How to make a small alpine slide. Alpine slide in the country with their own hands

There are many ways to decorate country cottage area making it unique. You can use curly trimmed bushes, rare plants, paths, originally lined with stone, flower beds with a variety of color combinations. All this has long been familiar experienced summer residents. Nevertheless, there is an unbroken version of the landscape design of the dacha - an alpine hill.

Peculiarities

Alpine slide or rock garden is a landscape composition that recreates the landscape of mountains. In its center, at a certain height, a stone or several stones are installed, and along the slopes there are platforms (terraces) with specially selected plants and flowers, mainly from the Alpine mountains. This kind of object can become the "star" of both a large garden and a small suburban area. The basis of this element is the combination of stones with mountain plants.

The rock garden today is the main competitor of gypsum sculptures and garden beds , rabatok and mixborders, with which you will not surprise anyone for a long time. Currently, rocky slides are extremely popular among owners. summer cottages. This is due to both their beauty and spectacular appearance, and the opportunity to create your own, unique in design and atmosphere, a corner that will delight the eye all year round.

The main difficulty in creating a mountain landscape in a summer cottage is the need to artificially reproduce the natural immediacy. After all, where conditions for plant growth are formed at the site of rock breaks, there is no symmetry, and in order to repeat this in your garden, you need remarkable imagination and skill, as well as the artistic taste of the author of the composition.

At the same time, the rock garden should not stand out too much from the general landscape, but on the contrary, it should harmoniously fit into it.

Sometimes an alpine slide is mistakenly called a rockery., but it's not the same thing. Rockery is a construction made of stone, rubble and other materials (from English word rock - stone). There are two main differences between rock garden and rockery. Firstly, a rock garden is an imitation of a mountain landscape, while a rockery can be located both on a flat surface and on an inclined one - on any one that the master of landscape design invents and creates. Secondly, any plants can grow in rockeries, not just alpine ones (and only stones should be in Japanese rockeries), which is convenient in climatic conditions other than mountain ones.

Where to place?

When choosing the best place to place an alpine slide, you need to take into account a number of conditions.

• Natural terrain. If there are slopes or small ravines on the site, you can use them to equip a rock garden, avoiding wasting time and effort.
• The rock garden should be visible from any corner of the cottage, which means that it must be located in an open and not obstructed by trees place. The absence of trees will help to avoid the need to clear the hill from fallen leaves in the fall.
• Lots of sun, as alpine plants love light. It is desirable that the sun illuminates the object in the morning. The more shadow will fall on the hill, the longer it will dry out after the rain. Although this problem can be solved - you need to plant fern species nearby.
• Limited water and rocky ground. Excessive moisture is harmful to alpine plants.

Landscape designers recommend placing rock gardens on eastern or western slopes. because mountain plants feel best there. You can also place a hill on the northern slope, but then you need to use shade-loving and moisture-tolerant crops. It is also important to strike a balance between colors and stones. You can place a rock garden near the house, but not too close to the wall due to the possibility of snow from the roof, or you can - in the center of the site. It is not advisable to place a slide against the background of the fence. A different background is needed, for example, in the form of a hedge. Near big trees creating a rock garden is also not worth it, as the tree will overwhelm it with its size.

Of course, you do not need to place a slide next to greenhouses and beds. It will not look aesthetically pleasing, will not fit into the landscape. The rock garden is designed in that part of the site that is intended for recreation, where the owners can enjoy its attractive view and recuperate next to it.

A neat lawn can complement the foreground of the rock garden. It will also serve as a frame if located around the slide. A beautiful continuation of the hill can be a flower garden with the same plants or a small rocky mound. It is effective when a pond is built at the foot of the hill, into which a small cascade or stream flows down from the slope.

True, to make it, it will take much more effort and money than for an ordinary slide, but the result will justify all the costs.

Training

Before you start doing something on the site, you need to imagine the future rock garden, regardless of whether a high hill with a waterfall or a small rocky garden is planned. To prevent common mistakes, you can use diagrams for beginners. In order to make a slide project with your own hands, you need to draw a drawing, draw up a rough plan.

It needs to take into account:

• position on the site, placement of other objects near the hill;
• form;
• size;
• the presence of a reservoir, its type and boundaries;
• the layout of stones, their size, shape, breed;
• planting plants.

