Ephedra for alpine hills in the middle lane. Alpine hill with conifers

An alpine hill is called an artificial or natural mound of earth, a hill where evergreens grow, herbaceous plants and shrubs are decorated with stone elements.

This element of garden design got its name due to the fact that it is planted here. alpine plants, which in their natural state grow in mountainous and foothill areas.
Read a detailed illustrated article on how to make an alpine slide with your own hands.

To learn how to make a palm tree from plastic bottles, read .

Basic rules for plant selection

A flower garden with a rocky garden is increasingly common on modern garden plots. It is not difficult to create an alpine hill or rock garden, it is enough to know the main plants that can be planted on a hill, as well as the principles of their placement.

In addition, the rock garden is easy to care for. The stone composition looks beautiful and original if you add several types of alpine plants to it.

We offer you the basic rules for selecting plants to create a decorative rock garden:

1. When creating a composition, it is worth Special attention give to low-growing plants. It is important that in size they correspond to the size of the slide, look harmonious.

2. Choose plants that will tolerate the local climate well. If the slide will be created on sunny area, then light-loving plants should be planted, and vice versa.

3. The intensity of tillering and growth of green spaces should also be taken into account. If you plant plants that grow well, close to undersized ones, small plants who love the light, then you will deprive them of the opportunity to grow and please the eye. For example, beautiful and unpretentious soapwort, yaskolka, obrietta, rezuha will negatively affect plants in the neighborhood.

4. Plants on the hill should be combined with each other in appearance, growing conditions, development and growth rates, flowering period.

Types of plants to create an alpine slide

Alpine slide is created on long time. Choosing plants for Alpine slide, give preference to cinquefoil, spirea, conifers, which grow rather slowly, but create a dense layer.

Tall herbaceous and woody plants look best next to large stones, and experienced gardeners it is advised to avoid symmetry when planting such plants.

To eliminate the gaps between perennials, which at first will not be able to fill the entire space of the rock garden, such places should be planted with annuals. flowering plants: gazania, large-flowered purslane, marigolds, gypsophila, marine lobularia and others. These plants love the sun and are unpretentious to the constant receipt of moisture, so they will fit perfectly into general form slides.

A properly created alpine slide will turn any site into a small natural wonder.

Each gardener must answer for himself the question: in what colors does he want to see an alpine hill? It is also important to create a slide plan on paper - schematically draw the shape of the slide, mark the location of the stones in the figure, and also paint over the rock garden sections with different colors to see the whole picture.

Dwarf coniferous plants look beautiful on an alpine hill, which all year round will favorably highlight your slide. Popular dwarf spruces can have several shades and favorably emphasize the element of landscape design. The same group includes juniper - an unpretentious plant in care, cypress - a coniferous plant with a golden top, as well as thuja.

Preferring deciduous plants on an alpine hill, exclude species with falling leaves, which will only spoil the overall look. Among evergreen deciduous plants, iberis is often used for an alpine slide - a plant with white, purple or pink flowers in umbellate brushes.

The dryad looks beautiful due to white catchy flowers, as well as horizontal cotoneaster, which begins to blush in autumn and stands out favorably among other inhabitants of the alpine hill.

To make the alpine hill look harmonious and beautiful, it is worth planting shrubs and conifers one at a time, and filling the gaps between them with undersized plants.

Between the stones, along with coniferous plants, carpet plants should be planted, which in a few years will braid the hill with a beautiful canvas. These include rocky beetroot, which is distinguished by gray-green leaves that retain their color all year round. Burachok blooms with small bright yellow flowers in panicle inflorescences.

You can give preference to a short-stemmed carnation, which blooms richly with bright beautiful flowers. Saxifrageforming dense rosettes from their rosettes beautiful pillows, are a mandatory attribute of the alpine slide. Different kinds saxifrages can bloom both in the shade and in the sun.

If you want your rock garden already in early spring began to please the eye, and until late autumn retained color, tuber-bulbous and bulbous plants.

Early color will provide blueberries, snowdrops, chionodoxes. But until late autumn, their flowering will please the eye autumn crocuses, late tulips, avian, colchicum.

