autumn color of leaves in orange and orange-red tones.

Stephanandra incised Crispa

Most beautiful in autumn. It is used due to the graceful crown and decorative foliage. It is especially attractive in autumn, when the leaves are painted in lemon, pink and even red colors.

Barberry thunberg Maria

Charming shrub of a columnar form, characterized by a rich yellow color in summer and intense orange in autumn.

Potentilla shrub Tangerine

Nice shrub with flowers of a very original copper-orange color. Valued for its decorative coloring.

Juniper scaly Honnethorp

The amazing needles of this “dwarf” allow you to decorate any corner of the site and add an interesting design element when creating contrasting landscape compositions from plants of various architectures.

Juniper scaly blue Carpet

The name of this juniper speaks for itself - it has very beautiful silver-blue needles. Decorative all year round.

Juniper scaly Loderia

A very picturesque strictly vertical juniper, known for its bluish-green color that practically does not lose its color all year round.

Canadian hemlock Nana

A low growing, slow growing shrub. Sheared at any time of the year.

thuja Western Little Champion

Valuable ornamental variety. If you plant thuja along the path, you get a very beautiful border.

The top of the alpine hill can be decorated with spruce or thuja, the middle layer can be covered with various varieties of juniper, and at the foot of the hill, saxifrage and dwarf conifers can be planted. This composition looks very beautiful and elegant from any side.

Creating a rock garden on the site is a very, very exciting activity, in which all your efforts will definitely pay off with a spectacular, bewitching landscape of a natural mountain landscape.

A rock garden is one of the most spectacular ways to decorate a garden, but its construction requires careful planning and a thoughtful choice of stones and plants. The latter are especially important, as they enliven the composition and make it unique. Let's look at how to choose plants for an alpine slide.

A rock garden is an area filled with stones at one or more levels, with plants growing in between. Such a slide can be both impressive (1.5-2 m high) and miniature (only 40-50 cm).

To arrange such a flower garden with your own hands, first of all you need to choose the right place. It should be well lit and beautiful. It is more expedient to place a round hill in the center of the garden, a one-sided one can be adjacent to a fence or a house. The rock garden next to the pond looks good. If it is not there, you can dig a small reservoir next to the slide itself and even supplement the composition with a waterfall or fountain.

Step-by-step instructions for creating a rock garden:

1. Remove weeds from the selected area. If on site ground water lie close to the surface, it is necessary to lay a drainage layer of 30-40 cm.
2. Install the first circle of massive stones with a ring. They must be unprocessed, of the same type, but of different sizes. Suitable granite, sandstone, limestone, slate.
3. Inside the circle you need to make an earthen mound. To increase the height, you can use clay shards and a safe construction garbage, such as boards, broken bricks.
4. Lay the top stones. Drive them in deeper so that they cannot roll or fall.
5. Fill the spaces between the stones with a mixture of garden soil, sand and peat.

Video "Alpine hill with your own hands"

This video demonstrates in detail the process of building a rock garden, and also describes the rules for choosing and planting plants.

Plants for planting

Previously, in such compositions, it was precisely alpine plants, but now the list of valid options has grown significantly. Consider the most popular of them.

Ephedra

Coniferous plants give the hill a special atmosphere.

Mountain pine - evergreen perennial with a dense fluffy crown. The needles are located on small shoots. For small slide use dwarf globular varieties 50-70 cm high, such as Winter gold and Mors. For a large rock garden fit varieties up to 1.5 m tall, for example Mughus and Gnom.

Evergreen juniper shrub - photophilous, drought tolerant and adverse conditions plant. Due to its unpretentiousness, it is suitable for beginner gardeners. Purifies the air, sometimes used in cooking. Leaves are needle-shaped, scaly. The crown, depending on the species, can be sprawling, creeping, columnar, cone-shaped. Suitable for small hills varieties Green Carpet and Andorra Variegata are 70 cm high. On average, tall varieties will harmoniously look rock gardens: Blue Star, Gold Coast, Gold Star.

Thuja, depending on the species, can be a tree or a shrub. The needles of the plant are scaly, light in young plants, dark green in adults. The plant is photophilous, but in the hot midday hours it needs shade. Thuja care necessarily includes pruning. For small slides, spherical varieties Danica, Little Dorrit, Hoseri are suitable. For large slides, the Elwangerlana Aurea variety is often used.