As initial stage work, you need to prepare a site measuring 1.5x2.5 m. All weeds are removed at the selected site: for example, bindweed, thistle. The most suitable for arranging a slide is sandy soil. If the soil is clayey, drainage is not required, but if the soil is too wet, then no drainage is required. ground water not enough.

To do this, you need to dig a hole with a depth of 30 cm (depending on the planned height of the future rock garden). The more reliable the drainage, the more durable the slide will be. The first 10 cm should be covered with crushed brick or gravel. You can use expanded clay for this purpose. The next 5 cm is a layer of coarse sand that needs to be leveled. Each layer must be watered. Next, the earth that was previously dug is poured, and it is tightly compacted around the entire perimeter of the future rock garden.

In order to avoid intensive growth of weeds, it is recommended to pass the soil through a screen before falling asleep. Laying of stones begins only after the soil has settled, that is, after 14-20 days. There are several terraces in the rock garden, usually their number varies from 3 to 5. Each tier is laid out around the perimeter with large stones, after which the gaps are filled with soil, which is compacted. Then proceed to the design of the next terrace. In the event that the earth sags, it is necessary to fill the resulting voids with a substrate. If tracks are provided in the rock garden, they are laid out at the same time.

It is best to equip the slide in the fall, as natural shrinkage will occur in winter. It is also good to treat the soil with preparations for the destruction of weeds - subsequently it will be much easier to care for the plants. There is an opinion that best solution for the design of a rocky garden there will be one that is carried out without any construction work whatsoever.

Thus, it remains possible to painlessly make adjustments to the design if necessary.

Plants

To select the types of flora for arranging a rock garden, additional knowledge and skills will be required. Variants of shrubs, flowers are selected depending on the type of hill. If it is rocky, located in sunny place, you need light-loving, drought-resistant crops. In order to create a classic alpine slide, both low species and perennials - herbs and flowers are required. In addition, you need to know that not all types of plants "get along" with stones and are suitable for placement on a hill.

When choosing your combination of crops for planting on rock garden terraces, it is better to give preference to those that meet the following criteria:

• beautiful appearance;
• low varieties of shrubs and trees;
• undemanding care;
• thermophilicity.

Carpet, small-bulbous, rosette, tuberous groups of plants are best suited for these purposes. The basis for the design of the slide are small trees, mostly conifers, such as pine, thuja, cypress, juniper. If we talk about flowering shrubs, then lingonberries, blueberries, almonds, broom, rhododendron are perfect for decorating a rock garden.

It is impossible to imagine a rock garden in which there are no flowers. Perennial plants with beautiful flowers will make any garden unique and stylish. Given the climatic features of Russia, you should not limit yourself to alpine high-mountain plants. In some cases, the presence of cultures living in the forest, steppe, or even on the sea coast will be appropriate on a rocky hill. There is even a Mexican version of the rock garden with cacti. Alpine edelweiss and styloid phlox, Carpathian bell and saxifrage and many other types of plants can decorate the rock garden.

Along the edges and in some areas of the rock garden, undersized and ground cover crops are planted: primrose, ferns, periwinkle, lavender, bluebells.

Concerning deciduous plants, there are some difficulties with them. The main thing is to avoid planting deciduous species, because this can create unnecessary problems with flying around and subsequent cleaning of leaves. Moreover, fallen leaves not only spoil the aesthetic appearance of the slide, but can also harm other plants. Therefore, when choosing deciduous crops for rock garden design, it is better to pay attention to evergreen representatives of this type, such as iberis, dryad or cotoneaster.

If you want the alpine slide to start pleasing to the eye in early spring and everything bloomed summer months until late autumn, you need to include in its design bulbous species: snowdrops, crocuses (common and late), tulips, blueberries, pushkinia, colchicum. An expressive background for plants with a short flowering period will be created by their long-flowering "brothers": for example, Atlantic poppy or bluebell.

Choosing stones

There are many varieties of rocky gardens, and they all have one thing in common: they are an artificially created mini-copy of a mountain landscape. The stone embankment imitates a plateau, merging into a sequence of terraces, and above them are stones designed to be mountain cliffs. It is best to equip a rock garden with natural stones related to rocks: basalt, sandstone, limestone, granite, and other durable and low-porous rocks. It is undesirable to work with shell rock, tuff, dolomite. Since these rocks are porous, they quickly absorb moisture, as a result of which they are prone to rapid destruction.