The Alpine hill will be perfectly complemented by a small "mountain" waterfall

The principle of tiered planting

To make the alpine slide a real decoration of your garden, you should follow the rules for planting plants, depending on the tiers. So, let's start with the top tier.

top of the hill

The top of your garden decoration is more open to the sun's rays, so it is advisable to place light-loving plants here. In addition, there is practically no moisture left at the top, so the top of the rock garden should be framed by plants that require the least moisture.

To ensure the flowering of the top of the alpine slide all year round, choose ground cover plants that will bloom one after another. Browse through various plants for an alpine slide, photos and names of which will help you make your choice.

For example, in May-June, the top of the hill will be covered with fluffy iberis, and throughout the summer and autumn, the upper tier will delight you with the flowering of cushion-like bushes. perennial carnation that lives in mountainous areas.

If you want butterflies and bees to always hover over the top of the rock garden, you should plant plants with a pleasant honey aroma, for example, creeping thyme, which forms a carpet on the surface.

Alpine edelweiss is one of the main elements of the top of the hill. This plant loves the sun very much, and in natural environment lives on rocky slopes high mountains, however, for excellent plant growth, it will be necessary to prepare the soil mixture.

If you want to grow unpretentious plants on top of an alpine hill, then the best choice will be young.

We form the middle tier

In the middle of the hill should be plants that love the sun, but at the same time tolerate the shade well. In this place of the hill, the soil is more humid, so there will be a lot of variations for planting.

To ensure lush flowering in May, plant styloid phlox, blooming in blue, pink and white flowers. As a background plant for such bright colors three-vein anfalis, woolly chistets, Schmidt's wormwood can act.

If you prefer to decorate the middle tier of the slide not only with flowers, but also with green foliage, then universal choice there will be a brietta. This plant not only blooms beautifully from the end of May, but also has decorative foliage.

In our latitudes, geyhers, alpine aster, armeria bushes, bulbous plants, primroses are perfect for the middle tier.

To learn how to properly lay turf, click .

Create the foot of the hill

The lower tier of the slide serves as its foot, a logical conclusion. This is where the slide should connect with the rest of the garden.

The lower tier of the rock garden must be filled moisture-loving plants who feel at ease in the shade. Shrubs and tree-like plants are well suited for this, which will be an excellent accent.

To make the foot of the hill bright, you can plant lyatris with spike-shaped flowers, as well as saxifrage in the form of bushes. Having planted rhododendrons at the foot of the hill and dwarf conifers you will be satisfied with the result.

On the choice of plants for the alpine slide, see the video:

Examples of creating an alpine slide

Consider some examples of simple alpine slides.

A small alpine slide, consisting of fragrant plants, looks good.

Plant an oregano at the top to attract insects. middle tier decorate with beautifully growing hyssola, monard and sage. And decorate the lower tier of alipinaria with thyme, basil and nasturtium.

This combination of plants will create beauty in your area, and the combination of fragrant herbs will improve your mood.

Alpine slide scheme will help create beauty on your site

For lovers of a wide variety of plants suitable option alpine hill, on top of which coniferous plants are planted, for example, thuja. Near it, the coniferous ensemble can be supplemented with mountain pine and prickly spruce.

Alpine slides for many years have been an integral attribute of almost any suburban area. And even if you have a small area of ​​​​land, there will definitely be a corner for an alpine slide. The easiest way would be to invite a professional landscape designer, but at the same time, creating a site design with your own hands is very exciting and interesting.

Since the alpine hill is a mountain landscape in miniature, then the plants should be selected appropriately, conifers will look especially good.

The first thing to do is to study the characteristics of conifers, their varieties, and select those that fit your criteria, that is, the height of the tree, the color of the needles, and the intensity of growth. Remember that in the background the slides will grow more tall perennials that require more moisture. So you need to think about watering them in advance.

by the most suitable plants for alpine slides are low and slowly growing trees: various conifers, spirea, cinquefoil, juniper, spruce, fir, pine, thuja. Herbaceous perennials are also good, which grow into a beautiful thick carpet. Among them can be both flowering and decorative species.

Since almost all the plants that are planted in an alpine hill are perennials, they all grow with different speed, but rather slowly. In this case, it is best to dilute the planting of perennials with annuals, so that the height and density of plants can equalize in the first year and a half.

