Interesting ideas for an alpine slide. Do-it-yourself Alpine slide - step-by-step instructions and photos

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A beautiful, well-groomed area is the calling card of any site. It’s good when, among all kinds of plantings in the garden, there is a central element that stands out from the general background.

This element can be a rock garden - a rocky elevation, decorated with flowers and plants and imitating a fragment of a mountain landscape.

Summer residents often confuse two similar concepts - rock garden and rock garden. In fact, they are not too mistaken, because rockery is the general name for rocky gardens, and alpine slide is one of its varieties. At the same time, many landscape designers are accustomed to defining a rock garden only as a flat composition.

A rock garden, unlike a rock garden, is an elevated composition, necessarily tiered, with slopes and a peak.

Alpine slide in the background log house

Compared to a rock garden, it is more difficult to make an alpine slide with your own hands, but it has a more pronounced relief, attracts more attention due to its height, and makes the landscape noticeably more picturesque not only in summer, but also in winter.

You can also use a rock garden to zone a summer cottage, for example, to visually separate work area from the front door. In addition, a rocky hill will beautifully cover embankments that are unsuitable for planting.

From this article you will learn how to make an alpine slide with your own hands and get ideas landscape design from 50 photos of rock gardens.

Planning the composition and design of an alpine slide

So, how to create a composition, how to select and arrange plants and stones? Complete answers to these questions will not fit into one article, but in short, here are a few main rules and principles that need to be followed:

• According to the canons, an alpine hill should not consist of boulders and rolled stones (with the exception of rock gardens near reservoirs), but of rough and broken ones. For example, it could be: tuff, sandstone, limestone, granite or slate.
• It is advisable to combine no more than 2 species in one composition, otherwise the rock garden will look unnatural.
• As a rule, the height of an alpine slide is 3-5 tiers (it is better if the number of tiers is odd). It is better not to make country rock gardens too high - they optimal height– 50-80 cm.

When choosing the design of an alpine slide, be guided by a sense of proportion - the composition should look natural and fit organically into the landscape. Cliffs and rocks (see photo below) in summer cottages most often seem foreign. But simple imitations of a slope or mountain valley without a pronounced peak are appropriate everywhere.

On a small summer cottage tall types of rock gardens as in this photo are not very appropriate

Now let's talk about choosing plants for an alpine hill. If you build a rock garden strictly according to the rules, then the flora for it must be selected strictly of alpine origin: miniature conifers, shrubs, ground cover, bulbous and herbaceous perennials.

However, real “Alpines” are not so easy to find and raise in middle lane, so you can choose any plants that are characterized by stockiness (height up to 60 cm), unpretentiousness and, of course, decorativeness. On the northern slope it is better to plant shade-tolerant plants: tenacious, periwinkle, fern, bergenia and others. On the southern slope, accordingly, light-loving plants grow better: lavender, barberry, adonis, iris, acena and others. Evergreen plants such as mountain pine, Canadian spruce, juniper and others will fit very harmoniously into the “mountain ensemble”.

It is advisable that the plants of your rock garden remain decorative throughout the season, otherwise withered leaves will spoil the entire composition, and it is unlikely to be possible to hide them behind their blooming “neighbors.” For this reason, it is good to use flyers in the design of an alpine slide. Although they are not entirely “canonical”, they will decorate a rocky garden for a long time.

Step-by-step instructions of 8 steps

Having roughly imagined what our rock garden will be like, we can begin to create an alpine slide with our own hands.

The technology for creating an alpine slide consists of the following stages:

1. We choose a place, decide on the dimensions;
2. We draw a diagram of the rock garden;
3. We mark the contour, remove the turf;
4. We make a drainage layer;
5. We prepare fertile soil and fill it;
6. We erect the core of the slide, add soil;
7. We plant plants;
8. Let's add the finishing touches.

Now let's talk about each stage in more detail.