It is important to consider what the appearance of the rocky garden will be. It is best to consider this point already at the stage of drafting the project. In addition to the site, the rock garden should be in harmony in style and with the house. If the house is made of wood, then the shape of the slide should be softer. A high-tech house will allow you to play with the form - for example, use it in decor geometric figures, such as cubes, prisms, balls. The most elegant alpine slide will look if there is a bright dominant element. It may be a large original stone, interesting tree, stream or unusual flower.

It should be clearly visible from any side, because it is thanks to him that the design looks complete, and the landscape looks like a single whole.

It is also possible that there is no main accent that attracts attention to itself in the rock garden. So, if you plan to plant bright flowers, then it is better to take stones in neutral tones so that they serve as a background. If the plants are inexpressive, then it makes sense to choose interesting, bright stones. In the case of combining heterogeneous stones, there is a high risk that the rock garden will look like a pile of randomly thrown stones, so it is better to take samples that are close in color scheme and in form.

Most often, the following rocks are used to build a slide:

• white-green quartz;
• marble chips white;
• milky quartz;
• quartzite petrified wood;
• both green and red jasper;
• quartz "rainbow";
• sandstone.

If limestone is used for the foundation of the rock garden, an alkaline reaction is possible in the soil between the stones. Such soil is not suitable for some types of plants and needs to be acidified. You can acidify the soil, for example, with sphagnum moss or leaf compost. In order to create a small rock garden about 2.5x1.5 m in size, you need about 2 tons of large, heavy stones. Each stone separately must weigh at least 12 kg. This is necessary for the stability of the structure. In some slides, even boulders weighing 100 kg can be used.

The color of the stones and their shape are extremely important. Too round or, conversely, acute-angled will not work. As for stones of different colors, they look proportional only in rock gardens of a certain type. With the classic way of decorating a rocky garden, it is assumed that single-species stones are used. different sizes. The largest of them are laid out along the perimeter of the slide, more often at the bottom - they are suitable for framing. For better adhesion to the ground, they are dug into the soil by about 60%.

The stones on the tiers of the slide must be positioned so that their faces, accessible to the eye, look perfect. Stones with defects are stacked in such a way as to hide the flaws. There must be intervals between boulders, which are subsequently filled with plants and flowers. It is necessary to lay stones, taking into account their size and weight, as naturally as possible, trying to recreate the natural randomness.

Stones laid out required amount tiers of the hill. In order to decorate the top, the most interesting stones in size and shape are selected. The terraced form will allow you to direct the flow of water from the hill in the right direction and prevent soil erosion, as well as break the hill into areas suitable for growth various kinds plants.

If the rock garden project provides for a stream or waterfall, then a hose or pipe should be fixed and masked at the top, and at the foot or in the reservoir itself - a pump that will regulate the pressure of the water supplied.

Landing patterns

When planting plants for a rock garden, it is important to carry out all the work in a certain sequence in strict accordance with the scheme. Then the arrangement of a rocky garden with your own hands will not take much time and effort. There is an opinion that with a well-thought-out plan, it is possible to make an alpine slide in just one day. First you need to select the green elements of the system. Most often used as a base alpine perennials: for example, fescue, lavender, geranium and others, which gradually grow over time, forming a green cover.

It looks extremely picturesque.

To achieve a visual effect, it would be right to plant plants with different periods flowering, placing them in groups that have a shape close to round. Then the rock garden will delight the owners from early spring to late autumn. It is better to combine vegetation so that dim and low specimens of flora are grouped, and the most showy plants placed separately, drawing attention to themselves. On a hill with several terraces, plants are planted in tiers.

• On the upper tier of the rock garden, the most drought resistant plants. That's where it gets the most sunlight and moisture from the soil quickly evaporates. For this purpose, ground cover representatives of the flora are most suitable.

• The middle part of the slide is best decorated with plants that love both the sun and moisture, easily tolerate shade. On the terraces of the rock garden, the soil moisture is higher, so the choice of species suitable for decorating this part of the composition is much wider. Plants are planted at the foot that easily tolerate shade and love soil saturated with moisture.
• Dwarf trees (both coniferous and deciduous) and shrubs should be planted first, setting aside the largest areas for them. It is not advisable to place them on the "sole" of the rock garden. The best place to plant upright dwarf plants in a composition - near large stones installed at the edges of the hill at some distance from each other. After the shrubs, grassy species are planted, and the planting is completed ground cover plants.