But be careful with your choice. annual plants- many of them produce a lot of self-seeding seeds, which in the future can create difficulties in the form of weeds you do not need. Such plants are well suited: undersized marigolds, gazania, sea lobularia. Before planting, carefully study the care and needs of plants so that they coincide with the main perennials.

Marigolds are undersized

Also, in addition to perennial and annual plants, stones and boulders are used to create a slide. different sizes, which are laid out according to the intended composition. Therefore, all plants are planted at a small distance from each other - somewhere around 20-30cm. Those places where there are no stones are usually covered with fine gravel.

If you have a small, rocky area (about 6 square meters), then the height of the plants for the slide should not be more than 50-70cm. For large plots with an area of ​​​​more than 30 sq.m. - the height of the crown can reach more than one and a half meters. Therefore, as we said earlier, you need to know about such things as the growth of an adult tree in advance in order to harmoniously combine all the plants on an alpine hill with each other.

Now we will analyze the features of some coniferous plants, the height of which in its final form does not exceed one and a half meters.

Dwarf species of mountain pine:

"Winter gold" - crown shape - shrubby, spherical; the height of an adult plant is 0.5 m; diameter - 1.0 m; the color of the needles - in summer - bright green, in winter - golden yellow. Frost resistant variety.

"Mughus" - crown shape - shrubby, spreading, sometimes creeping; height of an adult plant - 1.5 m; diameter - 0.6 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

"Gnom" - crown shape - shrubby, dense, spherical; height of an adult plant - 1.5 m; diameter - 1.5 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

"Mors" - crown shape - shrubby, spherical; the height of an adult plant is 0.5 m; diameter - 0.5 m; the color of the needles is greenish-blue.

Dwarf pine Winter gold

Dwarf species of juniper:

Chinese juniper - crown shape - semicircular; height - 0.7 m; diameter - up to 1.0 m; the color of the needles is green or bluish-gray.

Juniper scaly - crown shape - cushion-shaped, compact; height - 0.5 - 0.1 m; diameter - 1.5 m; the color of the needles is bright, silver-blue. Frost resistant variety.

Common juniper - crown shape - creeping; height - 0.2 - 0.3 m; diameter - 1.0 m; the color of the needles is green. Frost resistant variety.

Juniper Cossack - crown shape - pillow-shaped; height - 0.5 - 0.8 m; diameter - 1.5 m; the color of the needles is dark green or bluish-green. Frost resistant variety.

Lying juniper - crown shape - semi-creeping, dense; height of an adult plant - 1.0 m; diameter - up to 2.5 m; the color of the needles is green or bluish-gray.

juniper chinensis

Dwarf types of thuja:

"Hoseri" - crown shape - spherical; the height of an adult plant is 0.5 m; diameter - 0.6 m; the color of the needles is dark green. Frost resistant variety.

"Little Dorrit" - crown shape - spherical; height of an adult plant - 0.8 m; diameter - 0.6 m; the color of the needles is dark green. Frost resistant variety.

"Danica" - crown shape - spherical; height of an adult plant - 0.8 m; diameter - 0.8 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

Thuja Hoseri

Dwarf species of spruce:

"Little Gem" - crown shape - spherical-flattened; the height of an adult plant is 0.5 m; diameter - 0.5 - 0.7 m; the color of the needles is light green.

"Nidiformis" - crown shape - nest-like, with a deepened middle; height of an adult plant - 0.5 - 1.0 m; diameter - 0.8 - 2.0 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

"Will's Zwerg" - crown shape - narrow conical, dense; height of an adult plant - 1.0 - 1.2 m; diameter - 0.4 m; the color of the needles - young - pale green, old - dark green.

"Echiniformis" - crown shape - cushion-shaped, compact; height - 0.2 - 0.6 m; diameter - 0.4 - 0.8 m; the color of the needles is green.

Norway spruce Little Gem

Finally, we would like to say that the most milestone in creating an alpine slide is its planning. After all, you will have to familiarize yourself with large quantity material for many plants before you can select the ones you need. So take your time, think everything over, and think big, presenting a finished composition when your trees are 2-3 years old. And only after approving each plant, get to work. I wish you success!

Alpine hill has many styles and options for decoration. The best place location - slight slope. It can be laid out with stones, and planted between them undersized plants characteristic of the mountains. As a basis for a rock garden, a slope running along the terrace or near the edge of the site can serve.