Step 1. Draw a plan for an alpine slide

It is best to start creating even the simplest alpine slide with the development of a project. The simplest option is a schematic sketch, observing the approximate sizes of stones and plants relative to each other. For example, it could be something like this.

1 – Mountain pine, 2 – Creeping thyme, 3 – Canadian Phlox, 4 – Evers’ sedum, 5 – Gray fescue, 6 – Rocky alyssum, 7 – Angustifolia lavender, 8 – Sedum, 9 – Fragrant rue, 10 – Steller’s wormwood. Note: the alpine hill diagram is shown without taking into account the flowering time of plants

Ideally, a slide, especially a large and multi-tiered one, should be designed on a scale of, say, 1:50 or 1:25 (1 cm on paper corresponds to 50 or 25 “natural” centimeters) and with a grid with 2x2 cm cells (that is, with transferring the grid to nature, the cells will correspond to cells of 50x50 cm at a scale of 1:25).

Step 2. Choose a location

Here are some tips for choosing a location for an alpine slide:

• It is advisable that the rock garden be located on sunny place, and the slope was oriented to the east and south. Of course, you can choose a shaded place, but then the choice of flora will be limited - you will have to plant only shade-tolerant plants.
• It would be good if the composition was placed so that it could be seen from different angles.
• Installing an alpine slide near a house or other buildings is undesirable, since melting snow or drops can cause the flower garden to sag and be damaged.
• Rock garden against the background of a fence - not best idea, but if you can’t find another place, then shrubs planted along the fence or vines as in the photo below will help improve the background of the slide.

An example of an alpine slide against the background of a fence. By the way, the rock garden here is designed to hide water communications This small alpine hill would look much better if the fence was entwined with vines or planted with shrubs

• You should not build an alpine hill under trees (deciduous and flower), otherwise every autumn you will have to clear the rocky garden of fallen leaves.
• If the site has uneven terrain created by nature, then this best option for rock garden.

Suitable places:

• The front area of ​​the site;
• Entrance area;
• Recreation area (in the barbecue area, by the gazebo, pool, pond);
• Backyard;
• On any rocky retaining walls.

Step 3. Remove the turf

In accordance with the plan, we mark the outline of the future slide in the selected area: we drive in pegs and stretch a string through them.

Next, remove the turf to a depth of just over 30 cm and leave it aside for a while. Later, based on it, we will prepare a soil substrate. While studying land works, do not forget to remove weed rhizomes.

Step 4. Prepare the base

So, we have a “pit” for the rock garden. Now we need to fill it with a “sandwich” of drainage and soil. Broken bricks, pebbles, crushed stone or small gravel can be used as the first layer of drainage. We fill it with a thickness of 10-15 cm, depending on the size of the stones. Next, pour a layer of sand 5-10 cm thick, tamp it well and fill it with water to achieve maximum density.

• To prevent the composition from being destroyed by attacks from moles and shrews (if they are found in the vicinity of your dacha), you need to lay a fine metal mesh at the bottom of the pit.
• If you are setting up a rock garden on a slope with dry and loose sandy soil, then you don’t need to do drainage.

Step 5. Preparing the soil

When laying the drainage layer is completed, you can begin to prepare fertile soil. We will mix it from equal parts: previously dug turf, peat, humus and sand.

• Before preparing the soil substrate, the turf soil must be thoroughly cleared of weeds and their rhizomes.

Step 6. Build the slide

The construction of an alpine slide begins with laying the most beautiful and largest boulders along the perimeter of the future rock garden.

The stones should lie as stable as possible. To do this, they must, firstly, be placed on the ground with their largest side, and secondly, if necessary, place smaller support stones under them or add gravel or soil. The bottom row of boulders needs to be completely dug a third or two thirds into the ground - this way you will achieve not only stability, but also the desired natural effect.

Having folded the first row of large stones, we pour the prepared soil into the center of the composition and at the same time lay out the medium stones, forming the second tier.