It is also important to take into account the duration of flowering plants, climatic conditions in the region, the compatibility of plants with each other. If you correctly arrange the annual and perennials on the rock garden area, it will look attractive all the time, while the owner will be able to annually supplement the composition with new species.

There are seven types of rock gardens:

• rock - a surface with natural fractures;
• mountain slope, on which conifers and boulders of considerable size are located;
• Czech rolling pin, main characteristic feature which is a layered masonry;

• forest ravine in which a spring flows or artificial waterfall;
• slope with terraces;
• rocky wall - a low hill with randomly thrown stones;
• a gorge with groups of asymmetrically arranged stones;
• alpine lawn, planted with wild crops growing mainly in the mountains.

Registration

You may get the impression that the location of rock gardens is permissible only in well-lit areas, but this is not so. If you choose the right flowers and shrubs, then it is quite possible to arrange a hill in the shade. Then the composition will imitate not the highlands, but the zone of the mountain forest. Any terrain is suitable for a shady garden: gentle, gorge, terraced, and tiered. Each of them can be beautifully beaten by creating cozy corner Location on. You can decorate such a rock garden with large stones, natural snags. You can arrange a path of crushed stone, gravel or mulched bark.

To design a shady rocky garden, a larger selection of plants is provided. You can use not only alpine mountain crops, but also grown in traditional flower beds, such as lilac, hydrangea, elderberry, viburnum. Also, partial shading is well tolerated by phlox, peonies, mint, primrose, daylily. However, you still do not need to overdo it with flowerbed perennials. Firstly, they are much looser and larger than their mountain "brothers", and secondly, they grow too actively, covering stones and ground cover species plants. As a result, the composition ceases to look neat, loses its attractive appearance.

In the case of maintaining a balance between mountain and flower bed species of flora, a shady garden can decorate the site, while being easy to care for, since the plants that fill it are less whimsical and demanding than thermophilic crops growing in the sun.

Important emphasis

In order for the rock garden to please the owners not only during the day, you can mount lighting around it. Then, with the onset of the evening, it will look even more spectacular. It is best to use flashlights for this purpose. solar panels, since their installation does not require cable laying, electricity. During the whole daylight hours, the battery is charged, and at night it illuminates the area. You can place light sources around the perimeter of the rock garden, or you can highlight the terraces. In this case, only the imagination of the garden owner can serve as a limiter.

If a pond is adjacent to the slide, then one or more waterproof battery models can be installed in it, depending on the size and shape of the reservoir.

A good idea for the area adjacent to the hill can be a bench located in the shade. It can be arranged as you like: made from a single piece of wood or buy a wicker garden. It is also appropriate to decorate the bench decorative pillows, place additional source lighting, so that in the evening you can sit with a book. You can go further by building a platform next to the rock garden, on which sun loungers and a table will be placed, to make a gazebo. If there is space, you can even arrange sofas and organize a seating area. It all depends on the desire of the owner and the size of the site. The main thing is that the rock garden and the area next to it are in harmony in size, color scheme and style, complementing each other.

If the size of the territory of the site allows, then next to the rocky hill, several flower beds can be laid out, and the same plants that decorate the hill will grow on them. This will give additional volume and scale to the composition. Such an ensemble will look especially successful on a large, spacious area.

It is important to understand that each of the rock gardens made by yourself is unique. With a little effort, you can create a real "diamond" in your backyard. In addition, decorating the slide can be done by the whole family. So, in addition to an impressive result, you will get a lot of positive emotions from joint creative work.

Children of any age will be able to contribute to the arrangement of the rock garden, and parents will once again have the opportunity to be with their children.

Many summer residents, when arranging their plots, install in the garden decorative element like an alpine hill.

It is an excellent decoration for a garden or a park. The hill gives the summer cottage coziness, beauty and a sense of nature.

Choosing a place for a slide

When choosing a place for an alpine slide, the following factors should be considered:

• The slide should be located in the most prominent place of the site so that guests and all family members can admire it.
• It should be in the sun, in places not blocked by trees.
• It is recommended to protect the alpine slide from contact with the wind.

When installing a slide, the landscape design of the site is also taken into account, on which a lot depends. When organizing an alpine slide on your own, it is best to refuse the services of an architect and do everything as you like and it will be inexpensive in terms of finances.