When a rocky garden is created, irregularities and elevations are always formed. In addition to placing large stones, crushed stone is added to the soil.

In order for the alpine hill to bloom profusely and be well visible, you need to place it outdoors with plenty of sunshine. Some mountain plants are able to live in a poorly lit space, such as near a house or a fence, but they should also be illuminated by the sun for at least a few hours a day.

If you plan to place a rock garden in the shade of trees, then the choice of plants will be very limited, since after rain the water under the crown will dry out very slowly. In this case, you need to install massive stone blocks and plant ferns, such as ostrich and kostenets.

Drainage formation

1. The top layer of soil must be removed, usually it takes about half a meter.
2. Laying a layer of gravel or broken brick provide a quick runoff of water from the roots of plants.
3. Crushed stone or gravel is added to the garden soil, mixing with it in a ratio of 3: 1. If the soil is clayey, and also heavy, you need to additionally mix coarse sand.
4. Aesthetic stones should be laid on the surface in free placement, as the composition should look natural. The stones are laid a third underground with the flat side.
5. When choosing stones, several types should not be mixed, for example, solid boulders along with granite fragments. Depending on the color of the stone, plants can be selected. If they create a dark background, plantings that have green foliage with a silver sheen work well. A light background allows the use of dark, saturated leaf colors or their burgundy hue. If you can pick harmonious combination more small stones with massive, the site will resemble a highland landscape.
6. Plants sit in the gaps between the stones. If those varieties are selected that deteriorate from waterlogging, a layer of gravel is poured on the bottom of the dug hole before planting for drainage.

Rock garden from conifers

Spruce best suited for rock garden. Caring for her is not difficult, and the choice between species is great. For alpine slides created in middle lane, spruce, Serbian, Canadian, prickly are considered the most suitable. They are quite hardy, show resistance to frost. Need to land on open places, in the shade it is not desirable to have. With drought or excessive soil moisture, these plantations usually do not get sick.

It should be taken into account that Canadian spruce should not be in bright sun, as it may burn a little.

Pine- quite a popular tree. Usually used for rock gardens Scotch pine. You can not spend a lot of time caring for this plant. Depending on the overall design, low pine, mountain pine or wanderer cedar are used. Mountain pine is usually big plant, however, some varieties are strikingly compact. The cedar wanderer does without cultivars, however, it is excellent according to the criteria for a rock garden.

Plants should be planted in March at a depth of 70 cm to 1 meter. During planting, the root should not bend. Sod must be mixed with river sand. by the most harmful factors that can disrupt the vital functions of pine are excessive moisture or a strong, long drought.

cypress trees quite rarely used as plants for rock gardens. Most plant species cannot be planted in mid-latitudes, so choose suitable option quite difficult. Scientists are trying to frost-resistant varieties Lawson's cypress, however, attempts to grow it in cold regions do not lead to success. Pea cypress can be adapted, but provision will be required additional conditions. It should be in the shade, and in the spring to hide from the bright sun. Cypress blunt must be additionally wrapped in winter.

The reduced humidity of the soil and air is detrimental to these plants, therefore, before planting, it is necessary to ensure the possibility of constant care for them.

Larch differs from other conifers in an unusual appearance. Quite unpretentious in care, can tolerate pollution, but for full growth it must be located on nutrient soil. Do not allow it to dry out or expose the plant over watering. Japanese, European, Latin American larch look great on the alpine hills. They always shed their needles before the onset of the cold season. Among the varieties, you can choose between options with winding branches or weeping.

Fir, hemlock, thuja are considered elite plants. Classic fir will seem too bulky for a rock garden. One color, balsamic or subalpine is suitable for him.

Moisture should always be enough, you need to check the soil before watering for its excess. Among the thuja, the western thuja will be the most suitable. It must be planted openly and the soil regularly watered. To decorate the rock garden is suitable canadian hemlock, it can be planted even in the shade. These plants do not require special measures to care for them.

Juniper It has big variety varieties and types. Almost all of them can be used in cold climates. Varieties with blue needles can burn out on spring sun, therefore, care should be taken to build a temporary fence for them. Only Cossack juniper does not need additional protection. Columnar plants for the winter need to be linked, as there is a risk of their deformation under the influence of a mass of snow. The most favorable wintering was noted in creeping varieties.