Finally, small stones are placed at the top of the hill and on the slopes where voids need to be filled. At the top of the slide you can place one large or two medium stones. When erecting an alpine slide, do not forget to check your diagram and leave enough space for planting. Upon completion of the construction of the alpine slide, it needs to be watered abundantly and left for a couple of weeks to shrink.

• Try to lay stones so that the planting pockets are horizontal and not inclined, since plantings on a slope are not very convenient to water.
• Before laying each new stone, the soil underneath is pre-compacted.
• Remember that the rock garden should have as little geometry and symmetry as possible, because it is rare in nature.

Some experts recommend forming the core of the slide not from fertile soil, but from sand mixed with a small amount of crushed stone (the soil is poured only into the planting holes, and then the entire embankment is covered with it to hide the light sand). This way the elevation will be more reliable and durable. High slides require a core of three layers: gravel (or other rocky scattering), sand and soil (see diagram below).

Step 7. Planting plants

When you are satisfied with the composition of stones, proceed to the most enjoyable stage - planting the flora. To do this, first arrange the pots of seedlings on the slopes according to your design, starting with the large ones and ending with the small ones. Planting should begin from the top, gradually going down. The depth of planting holes depends on the size of the root systems of specific species. Finally, the finished slide needs to be watered, washing away the soil from the stones.

• Do not overdo it with fertilizers to avoid unwanted growth of plants in breadth and height.
• The soil substrate (acidity and alkalinity) can be adjusted for each species.

Step 8: Adding the finishing touches

Hurray, the alpine slide is ready! Now you can add filling (pebbles, gravel or crushed stone) to the slide where necessary, or install decor ( garden figures, lanterns, etc.)
Finally, we invite you to watch a visual master class on how to make a simple alpine slide with your own hands.

See also the gallery of ideas for rock gardens in the country.

A retaining wall in the form of a rock garden is a new salvation from “boring” walls

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

The pride of the homeowner - a do-it-yourself alpine slide

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

A mini rock garden in a flower bed is very suitable for small courtyards where there is no room for standard stone compositions

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

The most popular plants for rock gardens:

• • • • • • • • dwarf spruce,
              • juniper,

Juniper looks beautiful in a composition with stones

• • • • • • • • • cypress,

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

• • • • • • • • • • dryad,
                  • Iberis,
                  • rock alyssum,

Mountain waterfalls are also characteristic of Alpine landscapes

• • • • • • • • • • • short-stemmed,
                    • saxifrage.

Saxifragas will add color accents to the alpine corner

Reading time ≈ 12 minutes

An alpine slide is a spectacular element of landscape design, but somewhat labor-intensive to create, implying many nuances and rules. Today we will look at a step-by-step guide to building an alpine slide with your own hands out of the blue with photos and diagrams.

Rock garden with a stream of rounded stones.

Features and device

An alpine slide, or rock garden, is an element of landscape design in the form of a slide, built of stones with high-altitude plants planted on it, growing in the Alps. In other words, this is an artificially created miniature of a mountainous area with its inherent relief elements. So, a rock garden can be created in the form of:

• gorges;
• plateau;
• valleys;
• cliff;
• slope, etc.

Rock gardens are also often called rock gardens. The structure of such an element involves several tiers or levels. If element large sizes, it is usually called a rock garden, and structures with more modest dimensions, designed in small area, called an alpine slide. It is obvious that high-mountain flowers and plants require special conditions, and since rock gardens have become ubiquitous, the plants are not selected to be truly alpine, but based on the climate of the area. We’ll talk in more detail about choosing flora for a rock garden later.

In the photo below you can see a simple but very picturesque alpine hill with stones in the country, which is easy to repeat with your own hands:

Rocky garden on the site.

It is believed that rock gardens first began to be built more than a thousand years ago in Japan. Due to the acute shortage of free space, the Japanese have learned to build real masterpieces in a limited space. Stone gardens were also popular in China and other South Asian countries. Around the 16th century, the fashion for building rocky gardens came to Europe, and a couple of centuries later it became popular in Russia.