You can make such a slide yourself by studying many forums and articles on the Internet.

The beginning of the installation of the Alpine hill

First of all, we determine the location, near it to prevent the presence of trees, bushes and other vegetation. It is also necessary to correctly choose the location of the slide at their summer cottage.

It must be placed where the level of soil moisture is not very high, this can affect the quality of the slide. Humidity is controlled by applying a drainage cover, which is filled up under the hill and protects it from excess water.

Hill building ideas

It is necessary to schematically represent the view of the alpine slide, the location of all the scenery. To build a hill you need:

• stones of various types and shapes, for example - pebbles;
• sand, you can also use different ones (with or without pebbles);
• various types of ornamental plants and flowers, dwarf trees also look great;
• to create the atmosphere of the forest there should be - moss;

From improvised means and things, you can create a work of landscape art. Alpine hill will delight you with its appearance every day.

Choosing stones to decorate the alpine slide.

For the construction of such a decorative slide, stones of various breeds are used. Usually they are stones such as: basalt, granite, sandstone.

Often, landscape designers and architects use stones of one particular breed, as they look harmonious and are more convenient to work with.

When building a slide, stones must be laid scattered in order to avoid the same type of arrangement of stones, thereby giving the structure a natural look.

For these purposes, stones mined industrially. They try to lay stones that have cracks, chips, hiding defects so that they do not spoil the overall picture of the slide.

Arrangement of an alpine hill with flowers and plants

In order for the slide to have a pleasant and attractive design appearance, many varieties of vegetation are used during its construction.

Their number and types can be different, which the owners of the summer cottage like. When choosing them, you should pay attention to weather, the type of plants that grow in that area, and many more factors.

And also, before purchasing plants or flowers, you need to contact a person with knowledge in botany, and it is recommended to contact landscape designers, only they have experience in this area.

At self-selection plants, you risk simply destroying the plants. Also, when forming an alpine slide, you can use small ornamental trees. Need to use bright rich flowers, which look great on the site, delighting with their beautiful views.

Proper care of the alpine slide

For the first time in a year of using a slide, you need to take care of the plants, water them with fertilizers and sprinkle the earth as necessary.

When operating the slide, it is not recommended to use nitrogen fertilizers for plants, as they accompany the active growth of plants. Plants and flowers need to be cut, dried leaves removed. When watering, you need to follow the stream of water, it should not erode the soil.

Plants are also susceptible to pests, so they need to be treated. Stones that loosen over time need to be strengthened.

The use of alpine slides in the field of design

With the help of such slides, not only summer cottages and vegetable gardens are decorated, they are also used in the arrangement of parks and squares.

Alpine slides are also widely used in decorating aquariums and terrariums. The Alpine hill will not only transform the summer cottage, but will delight all guests with its beauty, create an atmosphere of nature and comfort.

Photo of an Alpine hill at their summer cottage

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 of plants 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 there is 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 contain stones, unpretentious plants, and are 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 construction garbage, no difference, 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 include 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, sold in large bags, is inexpensive.

Pour a layer on the drainage fertile soil up to 20 cm thick. The soil mixture usually consists of soil, peat, 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 shape your stone, the more picturesque it will look on an 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 create a truly alpine mood, because their main place is in the Alps. 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 plant rarer "super dwarf" plants for the foreground and as ground cover on an alpine hill. These are Yankee, Haberlea, Ramonda.

Flowering plants can be planted between the stones, 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 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 prolonged absence 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 ones that appeared to me interesting examples decoration of alpine hills. 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 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 can create smooth transition between groups of landings and combine the whole 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!

Alpine slides in the form of a wall are quite popular both in Europe and among domestic gardeners. With a minimum of occupied area, such rock gardens are exclusively decorative, besides, they allow planting a significant amount of a wide variety of plants. Types of Alpine slides 45 photo ideas beautiful design consider in this article.

Types of alpine slides - a stone wall is usually made of decorative artificial or natural stone. From natural stones limestone and sandstone are most commonly used. To create a stone wall, lime mortar is not used, and the gaps between the stones are filled with a soil mixture, which allows plants to be planted in the vertical gaps between the stones.

There are two types of rock gardens in the form of a wall: these are retaining and double-sided walls.