The crown of spruce is cone-shaped. The color of the needles depends on the species, so it can be dark, light, bluish. For growing in the country, it is better to choose frost-resistant and unpretentious varieties: ordinary, Serbian, Canadian and prickly. For small slides, Little Gem, Echiniformis varieties are used, for large ones - Conica, Nidiformis, Will's Zwerg.

ground covers

Ground cover plants do not just decorate the hill - they protect the soil from drying out, prevent weeds from developing and help to fix the composition. In addition, many of them are flowering.

Most species can be planted on slides of any size.

Saxifrage - r asthenia, which May be single or perennial. Blooms from May to August. Bush s form a dense carpet.Flowers can be blue, white, red, pink, yellow. hardy and unpretentious plant, well propagated by rosettes.

M young - with ucculent, better known bycalled stone rose.Dense leaves form a rosette, which And Depending on the species, it can be green, pink, burgundy or crimson. Rosettes multiply vegetatively, fill up fairly quicklythe space allotted to them.

Aubrieta - m perennial a plant that creates a dense, profusely flowering carpet up to 30 cm high. Flowering begins in May and lasts 5- 7 weeks.

Both flowers and leaves look decorative.arabis, which blooms in May-June. In the sun more buds appear, and in the shade grow faster there are withdrawals. flower growth need to be controlled.

blooming

Bright flowers contrast beautifully with both the roughness of the stones and the monochromatic background of the greenery of coniferous plants. Usually they serve as the main decoration of the slide.

The following options are suitable for all types of rock gardens.

Carnation grass reaches a height of 10-15 cm. It blooms from late June or early July to mid-autumn. The leaves are small, elongated. Flowers up to 1.5 cm, can be white and red.

periwinkle flowers small, blue, and the leaves are thick, bright– green. Flowering continues t all summer until late autumn. The plant is unpretentiousto illumination, well transfers the sun and a shade.

Marigolds - I'm bright about mid-years and ki, which are bloom from early June until frost. Exists big number varieties of different shades.

Roses in rock garden with look unusual, but very elegant. Usually require solo landing. A good background for them are coniferous plants and decorative elements. in nye cereals. For slides, creeping and miniature varieties are often used, including floribunda.

In addition to the listed plants, herbs can also be planted on the hill, including those that usually grow in the garden: rosemary, thyme, etc.

You can also grow moss on the rocks. To do this, it must be crushed and mixed with kefir, then the resulting composition should be applied with a brush to the stones.

Basic rules of care

For the first time after planting, plants need frequent watering. If the soil sags, add it.

Adult coniferous plants are usually watered 3-4 times per season, flowers - once every 7-10 days. For watering it is better to use special devices with moisture diffusers- a jet of water can wash away the soil. top dressing mainly in the spring, during the period of active growth.

Trim ground cover plants as needed to keep them from crowding out neighbors.

As you can see, you can build a stylish rock garden even in a small yard. You can either recreate the given examples of seating patterns, or change something in the composition or arrangement of plants.

Creating an alpine slide is a fascinating process that requires not only imagination, but also attentiveness. Even one incorrectly selected plant can spoil the whole impression, breaking the harmony between the other inhabitants of the rocky garden. Therefore, you need to do right choice from an extensive list of plants suitable for composing an alpine slide.

To make the alpine slide look attractive throughout the season, you should select a place for planting plants, taking into account their flowering time and the principle of layering:

1. The top of the hill. It is more open to the sun's rays than the tiers below; therefore, it is rational to plant here plants that love sunlight and do not need in large numbers moisture.
2. middle tier- a place for plants that feel good in partial shade. Here, the average soil moisture, so the middle of the alpine hill can be called universal: milking most flowers here ideal conditions which gives you a wide range of choices.
3. The foot of the hill- logical ending landscape composition. The plants planted here should be combined with the rest of the rock garden and choose those that love moisture and tolerate shade. After all, most of the sun's rays will go to the neighbors from above.

To provide continuous flowering from early spring to late autumn, should be selected flowering plants according to the principle of change. Evergreen shrubs and dwarf trees will look great in winter, looking out from under the snow.