The main beauty and charm of alpine slides lies in their maximum proximity to natural contours. Lack of symmetry, slight carelessness, exclusively natural materials create an extraordinary atmosphere.

Alpine slide with massive stones.

Varieties

There are many varieties of rock gardens. Here are some of the most common types of slides:

1. Valley. From the name it can be assumed that such a slide should be similar to a mountain plateau. For decoration, large block stones are used, deeply buried in the soil. The space between them is filled with flowers and herbs.
2. Cliff. This variety has the appearance of a steep slope. To implement it we use big stones any shape, laid on top of each other in a dry way. The imitation of a cliff will be harmoniously complemented by shrubs.
3. Meadow. Great emphasis in this type of rock garden is placed on vegetation - low-growing fragrant herbs and colorful flowers will look very fresh in the garden.
4. Ravine. This type of rock garden looks very unusual, at least because it is necessary to make not a hill, but, on the contrary, a depression. Its slopes are decorated with stones and coniferous crops are planted. Great idea there will be a stream at the bottom of the ravine.
5. Cascade Creek. A rocky hill with many thin streams flowing down in a cascade looks incredibly picturesque and peaceful. When constructing this variety, it is worth paying special attention to the choice of plants - it is better to plant moisture-loving crops.

Types of alpine slides.

Important! It is necessary to distinguish rock gardens from rockeries - these are two different elements of landscape design, although both use stones and plants.

Usually rock gardens are much larger in scale, unlike, they also have greater height(sometimes up to 2-3 m compared to the maximum height of rockeries of 1 m). Other distinguishing feature– vegetation – in rock gardens it can be used minimally or not at all, while in rock gardens it is a mandatory element.

Scheme

The construction of an alpine slide is limited only by your imagination and the characteristics of the site. The compositions can be completely different. To make it easier for you to choose, consider some examples of photos of alpine slides in the garden - the most simple options, which you can repeat with your own hands, as well as complex compositions with a fountain, a pond and a bridge.

Rock garden with a bridge.

Rock gardens with ponds will bring freshness to the garden design. It is better to place such an element near the recreation area.

Large alpine hill with a stream.

Even small streams and ponds can transform an area:

Rock garden with waterfall and pond.

In the photo below you see how you can arrange a rock garden near your house:

Rock garden near the house.

For construction you can use the following schemes:

Rock garden diagram.

Scheme No. 2:

Scheme of an alpine slide.

Scheme No. 3:

Alpine slide option.

Scheme No. 4:

Slide with a pond.

Selecting a location

To arrange a beautiful rocky garden on your site, you must initially choose a suitable location.

Advice: if there are natural uneven terrain on the site, it is advisable to use them for arranging an alpine slide.

If the site does not have any changes, it’s okay - you can arrange a rocky garden on flat ground, but in this case you will have to put in a little more effort. It is important that during an artificial construction this element harmoniously and smoothly transitions into the rest of the flat landscape.

Rock garden on a natural slope along the steps.

In addition, there are other criteria for choosing a location:

1. Accessible review. An alpine hill is a very picturesque and colorful element of the garden, so it is important that it is visible and provides the opportunity to be admired from many points on the site. Therefore, it is advisable to locate the slides close to the house, gazebo or other recreation area.
2. Remoteness from tall trees and massive bushes - in contrast to the trees, the hill may lose its scale.
3. Sunny area, sheltered from the wind. This will ensure good conditions for most plants used in the construction of rock gardens. Ideally, the main side of the rock garden will be oriented to the south, east or southeast.
4. Neighborhood to a pond. If there is a artificial pond or a waterfall, it is logical to place a rock garden nearby.

It is not recommended to build large-scale rocky gardens directly in the center of a large empty space - this will give the landscape element a very implausible appearance. As for the size of the slide, there are no strict boundaries or standards; you need to choose the dimensions based on the area of ​​the site. After all, it is not the size of the rock garden itself that is important, but its harmonious combination with the design of the territory of a dacha or country house.