Juniper should be planted in a rock garden by choosing between early autumn and early spring. Between seasons, you can put the plant in a plastic container. The distance between the juniper and other plants should be from one and a half meters. The pit breaks out with a depth of about 0.7 m. If necessary, it is filled up with earth. The main thing is that the tree does not drown in it. It is imperative to take care of the plant.

The plant is watered 3 times a season, the crown is sprayed regularly, once a week, it is necessary to periodically mulch the soil with peat.

This video talks about conifers for an alpine slide.

With pond and waterfall

To build an alpine slide, complicated by the design of a reservoir or waterfall, you need to familiarize yourself with the stages of their design and arrangement. To make them yourself, you need to understand general scheme and order of work.

The construction is divided into stages:

1. The place under the reservoir is pre-marked using driven pegs and a rope. Next, a pit of the required depth is dug.
2. A shape should be established in the pit garden pond, then checked general level. The resulting container is slowly filled with water. The surrounding space must be covered with sand, while pouring it with water. It is necessary to seal it along with filling all the voids formed. For convenient watering, you can connect a hose.
3. A hill is poured from the sand, the stones are laid with a slight slope back, however, parallelism should be visually indicated. To make the embankment natural, all lines should diverge smoothly. If the site has a slope, then the embankment does not need to be made, and it is better to place the reservoir at the end of the slope. If the place is chosen absolutely flat, then the hill is strengthened retaining wall built of brick or stone. At the same stage of construction, a cascade is made, it is needed for a waterfall. For this you can buy finished structure, however, the location of flat stones at a given height is possible.
4. There must be a pump in the reservoir, which must be placed completely under water. The hose runs through the ground, so it needs to be buried a little, it is well camouflaged by plants and stones.
5. A layer should be built on the alpine hill fertile soil. It is made from compost, sand, crushed stone and sawdust mixed with soil.
6. Plants can be planted both on the shore, alpine hill, and inside the reservoir.

Alpine slides in the garden in the country and on the site of your house: photos of different designs, diagrams

Before planning a design own rock garden, you need to familiarize yourself with successful options its formation. You need to compare your site, the possibilities with the sample you like. Highlighting interesting solutions from the schemes and their embodiments, you can safely use them in the design of your own alpine slide, decorating with your own developments.

Photo gallery: Alpine slides in landscape design with a waterfall, a pond, with conifers and other photo examples.

And this video tells about alpine slides from cereals.

When choosing it is necessary to take into account their need for care, fertilizers, watering, as well as compliance with requests for weather conditions a certain area.

The selection of ornamental and coniferous plants, the arrangement of a reservoir and a waterfall are additional difficulties that must be taken into account when planning work.

In alpine landscapes, plants of bizarre shapes and shapes are often found. Special place among them are occupied by coniferous plants. For an impromptu mountain landscape, any dwarf conifers are suitable - miniature pines, firs and spruces, as well as creeping, pillow-shaped arborvitae and junipers.

Emphasis on form

On an alpine hill, it is not necessary to plant coniferous plants too close to each other, otherwise the individuality of their forms is lost. There are two ways to arrange plants in groups:

1) by contrast of shape or color;

2) by transitional forms, which, as it were, continue each other, creating dynamics of growth or decrease in composition.

Agricultural technology for growing conifers on an alpine hill

It is necessary to prepare a substrate for planting coniferous plants on an alpine hill according to their biological features. In addition, the time of planting in open ground various coniferous species may also differ. Not all representatives of conifers prefer sunny places and put up with excessive soil moisture. Many of them prefer shelter for the winter, which is also important to consider when planning an alpine slide.

JUNIPER

Juniper is planted on an alpine hill in early spring or September. Contrary to the recommendations of using container plants for planting in the ground at any time of the year, during the off-season, it is better to place juniper in a container on an alpine hill. So root system will remain undamaged, and in the fall the plant can be transplanted to permanent place. The distance between junipers and neighboring plants, depending on the form of growth, is from 0.5 to 1 m. The depth of planting depends on the clod of earth and the root system; for junipers, they usually prepare a planting hole 0.7 m deep and pour the earth to the desired volume.

soil mixture for juniper - sod land, peat and river sand (2:1:1).

Fertilizer for juniper is applied in the spring - nitroammofoska - 30 - 40 g / m2.