Creating an alpine slide is a fascinating process that requires not only imagination, but also attentiveness

Plant layouts in rock gardens

Before you start creating an alpine slide, you need to create a graphic scheme. It will reflect the general idea of ​​​​the composition, help to generate new ideas and even before planting the plants to find possible errors.

First of all, stones are designated. The largest should be at the base, and the rest should create a gentle slope so that there is room for soil and plant roots. You can experiment by coming up with terraces, sharp cliffs, a pond and other interesting solutions.

Here are a couple of examples of circuits:

1. spicy hill, on which fragrant flowers are located: oregano will occupy the top, heather, hyssop, monarda and medicinal sage will feel good on the middle tier, and basil, bright nasturtium and fragrant thyme will sit at the very base.
2. Coniferous hill: thuja, planted at the top, looks great surrounded by creeping juniper of the middle tier (you can use different types) and weeping cypress. The rock garden is completed by dwarf spruces or pines, the soil under which is disguised by a saxifrage carpet.

Each site owner has the opportunity to create a unique design landscape slide. After drawing up the scheme, you can start laying stones and soil, and then planting plants.

Gallery: plants for the alpine slide (25 photos)

What plants are suitable for an alpine slide (video)

Names and descriptions of perennial flowers for alpine hills

Perennials form the basis of the alpine slide. Therefore, their choice must be approached responsibly: the appearance of the composition depends on which plants will be chosen. You can introduce new colors and accents annually by planting annual plants.

Armeria maritime

A compact plant whose bushes form fluffy green cushions narrow leaves. Above them rise numerous inflorescences (about 10), which are lilac balls. Outwardly, the armeria looks like a decorative bow. hardy plant, unresponsive to high humidity soil. Therefore, the armeria will feel good at the top of the hill or on the slope of the middle tier.

Dicentra exceptional

This plant is popularly called broken hearted» for the original shape of the flowers. Usually dicentres are a large bush, but the Exceptional does not exceed 25 cm in height. It goes well with coniferous and creeping plants, so it will be an excellent highlight of the rock garden. The green-gray foliage of the dicentra is exceptionally similar to the leaves of a fern, and flowers in the form of disconnected halves of the heart can be white or pink.

Dicentra exceptional

gypsophila

The plant belongs to the clove family. It has an erect or creeping stem with a small number of small lanceolate leaves, crowned with panicle inflorescences with small white (rarely pink) flowers.

bulbous flowers

These are crocuses, daffodils, snowdrops and blueberries. They appear immediately after the descent of the tender cover, reviving the landscape in a spring way. For variety, you can plant varietal Greig tulips with beautifully shaped flowers reaching 30 cm in height, and Kaufman tulips.

gypsophila

rejuvenated

stone rose, as it is also called young, is distinguished by excellent endurance. At the same time, the plant is very beautiful: its fleshy angular leaves are collected in rosettes. They can be both quite miniature and up to 10 cm in diameter. The color of the leaves varies from gray-green to burgundy. A stone rose is suitable for decorating the slopes of an alpine hill. Looks spectacular young, growing in the cracks between the boulders.

Primrose

Primrose (popular name of primrose) is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its advantages: early flowering, variety of shapes and colors of flowers, pleasant smell. Primrose is undersized (height 10–30 cm), with single landing forms a small shrub with leathery leaves and bright inflorescences that attract bees. If you plant primroses close to each other, you get a motley carpet.

Edelweiss

In the people, the plant is also called the mountaineer. It loves the sun and grows wild on the well-lit sides of mountains. Therefore, it will adequately take a central place on the hill - its top. In summer, edelweiss will surprise you with beautiful star-shaped flowers.

How to make an alpine slide with your own hands (video)

Creeping and ground cover plants for an alpine slide

Ground cover plants are an integral component of the alpine landscape on the site. They decorate the soil and make the slopes of the hill truly alive.