Plant selection

Another important point– selection of vegetation for the slide.

IN classic version When arranging a rock garden, unpretentious, perennial alpine plants that are resistant to harsh climates are selected, compact sizes(ground cover or low growing).

However, with the growing popularity of rock gardens, the range of plants used in their design has also increased. When arranging a hill, the following groups of flowers are planted:

• compact, low-growing conifers or deciduous shrubs are often chosen as the basis of the composition;
• ground cover crops are used to fill the space of the rock garden;
• perennial herbs;
• bulbous flowers - look very impressive during the flowering period. They enliven the appearance of the slide in spring.

It is important to select plants based on the conditions on your hill - soil type, light-to-shade ratio, protection from wind, etc. All plants should have more or less similar requirements for conditions. Also be guided by the size of the slide - the larger its dimensions, the more tall plants can be planted. For compact rock gardens, select low crops.

Let's list which specific types are best used for slides:

1. Perennials: edelweiss, alyssum, young, echinacea, armeria maritima, carnations.
2. Annuals and bulbous plants: crocuses, muscari, scillas, snowdrops, haretail, dimorphotheca, marigolds, saxifrage.
3. Conifers: thuja, juniper, black pine, miniature spruce.
4. Deciduous shrubs: barberry, spirea, cotoneaster, chaenomeles.

In the photo below you can see what plants are needed to set up a rock garden:

Plants for alpine hills.

Stones for the slide

When choosing and arranging stones for a slide, it is necessary to start from the basic principle - naturalness. Based on this, using several types of stones that do not occur together in nature will not be a very good solution.

The following types are most often used for arranging slides:

1. Granite. It has beautiful view, heavy, so working with it is difficult. It has a low level of moisture absorption. Most often used together with conifers and heather.
2. Sandstone. It has a porous structure (that is, plants with a certain root system can grow directly in it), and a large palette of shades is also found in nature, which allows you to design rocky hills in different ways.
3. Limestones. They allow water to pass through well and are gradually overgrown with moss, as a result of which they begin to become only more beautiful and picturesque over time.

For natural look slides, it is necessary to use cobblestones of different sizes irregular shape. Place smaller ones between large specimens. For flatter areas, you can choose smooth stones (not perfectly rounded), and for steep slopes, lumpy ones.

In addition to the listed types, you can also use shell rock and slate. Gravel and crushed stone are used to create drainage; pebbles are usually used to lay out alpine slides with real or dry streams.

In the photo below you can see an alpine slide, created with your own hands at the dacha from scrap materials:

Alpine slide made from scrap materials.

Manufacturing

So, when we have discussed the main aspects of making a rock garden, we can proceed directly to work. We will give a step-by-step guide and show in photos and diagrams the process of building an alpine slide with your own hands out of the blue.

Important! Just pouring a pile of stones, filling the gaps with soil and planting flowers does not mean creating a rock garden. With this approach, the stones can quickly move, causing the shape to disintegrate and the decorative effect to be lost.

If we talk about the time frame for creating a rock garden, it will take from two weeks to a month. The exact timing depends on the rate of soil shrinkage.

Preparation and drainage

After you have chosen the size and shape for the slide, these parameters must be transferred to the site. It is worth fencing it around the perimeter with rope and pegs, clearing it of debris and stones, and uprooting plants. Next you need to do the drainage:

1. Remove a layer of soil from the selected area. The depth depends on the area of ​​the rock garden - for wide elements it will be necessary to remove the soil to a depth of 70-80 cm and even up to 1 m. In this case, you will get good drainage with excellent moisture removal, which will also serve as a foundation for the composition and ensure its durability.
2. The bottom must be filled with drainage material: expanded clay, construction waste (broken bricks, parts of concrete, etc., wood cannot be used). The thickness of this layer is 35 cm.
3. The next layer is sand. The sand must be laid 35 cm thick, compacted and leveled, and then watered to shrink.