• A retaining stone wall is the boundary of a terrace or raised flower bed.
• Bilateral — independent object, consisting of two walls, the space between which is filled with soil. Photo of alpine slides in the garden:

Even a non-specialist can lay out a retaining stone wall, just remember that the stones are laid out with about a 10-degree slope back (this will allow the plants to be better fixed), but for the construction of a two-sided one, it is best to invite a professional.

If the stone wall is planned to be higher than 30-40 centimeters, then it is best to plan the foundation in advance, from 10-15 to 20-30 cm high. Such a foundation is made of cement, but it is necessary to provide small drainage holes in it. Types of alpine slides photo ideas:

Types of alpine slides - stone wall

Unlike most other types of rock gardens, where construction and planting are spaced apart in time, a stone wall is being built in all senses at the same time. For each plant (the cuttings of which must be prepared for planting in the ground), as construction progresses, small vertical crevices between the stones are provided, where the plant is immediately planted. It is recommended to plant cuttings with primary roots - they take root better. Top part the walls can be left in the form of a raised flower bed and also filled with plants, or it can be paved with stones, between which plants are also placed. The forms of alpine slides are different:

After the construction of the wall is completed, it is very carefully, but plentifully watered. Mode high humidity persists until full rooting of plants. It is appropriate in some cases to use a spray gun to create a local regime of high humidity in relation to one or more plants.

The optimal plants for placing them in a rock garden-stone wall are rezuha and bluebells (shade-tolerant), cloves and thyme (thyme), phloxes and sunflowers (sun-loving). Types of alpine slides photo:

Types of alpine slides - container rock gardens

A variety of container rock gardens throughout the twentieth century, since the 1930s, were the most popular with gardeners in Europe. First of all, because such rock gardens are extremely practical. They can be equipped not only on suburban areas, but also in the courtyard of a city house, and even on the balcony. In addition, well-drained containers make it easy for even the most demanding plants to tolerate winter discomfort.

Everyone can make types of alpine slides with their own hands. For container rock gardens, it is not necessary to use special containers. You can use used troughs or sinks. Preparing the container for use is quite simple: outside it is coated with a protective mixture (one part of sand, peat and cement), diluted with water, and inner surface the bottoms are filled with pebbles. If an outdated sink or bathtub is used as a container, then the drainage hole is filled with larger pebbles or ceramic shards, which would not interfere with drainage and at the same time prevent the soil from being washed out of the container. Photo of alpine slides in the garden:

Over the drainage layer of pebbles, broken brick or crushed stone (a layer of 2-4 cm is enough) is poured soil mix for rock gardens. After two to three weeks, when the soil has compacted naturally, the soil is poured into the container, after which plants can also be planted.

Variants of alpine slides - container rock gardens, unlike other types of alpine slides, have only one restriction on planting plants - this is the rejection of active ground covers. The fact is that such plants quickly fill the container and in best case hang over its limits, and in the worst case, they crowd out all other plants and degenerate within one or two seasons. Types of alpine slides photo ideas for your site:

Container rock gardens are forms of alpine slides that need constant watering, and it is desirable to use settled and sun-warmed water. It is necessary to spill the container rock garden carefully - until the water begins to exit through the drainage hole in the bottom. This applies to the entire period of plant growth. With a cold snap, watering should be reduced to prevent freezing of wet soil and the death of the root system of plants.

If perennial plants are planted in a container rock garden, it is advisable to cover them with the onset of cold weather (with non-woven covering material, spruce branches, straw, reeds) and leave until spring. If there is not enough snow, it is recommended to cover the container rock garden with snow manually. With spring warming, it is better to open such a rock garden as soon as possible, so that before the start of movement in the soil, the earth is properly “ventilated” and dried up. See photos of alpine slides in the garden:

Decorate your household plot quite capable on their own. It is not necessary to involve a team of professional designers to lay out flower beds or just plant flowers along the path. And you can, to the envy of all your neighbors, arm yourself with a selection of photos of alpine slides - the landscape design of your site, made on your own and according to your own project with the help of a rock garden, will become unique. From one name "alpine hill" breathes mountain freshness, and harmoniously inscribed in the landscape of the site, it will delight the eye all summer, creating the atmosphere of an alpine meadow, with its freshness, emerald grass and various flowers.