Locations on the hill are open sunny places, green coniferous species are planted on any exposure of the hill, golden and variegated species prefer the western and southern ones, gray ones prefer the northern and eastern ones.

Juniper care includes 2 - 3 times watering per season, and spraying in evening time once a week, mulching the soil with peat.

Juniper in rock garden

FIR

Dwarf firs are planted in a permanent place in an alpine hill in April before the shoots begin to grow or in September after the formation of apical buds. The recommended distance to a neighboring plant is 0.5 m. The depth of the planting hole should be such that the root is straight in the hole, and root neck- at ground level.

falls asleep landing pit soil mixture - leafy earth, peat and sand (3: 1: 1).

If the plant is planted in the spring, then top dressing with complex fertilizer is necessary.

Locations on the hill - penumbra, northern or eastern exposure.

Fir care includes regular watering, providing air humidity, and mulching the soil with peat. In winter, it requires shelter not so much from frost damage as from burns from the winter sun.

Korean fir "Cis"

SPRUCE

Soil mixture for spruce - leafy soil, acid peat and river sand (3:2:1).

When planting, complex fertilizer is applied.

Locations on the hill - sun, partial shade, any exposure.

Spruce care includes watering once a week, 10-12 liters per plant, soil mulching with peat. In winter, it requires shelter from sunburn.

Gray spruce "Nana"

PINE

They are planted in a permanent place in March, the planting depth is 0.8 m. The root neck remains at ground level. In no case should the root be bent during planting.

Soil mixture for pine - sod land and river sand (2: 1). If necessary, add 250 g of lime to the pit.

Locations on the hill - the sun, any exposure.

Pine care includes watering 2 - 3 times per season in the amount of 15 liters per tree. You can slow down the growth of shoots and increase the density of the crown by pinching the buds.

Assortment of conifers for alpine hills

The height of coniferous plants for an alpine hill should not exceed 0.5 - 0.7 m for small rocky areas (5 - 6 m2), 1.5 m for large ones (more than 40 m2). Therefore, when selecting coniferous assortment for alpine slides, the estimated height of an adult plant must be taken into account. Below is a list decorative forms that do not exceed 1.5 m.

Dwarf forms of thuja western

"Danica" - crown shape - spherical; height of an adult plant - 0.8 m; diameter - 0.8 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

"Little Dorrit" - crown shape - spherical; height of an adult plant - 0.8 m; diameter - 0.6 m; the color of the needles is dark green. Winter-hardy variety.

"Hoseri" - crown shape - spherical; height of an adult plant - 0.5 m; diameter - 0.6 m; the color of the needles is dark green. Winter-hardy variety.

Dwarf forms of mountain pine

"Mughus" - crown shape - shrubby, spreading, sometimes creeping; height of an adult plant - 1.5 m; diameter - 0.6 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

"Gnom" - crown shape - shrubby, dense, spherical; height of an adult plant - 1.5 m; diameter - 1.5 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

"Mors" - crown shape - shrubby, spherical; height of an adult plant - 0.5 m; diameter - 0.5 m; the color of the needles is greenish-blue.

"Winter gold" - crown shape - shrubby, spherical; height of an adult plant - 0.5 m; diameter - 1.0 m; color of needles - in summer - bright green, in winter - golden yellow. Winter-hardy variety.

Dwarf forms of Norway spruce

"Little Gem" - crown shape - spherical-flattened; height of an adult plant - 0.5 m; diameter - 0.5 - 0.7 m; color of needles - light green.

"Nidiformis" - crown shape - nest-like, with a deepened middle; height of an adult plant - 0.5 - 1.0 m; diameter - 0.8 - 2.0 m; the color of the needles is dark green.

"Will" s Zwerg "- crown shape - narrow-conical, dense; height of an adult plant - 1.0 - 1.2 m; diameter - 0.4 m; needle color - young - pale green, old - dark green.

"Echiniformis" - crown shape - cushion-shaped, compact; height - 0.2 - 0.6 m; diameter - 0.4 - 0.8 m; the color of the needles is green.

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, it was alpine plants that were used in such compositions, but now the list of acceptable 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. Green Carpet and Andorra Variegata 70 cm high are suitable for small slides. 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. Exist 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, 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.