At this stage, there should be approximately 30-40 cm left to the soil level - we will fill them with soil.

Construction of an alpine slide.

Laying soil and stones

To prepare soil for a rock garden, you can use one of the “recipes”:

1. Mix coarse sand with peat and humus in a 1:1:1 ratio.
2. Mix peat and clay soil in a ratio of 1:3. You can add gravel to this mixture in an amount of 5:1.

Important! The soil for a rock garden must be thoroughly cleared of weeds and rhizomes, otherwise it will be more difficult to care for the hill.

The resulting mixture is poured on top of the sand around the perimeter of the future rock garden. The thickness of the soil layer can reach 1 m - this will be an excellent basis for stones. Next, you should wait about 1.5-2 weeks until the soil settles. Sometimes you have to wait up to 5 weeks.

Construction of a rock garden step by step.

In addition to the diagram above, we attach step by step photo process:

Now let's move on to the important stage - laying the stones. We tell you step by step how to make an alpine slide with your own hands near your house:

1. Start laying the largest pieces according to the chosen pattern. If they lie unsteadily, use sand, soil, or gravel to strengthen them. It is very important that they are securely fixed.
2. Next, install the medium-sized specimens and only then the smallest ones.
3. Do not place stones close together - there should be space between them for planting vegetation.

Avoid a symmetrical arrangement - try to arrange the stones a little chaotically so that the composition has a natural look.

Plant colonization

This is the final stage of designing an alpine slide. First, plant trees and shrubs, then fill the main volume with perennials.

Important! A little more moisture accumulates at the bottom of the slide, so moisture-loving species It's better to plant it here.

The process of planting plants in an alpine hill.

How to care

The advantage of rock gardens is that, despite all their decorativeness, they require incomparably less attention than flower beds and flower beds. But some care is still required:

• the soil in rock gardens dries out faster than in ordinary beds due to the elevation, heated stones and wind, therefore the plants should be regularly watered with a hose with a fine nozzle;
• Plants need to be fed at the root regularly (about once a month);
• During the entire flowering period, regularly remove faded shoots, add mulch if it has been washed away by rain or watering, and check the plants for diseases and pests.

For the winter, the composition must be covered with agrofibre. In the spring, the film is removed, dead plants are removed (if this happens), loose stones are corrected, and leaves are raked. Next, you need to renew the layer of soil and mulch and add new plants.

Now you understand that creating an alpine slide with your own hands, even on level ground, is not difficult if you follow step by step guide with photos and diagrams.

Video: how to quickly and easily make a rock garden.

Decorate yours personal plot quite capable on my own. It is not necessary to involve a team of professional designers to create flower beds or simply 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. The name “alpine hill” alone exudes mountain freshness, and harmoniously integrated into 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.

Despite the name, Japan is considered to be the birthplace of rock gardens. There has always been a shortage of free land, hence the centuries-old experience of using every square meter. cm 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 stone and the delicate fragility of fresh flowers form a bewitching duet.

Alpine slides came to Europe in the 16th century. It was customary to plant strange-looking plants on them straight from the mountain slopes. Fashion reached Russia in the 18th century. Even members of the royal families gladly developed projects for rock gardens, not hesitating to personally plant the selected plants there with their own hands.

Such an unusual decoration immediately becomes the accent of any garden. Modern designers also enjoy using it, because the rules for creating a rock garden 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 photo of the alpine slide you created with your own hands on your site, which will certainly decorate your family album.

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

Choosing a place

Inspect your area. You will need a well-lit corner, visible from anywhere - because then you will probably want to show off your rock garden to your guests. The soil is very important - sand will not require drainage.