For example, this:

1. Antennaria(). A low-growing plant whose peduncles do not rise above 15 cm. It has small leaves with a silvery tint and pubescence create a dense carpet on the ground up to 5 cm thick. Basket inflorescences white color, so the cat's paw cannot be called a bright plant that attracts glances. But it is very durable!
2. periwinkle. Forms an evergreen rug that blooms from May to September with delicate blue flowers scattered among leathery small leaves. Suitable for growing under the sun and on a shady slope: the plant is unpretentious to light.
3. Alpine dwarf low plant, forming a decorative turf, which does not exceed a height of 3 cm. In May and June, inflorescences up to 15 cm appear on it, which are brushes with numerous white flowers.
4. Saxifrage. One of the most popular ground cover plants. Their flowering time is in the middle of summer, and the color of different types differs: from snow-white to maroon. He loves light, so you need to plant on the western or southern slope of the alpine hill or closer to its top.
5. Aubrieta. Covers the ground with a lush carpet. It blooms profusely throughout the spring, and during this period it is covered with pink and purple flowers. It loves sun and loamy soils, although it grows well in any soil.
6. Awl-shaped phlox. A plant 15–17 cm tall, named for its narrow and pointed leaves at the ends. The shoots are densely covered with numerous inflorescences of pink, white or lilac color. Flowering begins in May-June, and it continues in early September.

On the same hill, several types of ground cover plants coexist if they are in harmony with each other. Given their flowering time, you can make sure that the soil is covered with a bright carpet from spring to autumn.

Ground cover plants are an integral component of the alpine landscape on the site

Shrubs for alpine slides

It is not recommended to use deciduous shrubs in landscaping alpine slides, because their leaves, stuck in the cracks between the stones, are difficult to remove, and the composition will look untidy. It is better to opt for small evergreen bushes.

For example, cotoneaster horizontal whose branches grow parallel to the ground. They are decorated with small leathery leaves, which acquire a crimson color with the onset of autumn. After flowering, small red berries appear, remaining on the branches all winter and giving the cotoneaster a special charm.

An interesting solution would be to use boxwood barberry. Its bush grows no higher than 50 cm, it represents a spreading crown of numerous branches. A very unpretentious plant that tolerates frost and drought well. Loves the light, but when grown in the shade retains its decorative properties.

In landscaping alpine slides, it is better to opt for small evergreen bushes

Dwarf plants for rock garden

Alpine slide- this is a repetition of the mountain landscape in miniature, so for naturalness you need to use small plants. large bushes will occupy half of the composition and divert attention from other inhabitants of the rocky garden.

You can use dwarf varieties herbaceous plants (for example, annual marigolds or alpine aster). It is desirable that their height does not exceed 30 cm. And, of course, dwarf conifers are the regulars of rock gardens: spruce, pine, etc. Thanks to them, the hill really looks like a reduced copy of the alpine relief.

Ephedra for alpine hills

To create an alpine landscape, use undersized species and varieties of conifers:

1. dwarf firs, whose height does not exceed 60 cm. They lend themselves well to shaping and require almost no maintenance. The shape of the crown different varieties may be sprawling or pyramidal.
2. Juniper. Species look spectacular, the branches of which grow parallel to the ground. The needles of the plant often have a yellow tint, and the branches are decorated with small bumps. Juniper in the wild can be seen on the slopes of the mountains, therefore it is undemanding to the soil and grows well on stones.
3. thuja- a shrub or tree of a pyramidal shape, less often it is cut in the form of a ball.
4. Mountain pine "Pug" grows very slowly and by the age of 10 has a crown with a diameter of up to 50 cm, which allows planting a tree on an alpine hill. Green needles have a pleasant blue tint.
5. cypress: its decorative dwarf varieties will effectively decorate the rock garden slope. You can choose a bush with golden, silver or traditional dark green needles. And the Philifera cypress has hanging branches, which looks like a coniferous cascade.

Alpine slides always attract attention with their beauty and unusual design. They not only complement landscape ideas, but also able to set the tone for the entire garden, and the quantity original solutions will help in the organization of individual projects that can satisfy the most demanding taste.

Alpine slide design and decoration

Having decided to make an alpine slide in your own summer cottage, you first need to decide how it should look. The most popular today are:

1. Alpine slide with a waterfall;
2. Alpine hill with a pond;
3. Alpine hill of conifers.

Having decided to start creating an alpine slide with a waterfall, you need to prepare the following components:

• hoses;
• Pump (high efficiency);
• sealant;
• Geotextile.