The birthplace of the rock garden, despite the name, is considered to be Japan. There has always been a shortage of free land, hence the centuries-old experience of using each square. see free area. Therefore, the idea arose to add places for beauty by creating cascades of natural materials- earth and stones. This combination of the unshakable strength of the stone and the gentle fragility of fresh flowers form a bewitching duet.

Alpine slides came to Europe in the 16th century. It was customary to plant an outlandish plant species on them straight from the mountain slopes. Fashion reached Russia in the 18th century. Even members of the royal families were happy to develop rock garden projects, not disdaining to personally plant the selected plants there with their own hands.

Such an unusual decoration immediately becomes the focus of any garden. Modern designers also use it with pleasure, because the rock garden rules and the initial set of materials are the same for everyone, but the final options are endless.

You will be sincerely proud looking at the self-made photo of the alpine slide on your site will surely decorate the family album.

But it would be a huge mistake to think that a bunch of stones of different sizes, a hill of earth and a couple of dozen plants from the mountain slopes are enough - and you can call it all an alpine hill. It takes a lot physical strength, money and fantasy, so that the rock garden looks harmonious. And the scale is important - this is an alpine mountain in miniature, and the mountains require space.

Choose a place

Look around your area. You will need a well-lit corner, visible from any point - after all, then you will probably want to brag about the rock garden in front of the guests. The soil is very important - drainage is not required on the sand.

It is great if the relief of the site itself will organically merge with the hill. Consider how convenient the approaches to the hill will be. Well, if you can sketch out a draft of a future masterpiece. If there is no strength or desire for this, it is reasonable to have before your eyes your favorite photos of landscape design "alpine hills" and recommendations for planting.

Getting Started

We prepare everything you need: tools, stones of different sizes, drainage material, soil, decorative stone chips, seedlings. We mark the base.

Please note that alpine plants do not like stagnant water, so you need a foundation. To do this, a layer of soil is removed, no more than 30 cm. A little gravel, crushed brick or crushed stone is poured onto the bottom, watered and rammed tightly. In the center, the layer should be thicker. A layer of sand is poured on top. The soil is prepared by mixing the base soil and peat.

For the base soil, clean soil is taken in equal proportions (if possible, they collect soil brought to the surface by moles), coarse sand and humus. This mixture is poured in small layers, watering and tamping each layer. If this is not done, the slide will sink after the first rain.

You can make a base of several pits instead of a solid pit. After filling the hill, they take a break so that the layers subside.

Stone laying

In any photo of alpine slides, hand-made landscape design emphasizes their pyramidal shape. The stones are laid out in tiers, creating the illusion of a natural outcrop of the rock.

It is better to use natural stones, without sharp chips, of the same texture and close color, but different in size and shape.

They are buried in the ground by a third, this will emphasize the effect of naturalness.

tiers usually odd number, symmetry is forbidden - in nature there is no place for geometric accuracy. A space is left between the stones, then it will be filled with flowers.

The top is decorated with a large stone or several, tightly packed, small ones.

The hill is watered abundantly, adding soil if necessary.

We plant plants

Green "new settlers" are planted more often in spring, or in autumn before frost. Prepared seedlings are planted from top to bottom, observing the technology of planting each plant. A set of plants - at will, everyone sees his slide in his own way.

But the most commonly used plants are:

• edelweiss perennial (symbol of the Alps);
• stonecrop (there are several types, great for edging, destroy weeds);
• rejuvenated (decorates the flower bed with both greenery and modest flowers);
• saxifrage (can be planted on the shady side of the hill, small abundant flowers cover the stones with a continuous carpet);
• backache (ideal for slides, blooms first);
• juniper;
• Japanese spirea;
• viola horned;
• dwarf barberry;
• crocus;
• aquilegia;
• Phlox subulate.

Basic rule: plants should not require careful care and have different periods flowering.

Edelweiss perennial - a symbol of the Alps

Trees or shrubs are planted at the top. Flowers are planted so that they do not cover the stones. Pour around to prevent weeds from growing. You can add plants from the nearest meadow.

You can look through thousands of photos of alpine slides landscape design, but you will hardly find two similar ones, because the combination and arrangement of elements will be unique. Therefore, you should not add uniqueness to your rock garden with artificial elements - garden figurines, plastic decor, glass details.

Alpine slide should be as close to nature as possible and embody the atmosphere of the mountains. The 2 main elements - stone and plant - are so self-sufficient and harmonious that they do not need extra tinsel.

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