It would be great if the topography of the site itself blends organically with the hill. Consider how convenient the approaches to the slide will be. It’s good if you can sketch out a project for a future masterpiece. If you don’t have the strength or desire to do this, it’s wise to have before your eyes your favorite photos of “alpine slides” landscape design and recommendations for planting.

Let's get started

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

Please note that alpine plants They don’t like stagnant water, so they 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 compacted tightly. The layer should be thicker in the center. A layer of sand is poured on top. They prepare the soil themselves by mixing base soil and peat.

For the base soil, take equal parts of clean soil (if possible, 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 float after the first rain.

You can make a base of several holes instead of a solid foundation pit. After filling the hill, they take a break to allow the layers to settle.

Laying stones

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

Better to use natural stones, without sharp chips, the same texture and similar color, but different in size and shape.

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

There are usually an odd number of tiers, symmetry is prohibited - there is no place for geometric precision in nature. Space is left between the stones, then it will be filled with flowers.

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

Water the hill generously, adding soil if necessary.

Planting plants

Green “new settlers” are planted more often in the spring, or in the fall before frost. Prepared seedlings are planted from top to bottom, following the technology of planting each plant. A set of plants is optional, everyone sees their slide in their own way.

But the most commonly used plants are:

• edelweiss perennial (symbol of the Alps);
• sedum (there are several types, great for edging, destroying weeds);
• rejuvenated (decorates the flowerbed 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);
• lumbago (ideal for hills, blooms first);
• juniper;
• Japanese spirea;
• viola horned;
• dwarf barberry;
• crocus;
• aquilegia;
• Phlox awl-shaped.

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

Edelweiss perennial - symbol of the Alps

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

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

An alpine slide should be as close to nature as possible and embody the atmosphere of the mountains. The two main elements – stone and plant – are so self-sufficient and harmonious that they don’t need extra tinsel.

I like

An element such as an alpine slide has long become a common element in the design of garden plots. Even small rock gardens add variety to the standard garden design. And, with just a little imagination, you can create a real work of art from a generally ordinary element of landscape design.

About the history of alpine slides

The first rock gardens were supposed to imitate rocky fragments of the area, so plants were far from their main element. Over time, there was a gradual shift towards more intensive use of plants in the design of the slide.

As for the idea of ​​​​using alpine slides in gardens, it owes its appearance to chance. The fact is that at the beginning of the century before last, travelers began to actively bring plants that were outlandish at that time to England, for example, thyme or adonis. But they simply refused to grow on seemingly such fertile soil.

It was then that the gardeners of that time came up with the idea of ​​using rocky soil, which was more familiar to plants. Over time, the idea of ​​using stone in gardens was appreciated in other countries, and new fashion began to actively spread throughout the world.

The design of the garden slide has undergone several major changes since its inception.

Of course, these changes occurred smoothly, but three characteristic stages of development can be distinguished:

• stone dominance- on initial stage Large boulders and even entire stone grottoes were actively used. Plants peeked out modestly from the cracks between the stones and were used only to emphasize the age of the stone structure;

• gradually the greenery took over the position from the stone and soon it was possible to fix parity. Stone was still the basis of the composition, but plants also received considerable attention;
• In the end, the triumph of life came - a modern alpine coaster- this is a riot of colors and greenery, slightly diluted by lifeless gray stone. Moreover, it is not necessary to use only one stone to create it. Soil, an excess of which was formed, for example, after digging a foundation pit, is also suitable.

Note!
For small areas, the last 2 types of slides are suitable; large stone structures or individual boulders will look ridiculous on a small garden plot.

Homemade alpine slide - a guide to action

A do-it-yourself slide in the garden always looks impressive, but many people refuse it because of the apparent complexity and labor-intensive nature of the work.

In fact, there is nothing complicated about this, but the main attention should be paid to several points:

• choose correct location Location on;
• do not miss the size, the rock garden should not be lost on the site, but it should not overwhelm with its grandeur either;
• avoid symmetry when filling the body of the slide and decorating it with stones;

• choosing the right plants is still not a flowerbed or a flowerbed, so not all types of flowers are suitable.