You can make an alpine slide with a waterfall yourself, it is only important to know a few basic steps:

1. Water should be brought to the top of the slide. This will require hoses;
2. Having finished working with hoses, they must be decorated with stones of different sizes;
3. The reservoir should be located below:
   • Dig a pit;
   • Place sand at the bottom, coarse is better;
   • Lay geotextile on top;
   • Put another layer of sand;
   • The next layer is pebbles;
   • Next are the big rocks.
4. When the work is completed, the resulting container must be filled with water;
5. Connect the pump;
6. Start system.

When arranging such an alpine slide, it is important to pay attention to the fact that the soil must have a special composition: ½ part of peat and ½ part of garden soil.

To organize an alpine slide with a pond, you will need:

• Film (black);
• Sand;
• Large stones or cobblestones;
• Stones for decor.

The sequence of actions for the device of such a slide is as follows:

1. First you need to dig a small pit;
2. Remove tree roots and other debris from the pit;
3. Next, you need to make special recesses around the entire perimeter of the pit;
4. Lay a black film on the bottom and decorate the perimeter with stones. For this, recesses are needed;
5. Soil is poured over the film, on which cobblestones will be laid;
6. Fill the pond with water.

Having decided to make a rock garden from conifers, it is important to know that such a design should look like it was created by nature itself, and you did not put your hands on it. For this reason, conifers are the most suitable plants. Alpine hill for some part consists of stones and cobblestones, and coniferous plants grow well in such conditions in natural nature. Best suited:

• Fir subalpine;
• Cossack junipers;
• Pea-bearing cypresses;
• Mountain pines;
• Cedar salad bowls.

How to make an alpine slide?

The arrangement of alpine slides is not too complicated and such an object landscape design it is quite possible to do it yourself. You just need to know the sequence of actions. Below is an example of a classic alpine slide with several tiers of stones:

1. The first tier must be executed in the form English letter"V". At the bottom of each tier, large stones should be laid, which will play the role of key ones and prevent small pebbles from sliding and sliding down the slope. Each large stone around is sprinkled with earth so that it is more tightly fixed. After the completion of the device of the 1st tier, a part of the plants is planted;
2.  Each next tier is made in the same way - a little soil is added, leveled, stones are laid and plants are planted;

In order to properly compose an alpine slide, on each subsequent tier it is necessary to lay stones slightly smaller than on the previous one.

3. The top should be shaped like a pyramid. For this, stones are used small size, fix as close as possible to each other using the ground;
4. Then the entire hill needs to be sprinkled with soil a little more to provide additional fixation;
5. Then you can start planting the remaining trees. For this, it is better to choose conifers creeping plants various forms and shades.

The work may seem simple enough, but first you will need to compile detailed diagram future design, as well as a plan for its device. If you are worried that you may not be able to do everything right, then it is better to contact a landscape design specialist.

When developing a scheme on your own, you need to remember that such structures can be arranged at various heights - from 1 to 3 meters. And when digging a foundation pit, it is important to consider that its height should not be less than 30 cm, since in the end it will shrink a little (about ¼ of its own height), which should not spoil the composition.

Alpine slide scheme includes:

1. Black pine;
2. Juniper "Gold Star";
3. Thuya "Teddy";
4. Barberry thunberg;
5. Five-leaf girlish grape;
6. Buzulnik toothed;
7. Plantain "Rubra";
8. Thyme;
9. styloid phlox;
10. Sheep.

Alpine hills, photo gallery

By entrusting the work to professionals, you can get very beautiful design solutions. Here are some of them:

1. Alpine slides:

   

   

   

   In the photo, the second stage is the installation of stones and backfilling with fertile soil

   

   

2. Mini alpine slides:

   

   

3. Rockeries and alpine slides:

   

   

Video

Decor such as an alpine slide requires not just an idea, but the ability to combine plants and their colors. If you don’t want to experiment, refer to the video instructions for building a beautiful alpine slide:

Alpine slide is perhaps the best component of landscape design. Such a decision will not only please the owners of the summer cottage, but also their guests, and the quiet murmur of water will bring peace and a sense of satisfaction.