Layout

Ideally, the location of the slide on the site should be dominant. That is, when drawing up a plan, you must first place the rock garden in the optimal location and, based on this, lay paths, lay out flower beds and think through further design.

In reality, this doesn’t always happen, so it’s a good idea to know a few rules for choosing a place for a rock garden:

• the place should be dry, and the groundwater should lie as deep as possible;

Note!
It is advisable to place alpine slides in the garden on a hill.
This guarantees protection from groundwater, and in case of heavy precipitation, the water will not stagnate at the foot of the rock garden.

• It is extremely undesirable to place the slide directly next to the fence or near the house, most of the effect will simply be lost. If such placement is necessary, then you need to create an advantageous background; a low bush is suitable for this. For the same reason, it is necessary to avoid the proximity of rock gardens and tall thick trees;

• the area should be well lit.

Preparatory stage

Here you will need to decide on the type of materials, think about general outline design of the future rock garden.

The instructions at this stage look like this:

• the area of ​​the rock garden base is determined;
• in this area it is necessary to ensure good drainage; for this, turf (layer vegetable soil 20-30 cm thick) is removed, and the free space is filled with any well-draining material. Not only crushed stone or gravel will do, but also regular construction waste, such as broken bricks or pieces of concrete.

Note!
In this case, it is better not to use the removed fertile layer for filling the hill itself.
Over time, the grass stems and roots will rot and the structure will shrink quite a bit, which can destroy the entire composition.

Can be combined ordinary soil and gravel backfill. That is, the body of the slide is filled with gravel or crushed stone. Then there is a layer of soil and only then the structure is decorated with stones. There are many options for solving the question of how to build an alpine slide on a garden plot, the main thing is to ensure good drainage.

About the size, shape and technology of constructing a rock garden

Asymmetry can be considered a general rule when designing an alpine slide. No need to try to make it look perfectly correct geometric figure. Indeed, in nature, symmetry occurs only as an exception.

The stepped form is quite popular, it allows you to group plants different types on separate tiers. Decorative stones in this case act as miniature retaining walls and prevent the soil from floating over time.

Note!
The dimensions of the ledges are selected individually for each specific case, but you can focus on the average height of the ledge in the range of 0.2 - 0.3 m.

As for the collection of stones, the use of boulders with noticeable inclusions of other rocks can be considered ideal. Minor defects(for example, chipped areas) is also an advantage - plants can be planted in them. All boulders must be of the same type, that is, smooth, rolled stone should not be adjacent to crushed granite.

The size, as a rule, decreases from bottom to top, and the top of the hill is finished with a group of small stones, or one large one. Correct selection stones is very important, especially since the price of the structure practically does not change.

Note!
It is allowed to use large elongated stones.
They are usually simply dug into the ground, and the slide itself is placed around such stones.

As for construction technology, it is necessary to start laying boulders some time after filling the body of the slide. During this time, under the influence of its own weight and moisture from precipitation, shrinkage will end.

Selection of plants

Previously, it was considered a sign of bad taste to make rock gardens too bright and flashy. Currently, there is some departure from this rule, but turning a slide into an ordinary flowerbed still cannot be recommended. Why not list all types of plants by name, let’s break them down suitable species into groups.

Allowed to use:

• herbaceous perennials;
• small shrub, both coniferous and deciduous;
• bulbous (planted in a small area);
• ground cover species - fill all available space.

When planting in the ground, you need to make a small hole around the stem and fill it with small crushed stone. It will gather in the hole needed by the plant water, and crushed stone will drown out the weeds.

Summarizing

Even the simplest rock garden will beneficially diversify the design of any garden. There is no need to be afraid of an unfamiliar name; even a novice summer resident can cope with the construction of an alpine slide. The tips presented in this article will help you avoid common beginner mistakes.

The video in this article shows an example of constructing a simple alpine slide with minimal financial costs.